Resources for Guide Dogs, Assistance Dogs and Facility Dogs
Assistance Dog United Campaign
5860 Labath Avenue
Rohnert Park, CA 94928
707-545-0800 fax
Email: info@assistancedogunitedcampaign.org
Provides financial assistance to those who need assistance dogs and to people and programs whose purpose is to provide assistance dogs to people with disabilities. Vouchers for hearing and guide dogs provided by a member program are available in amounts up to $5,500. Vouchers for social/therapy dogs are available in amounts up to $2500. More about vouchers here.
Canine Companions for Independence
Email: info@caninecompanions.org
Trains four types of assistance dogs: service dogs, skilled companions, hearing dogs and facility dogs. All Canine Companions dogs and services are provided free of charge. Check out their YouTube videos. See their website for regional offices.
Dogs for Better Lives (formerly Dogs for the Deaf)
10175 Wheeler Road
Central Point, OR 97502
800.990.3647
Dogs for the Deaf rescues dogs for its programs in the western US. Dogs are placed throughout the US with people with a variety of disabilities including hearing loss and deafness, and full-time professionals (teachers, physicians, counselors and other healthcare professionals) in the treatment of and work with their clients.
Eye Dog Foundation
Claremont, CA
800.393.3641
Provides guide dogs to the blind and visually impaired at no cost.
Fidelco Guide Dog Foundation
103 Vision Way
Bloomfield, CT
800.243.5200
Provides German Shepherd guide dogs to the blind.
Fidos for Freedom
1200 Sandy Spring Road
Laurel, MD 20726
301.490.4005
Email: office@fidosforfreedom.org
Provides hearing dogs, service dogs and therapy dogs for the Washington-Baltimore metro area. Applicants must live within a 75 mile radius of Laurel, MD. Also educates the public about individuals with disabilities and the benefits of assistance and therapy dogs.
Freedom Service Dogs of America
2000 W Union Avenue
Englewood, CO 80110
(303) 992.6231
Provides service dogs for clients with mobility challenges including muscular dystrophy, multiple sclerosis, stroke, cerebral palsy, traumatic brain injury and spinal cord injuries. Also provide third party service dogs to children over the age of 12 to mitigate the challenges associated with autism spectrum disorders, cerebral palsy, Duchene's muscular dystrophy and Down's syndrome. For wounded warriors, Freedom Service Dogs of America provides access dogs related to physical injuries as well as post traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury. They do NOT provide service dogs for seizure detection, allergy detection, blood sugar detection, hearing dogs, guide dogs, emotional support dogs or psychiatric service dogs.
Guide Dog Foundation for the Blind
Smithtown, NY
800.548.4337
Provides guide dogs for the blind.
Guide Dogs for the Blind
San Rafael, CA
Boring, OR
Provide guide dogs for the blind and visually impaired.
Guide Dogs of America
Sylmar, CA
800.459.4843
Provide guide dogs to blind and visually impaired in the US and Canada.
Guide Dogs of the Desert
Whitewater, CA
888.883.0022
Provides guide dogs to individuals who are legally blind, at least 18 years old, able to walk .5-1 hour routes twice daily, have had formal recent orientation and mobility training, possess leadership capabilities and are emotionally stable.
Guiding Eyes for the Blind
611 Granite Springs Road
Yorktown Heights, NY 10598
800.942.0149
Provides guide dogs to people with vision loss as well as service dogs to children with autism.
Kansas Speciality Dog Service, Inc.
Washington, KS
785.325.2256
Provides guide dogs, service dogs and facility dogs.
Leader Dogs for the Blind
1039 S. Rochester Rd
Rochester Hills, MI 48307
248.651.5332
TTY: 248.651.3713
leaderdog@leaderdog.org
Provides youth camp, orientation and mobility cane training, guide dog training and GPS technology integration for blind, visually impaired, or deaf-blind individuals.
Paws With a Cause
Wayland, MI 49348
(800) 253-7297
Provides service dogs for a physical disability, debilitating chronic illness or neurological disorder, hearing dogs, seizure response dogs, service dogs for children with autism and combination dogs for service and hearing, service and seizure, and hearing and seizure.
Pet Partners (formerly Delta Foundation and Delta Society)
875 124th Avenue NE #101
Bellevue, WA 98005
425.679.5500
Trains volunteers for participation in visiting animal programs in hospitals, nursing homes, rehab centers and schools. Animals include dogs, cats, rabbits, birds, guinea pigs, rats, miniature pigs, llamas, alpacas, horses, donkeys and mini-horses or donkeys.
Pets for the Elderly
480.625.4679
A nationwide program whose mission is to provide companionship to senior individuals through pet ownership. This organization helps pay the fees to participating animal shelters for senior citizens who adopt a companion dog or cat from the shelter - including pre-adoption vet exams and spay/neuter, if part of the adoption fee.
Pilot Dogs, Inc.
625 W. Town St.
Columbus, OH 43215
(614) 221-6367
Pilot Dogs trains guide dogs and teaches blind persons to work with them. Dogs are trained individually for 3-4 months, then trained for another 4 weeks to work with their masters.
Seeing Eye, Inc.
10 Washington Valley Road
Morristown, NJ 07960
(973) 539-4425
Breeds and raises puppies to become seeing eye dogs, trains dogs to guide blind people, instructs blind people in the proper use, handling and care of the dogs, conducts and supports research on canine health and development.
Southeastern Guide Dogs, Inc.
4210 77th St. East
Palmetto, FL 34221
(941) 729-5665
Provides guide dogs to people with visual impairments. Also provides guide dogs for veterans with visual impairments, service dogs for veterans with post traumatic stress, therapy dogs for military hospitals and provides well-behaved dogs to veterans for companionship and emotional support. Provides companion dogs for visually impaired children ages 10-17 and dogs with specific aptitudes for careers in search and rescue or arson, bomb and drug detection.
Pet Bereavement
It's comforting to remember there are people who care about the loss of your pet. Loss of a pet is no less painful than the loss of a person. Volunteers and counselors have experienced losses of their own little critters and they empathize enough to provide support to others. Our cats, dogs, and others are our full-fledged family members who mean the world to us, because of their unconditional love and good company. They're worth all the early wake-up calls, hairballs and walks in inclement weather! Should you suffer the loss of your pet, remember, you're not alone.
Association for Pet Loss and Bereavement
email: aplb@aplb.org
Has chatrooms facilitated by specially trained pet bereavement counselors and personal email assistance.
Hotlines
Michigan State University College of Veterinary Medicine, Pet Loss Support Hotline: 517.432.2696
Pet Friends: Nationwide: 856.234.4688
Chicago Veterinary Medical Association, Pet Loss Hotline: 630.325.1600
Tuffs University, Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine Pet Loss Support Hotline: 508.839.7966
Books
Bill at Rainbow Bridge, by Dan Carrison, Modern Family Classics Publishing 2010.
Written for the owners of departed pets. Also available on Amazon.
Grieving the Death of a Pet by Betty Carmack, Augbburg Fortress Publishers, 2003.
Find on Amazon
Goodbye My Friend by Mary Montgomery and Herb Montgomery, Montgomery Press 2001.
Find on Amazon
When Only the Love Remains: The Pain of Pet Loss by Emily Margaret Stuparyk, Hushion House, 2000.
Find on Amazon
