Milk Bone's Bark It Furward & Canine Assistants (Comment to help others)

For every comment received on this post, Milk-Bone^® will donate $1 to Canine Assistants so please take the time to leave a meaningful comment about this program or this charity!  What an easy way to help those in need during this holiday season!

“It’s Good to Give…This Season!”  What better way to celebrate the holiday season then through Bark It Furward, a program created to raise awareness and funds for Canine Assistants, a non-profit organization that trains and provides service dogs for children and adults with physical disabilities and the Milk-Bone^® brand’s long-time charitable partner since 1997.  For nearly 20 years, Canine Assistants has provided 1,000 service dogs to people across the country, giving them the chance to have more independent lifestyles.

Many people in need of a service dog depend on Canine Assistants to pay for the lifelong care of the dog.  Without the help of any government funding, Canine Assistants relies on the generosity and private donations made by philanthropic partners, like Milk-Bone^®, to help pay for the training of these special needs dogs.  In an effort to help care for and train more assistance dogs for recipients across the country, Milk-Bone^® is asking you to rally around Canine Assistants.

  

Bark It Furward was created by Milk-Bone^® brand to educate others about the inspiring work being conducted by Canine Assistants.  By joining the Bark It Furward movement, you can help raise awareness and much needed funds to provide assistance dogs for people with disabilities.

About Canine Assistants

Canine Assistants® is a non-profit organization, founded in 1991, which trains and provides service dogs for children and adults with physical disabilities or other special needs.  In addition to physically assisting those with disabilities, Canine Assistants service dogs are instrumental in removing many of the barriers faced by the disabled in today's society.

Service Dogs:

Canine Assistants service dogs assist children and adults with physical disabilities or other special needs in a variety of ways. Some of the tasks the dogs perform include turning lights on and off, opening and closing doors, pulling wheelchairs, retrieving dropped objects, summoning help and providing secure companionship.  While all of these functions are vitally important in helping a person obtain greater freedom, perhaps the most impressive gift the dogs provide is social, rather than physical, in nature.  The dogs eliminate feelings of fear, isolation and loneliness felt by their companions. One Canine Assistants recipient made the value of this gift quite clear when asked by a reporter what she liked most about her service dog.  Immediately, she responded, "My dog makes my wheelchair disappear."

Most Canine Assistants service dogs are born, raised and trained at the Milton, Georgia facility, while some are occasionally adopted from local organizations or breeders.  The majority of the service dogs are retrievers, including both Golden Retrievers and Labradors.

Companion Dogs:

Like service dogs, companion dogs also serve to assist children and adults with physical disabilities or other special needs.  Companion dogs work primarily in a recipient's home, assisting with tasks around the house and more importantly, contributing to the emotional well being of the person.

Seizure Response Dogs:

In addition to service dogs and companion dogs, Canine Assistants also trains and provides seizure response dogs for certain recipients.  As with some of the service dogs, these dogs are adopted from various organizations and selectively screened for personality, temperament and general health.  Following general training, seizure response dogs are trained to perform one of the following behaviors, depending on the recipient's need: remain next to the person during the course of a seizure, summon help in a controlled environment or retrieve a phone prior to the seizure when indicated by the recipient.  Certain dogs may even develop the ability to predict and react in advance to an oncoming seizure once they are placed with their recipient.

For every comment received on this post, Milk-Bone^® will donate $1 to Canine Assistants so please take the time to leave a meaningful comment about this program or this charity!  What an easy way to help those in need during this holiday season!

Disclosure:  No compensation was received to blog about this program!  If this blog post receives the most comments, then I'll be given the opportunity to interview Jennifer Arnold, the founder of Canine Assistants.  I'm more interested in helping the program through this post, so please leave your comments for that reason alone!