Our program consists of six components:
Puppy Donation All future Independence Dogs are donated to the program. Large dogs that are able to work closely with people are best suited to becoming Independence Dogs. Before accepting a pup into our program, we perform temperament testing that is designed to forecast personality development and suitability to a life of service. Our pups come to us from a variety of sources, including breeders, rescue organizations, animal shelters, and private families. We accept puppies from seven weeks to approximately one-and-a-half years of age. About 50 percent of our dogs come from local shelters and rescues. Are you interested in Donating a Puppy? Puppy Raising Each puppy that is accepted into IDI’s program lives with a volunteer puppy raiser until about one year of age. Volunteer puppy raisers have three primary responsibilities to their puppies: To provide safe, loving homes for them; to teach them basic obedience skills; and to socialize them. Following guidelines provided by and with assistance from IDI’s trainers and puppy home coordinator, puppy raisers teach their charges 35 basic commands and expose them to as many experiences and environments as possible. For instance, their puppies accompany them to busy shopping malls, schools, and sporting events, and are exposed to heavy traffic, urban conditions, and a variety of other animals. Are you interested in Becoming a Volunteer Puppy Raiser? Advanced Training At one year of age, the puppies are recalled to the school, where they enter into their formal training period. As in the puppy home, all Independence Dogs are trained with love, patience, and positive reinforcement. We never use food as an inducement. Instead, we teach our dogs acceptable behavior in much the same way as a mother wolf teaches her pups. Physical punishment is never tolerated. Our dogs are motivated by love, and they work because they take great pride in the job they have been chosen to do. The advanced phase of training lasts six to nine months, during which dogs are taught to perform all the services required of an Independence Dog for the physically challenged. All our service dogs receive the same basic training during the first three or four months of their formal schooling. But as the dog’s unique personality, temperament, and preferences emerge, he or she is prematched with one human partner and then custom-trained to suit that person’s special physical requirements, temperament, lifestyle, and activity level. We don’t just train dogs; we teach them to be intelligent, thinking partners in a fully functioning team. And we don’t just graduate dogs; we graduate partners-in-living. If at any time IDI’s trainers decide that the dog is not perfectly suitable to become a service dog, the dog is adopted out to a loving family. Are you interested in >Adopting an IDI Dog? Recipient Training When an Independence Dog trainee has successfully mastered all required duties and is ready to graduate, the recipient comes to IDI to spend two to three weeks in residence at our school. IDI is the only service dog school that provides free on-site lodging for recipients while they work toward graduation and certification with their dogs. During this intensive final training period, the recipient bonds with the dog, masters a vocabulary of specific training terms and commands, feeds and cares for the dog, and develops the beginnings of a close working relationship. The team is also exposed to all the environments and circumstances they are likely to encounter when they get home. By the end of the training, the recipient can work with the dog in any public place without assistance from the trainer. Graduation At the end of the recipient’s training with the dog, the new Independence Team is ready to graduate. Everyone gathers for a graduation ceremony to celebrate the beginning of a beautiful lifelong partnership. The recipient is awarded a notarized graduate certificate and letter along with a complete medical history of their Independence Dog provided by our veterinarian, Dr. Peter Herman at the Providence Veterinary Hospital. The Independence Dog is outfitted with a new custom-made graduate harness, leash, registry tag, door opening hook with holster, customized backpack, and any other adaptable equipment the team needs. It is a very special occasion, as the recipient’s family and friends meet all the IDI trainers, volunteers, and staff who worked so hard to make the Independence Team happen. Everyone joins in the fun to share photographs, tell stories, say goodbye, and wish the new partners-in-living the a wonderful, rewarding life together. Read about our Success Stories. Ongoing Support A graduate from our program joins the IDI family for a lifetime of caring and support. Our follow-up program is coordinated by one of our own graduates. All local recipients receive a visit from us at least twice in the first year following graduation. Our graduate coordinator contacts those who are not as accessible by phone at least four times in the first six months and once every six months thereafter. In addition, we monitor the health and well-being of the dogs we graduate, requiring a veterinary report on each Independence Dog every year. And if there are any problems--or if there is a change in the recipient’s physical requirements or status--we either send a trainer to the team or recall the dog to the school for follow-up training. Are you interested in Applying for an Independence Dog? |
