All About Service Dogs
Puppy Love – NEADS Puppy Raisers
When you bring an eight-week-old puppy into your home, it quickly becomes part of your life. You love it, watch it grow, invest time in housebreaking and basic training. And…
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What NEADS Dog Are You Most Like?
Many factors go into matching a NEADS Dog with its human partner. NEADS dogs are trained for 15 to 18 months, during which time our trainers take a close look…
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International Assistance Dog Week
It’s International Assistance Dog Week, and during this week, NEADS is helping raise awareness and educate about these amazing dogs by answering our most frequently asked questions about Service Dogs. You can help by sharing with others.
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Training Town Trip
NEADS Director Training, Kathy Foreman, along with Apprentice Trainers Michelle and Michael, took 3 Service Dogs in Training on a town trip to Leominster last week. Training opportunities are everywhere if you know where to look. Nice weather helps.
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It Takes an Extraordinary Dog…
“It takes an extraordinary dog to give someone an ordinary life.” – Katelynne Steinke and NEADS Service Dog Jones
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Justice Fetches the Phone
Jennifer was matched with Service Dog Justice in the summer of 2013. Since that time, they have shared many experiences together. One of the most-frequently asked questions I get is…
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Grained or Grain-Free Food?
NEADS periodically receives questions from our clients regarding the national discussion about the health effects of grain-free dog food versus grained dog food. The research is conflicting about this topic.…
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Treat Drive for National Dog Biscuit Day
Just in time for National Dog Biscuit Day on Saturday, NEADS is kicking off a treat drive. Can you help us reach our goal of 200 bags of top-quality, high…
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Sarah + Edison – 365 Days
Sarah was matched with NEADS Service Dog Edison in 2016. Since then, the two have been inseparable. Edison goes to work and medical appointments with Sarah, they spend time in New York City, and they visit friends from coast to coast. And everywhere they go, Edison demonstrates his impeccable Service Dog training and his devotion to Sarah. Now, Sarah is chronicling her life with Edison and sharing daily photos on Instagram. We’re pleased that she’s agreed to share them on the NEADS blog, too.
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What It Is Like Having A Service Dog
I have always been a dog person.
When I was injured in 2011, I briefly entertained the idea of having a dog, but felt I needed to take care of myself more and didn’t want to put extra responsibility on the caregivers who help me. You see, after my spinal cord injury, my life became a constant battle between different therapies, doctors’ appointments, home exercise, and just getting my life back to some normalcy. This took me a little over a year, but even then, I didn’t feel as though I could comfortably take care of a dog. Now that I have Oliver, I somewhat regret not getting a dog sooner.… but then, if I had gotten a dog sooner, it wouldn’t have been Oliver.
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The Working Dog Project
The Working Dog Project, run by the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, is applying cutting-edge genomics to investigate how genetic variation influences two key working dog behaviors: scenting and…
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What does a Hospital Assistance Dog Do?
We’re sometimes asked about the difference between a Service Dog, an Assistance Dog for the Hospital and a pet therapy dog. While on the surface they may appear similar, there are four key differences: training, public access, task trained, and trained to work in many environments.
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5 Things to Know about Service Dogs
What does a Service Dog do? Can I pet your Service Dog? Why is that Service Dog in this store? We answer questions about Service Dogs every day, and have put together this handy information sheet about the top 5 things to know about Service Dogs.
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What Does a Classroom Assistance Dog Do?
We’re sometimes asked about the difference between a Service Dog, an Assistance Dog for the Classroom and a pet therapy dog. While on the surface they may appear similar, there…
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I Got the Right Match
Ok, so we’re not match.com, but we hear it from our Service Dog clients every week: “I see love.” “Those eyes! My melting heart!” “My life is now complete.” “I got the right match.”
It may seem an easy task – pick a dog, assign it to a client, and a Service Dog team is formed. But the NEADS matching process is so much more.
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