NEADS Nation
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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At NEADS, it takes a nation to raise a World Class Service Dog. NEADS Nation is made up of many people contributing in many ways for many different reasons.
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NEADS is seeking volunteers to raise its puppies on a full-time basis. The Full-time Puppy Raisers will take our Service Dogs in Training into their homes and look after them for 12 to 16 months, working on critical socialization and basic obedience. When fully trained and matured, these Service Dogs go on to work with someone with a physical disability or hearing loss, a child with autism, or a veteran. Others become Assistance Dogs who work with professionals in hospital, classroom, and courthouse settings.
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NEADS held its 76th Graduation Ceremony on November 4 at Montachusett Regional Vocational Technical School (“Monty Tech”) in Fitchburg, MA. Supported by family, friends, and NEADS staff, volunteer puppy raisers, and other supporters, NEADS Service Dog teams spoke about living with a Service Dog during a moving ceremony to celebrate their life-changing partnerships.In honor of…
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NEADS Service Dog Rescue has had quite a year. He was named the ASPCA Dog of the Year and his family published their first picture book, Rescue and Jessica: A Life-Changing Friendship, to great reviews, national press attention, and instant New York Times best-seller status. Now, Rescue and his picture book team are set to…
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Rainbow was the first dog matched with a veteran in the NEADS Canines for Combat Veterans (now SDV) program and served her partner, Roland, honorably. She went on to serve NEADS as a canine ambassador and lived out her remaining years as the well-loved, constant companion of former NEADS employee John Moon.
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The Reiser Family Foundation recently donated 350 copies of the best-selling Rescue & Jessica: A Life-Changing Friendship (featuring NEADS Service Dog Rescue) to distribute to hospitals with a robust pediatric department and other organizations working with children. This is just one of the many ways the foundation supports NEADS.
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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 retrieving. Specifically focused on finding the genetic loci associated with key behavioral traits of military and Service Dogs, the ultimate goal of the project is…
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NEADS’ strong financial health and commitment to accountability and transparency have earned it another 4-star rating from Charity Navigator, America’s largest independent charity evaluator. This is the 17th consecutive time that NEADS has earned this top distinction. In fact, with only one other organization that has received as many, NEADS is at the very top of the 10 Charities with the Most Consecutive 4-Star Ratings list.
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This summer, visitors to Shipyard Park, Boston National Historical Park, and the Harbor Walk will be greeted by 20 8 foot high Cor-Ten steel American Dog sculptures as part of a new art installation, “The Big Dog Show.” Created by award winning sculptor Dale Rogers, the exhibit is on display from June 21 to September 10 and is hosted by the Navy Yard Garden Association in partnership with the Boston Planning and Development Agency, Boston National Historical Park, and National Park Service.
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