“It takes an extraordinary dog to give someone an ordinary life.”

– Katelynne Steinke and NEADS Service Dog Jones

Extraordinary dogs for extraordinary people.

Each year, NEADS matches extraordinary dogs with extraordinary people, including adults with hearing loss or physical disabilities, children with autism, and veterans, including those with PTSD. They join nearly 400 active NEADS Service Dog teams that depend on these extraordinary dogs to live ordinary lives every day.

NEADS is invested in the success of each of these Service Dog teams and offers ongoing training advice and support for the working life of the dog.

 

It takes extraordinary resources to raise an extraordinary dog.

Countless resources go into breeding, raising, and training NEADS World Class Service Dogs before pairing them with someone with a permanent disability.

It begins with our investment in purpose-bred dogs, which are selected for temperament, health, and overall suitability for Service Dog work. Purpose-bred dogs are key to ensuring that we can get more dogs through training and place more dogs with people who need them.

With the assistance of Puppy Raisers, inmate handlers, prison liaisons, and other volunteers, NEADS invests 18-24 months and over $45,000 in each dog we breed, raise, and train. NEADS Service Dogs learn 50 to 60 tasks and commands that they execute with precision, accuracy, and consistency. The dogs exhibit good behavior in public and need to be confident and comfortable working in all environments.

We need your support to continue to breed, raise, and train these extraordinary dogs.

We need your support to continue to match extraordinary dogs with extraordinary people so they can live ordinary lives.

Service Dog fraud interferes with ordinary lives.

Fake and poorly trained “service dogs” – you’ve probably seen them in airports and grocery stores, on public transportation, in restaurants and hotels – can interfere with the life-saving work that legitimate Service Dogs perform for their human partners.

NEADS is committed to doing everything it can to help our working Service Dog teams navigate the world without worry. That means educating the public about what it takes to create a legitimate Service Dog, launching our Red Vest Accessible program, and advocating to stop this epidemic of Service Dog fraud. Here in Massachusetts, we’re doing our part through our support of H3657, An Act relative to the misrepresentation of a service animal, filed by Representative Kimberly Ferguson.

We need your support to continue our efforts to educate and advocate for our clients so they can live ordinary lives.

Each and every gift helps NEADS change lives. If you’ve already supported NEADS this year, thank you! If you haven’t yet contributed, please support NEADS World Class Service Dogs today.

NEADS World Class Service Dogs change lives.