National Service Dog Month is a month-long celebration in September honoring the hard work and life-changing impact service dogs make on people with disabilities every day. Canine Companions provides expertly trained service dogs and ongoing follow up services to adults, children and veterans with disabilities, at no cost. Thank you for sharing about Canine Companions during Service Dog Month.

• 70 million American adults and children have a disability. 
• 50 year ago, Canine Companions created the concept of service dogs for people with physical disabilities, training the first service dog in 1975.
• Since then, Canine Companions has placed more than 8,300 teams, and is currently serving more than 2,800 active teams throughout the country. These dogs and all follow-up services are provided free of charge. 
• Canine Companions serves children, adults and veterans with more than 65 types of disabilities.
• There are 600 people on the waitlist, looking to be matched with an expertly trained service dog. Support for organizations like Canine Companions helps ensure more people are able to receive these quality services to live a life with enhanced independence. 

Canine Companions has transformed more than 8300 lives over the past 50 years, providing service dogs to children, adults and veterans with disabilities.

Service dogs are professionally trained and partnered with adults and children with disabilities to assist with daily tasks and increase independence. They help with a variety of tasks that make a significant impact on the lives of their partners.  

Tasks could include pulling wheelchairs, picking up dropped items, alerting people who are hard of hearing, mitigating symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and more.

At Canine Companions, every service dog spends their first 16 to 18 months with a volunteer puppy raiser to learn basic tasks and socialize in public and private settings. Then, they spend six to nine months in professional training, mastering up to 45 tasks before graduating with a client. All the service dogs and follow-up services are provided free of charge.