Assistance dogs seen more frequently in Minneapolis

September 16, 11:45 AMMinneapolis Dog Scene ExaminerLaura Schneider

Previous Next

Comment Print Email RSS Subscribe

Subscribe

Get alerts when there is a new article from the Minneapolis Dog Scene Examiner. Read Examiner.com's terms of use.

Email Address   Include other special offers from Examiner.com Terms of Use

River, a Service Dog In Training

Have you been seeing more and more service dogs around Minneapolis lately? There's a good reason for that: there are two "new" organizations that support service dog training in the area. Over the next few years, we'll see more and more people being assisted by service dog, and not just for visible disabilities but also for invisible disabilities such as PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder), epilepsy, fibromyalgia, mental illness, and many more.

The two additional organizations in the area that are supporting and training service dogs are Pawsitive Perspectives Assistance Dogs (PawPADs), a 501c3 nonprofit organization, and the Meetup.com-based group PAWS-AID.

PawPADs, headquartered in Savage, MN, seeks, "to enrich the lives of people with disabilities by providing highly trained service dogs which will enable individuals to lead more independent lives". Additionally, they include as many people as possible in the process of raising and training the dogs because they strongly believe that such participation itself can be therapeutic and profoundly life-altering. They believe it "takes a village" to raise a service dog. PawPADs offers demonstrations to interested groups, such as churches, service organizations, schools, etc. Visit the PawPADs financial donations page or their volunteer page today to support this worthy organization and its programs.

In contrast, the Meetup.com-based group PAWS-AID, People for the Awareness of Working with Service Animals for Invisible Disabilities, is a support group for users of service animals for invisible disabilities. Service dogs aren't just for the blind or those in wheelchairs! Whether someone is training their own service dog, uses a school-trained dog, or is considering one of these possibilities, this is a great support group with a diverse knowledge base to give each other the best support possible. In the last few months, PAWS-AID has supported six new service dog-in-training teams to begin their educational path, with three more teams likely form over the next month or two.