High Schooled Assistance Dog Program

About the Program

Category: Children and Youth (Best in Category)

Year: 2009

This program partnered with the county’s Character Counts Initiative to provide at-risk children in the Family Maintenance Unit or the Child Welfare Services with the opportunity to train dogs for disabled individuals. For a six month period, this group of students learned positive social skills through hands-on responsibility for and management of their service dog. The curriculum for the program was carefully developed to shape the dog’s behavior while shaping the teen’s attitudes and behavior. The dog becomes both the student and the teacher as the youth learn leadership skills, social values, humane concepts, and character in an experiential manner rather than simply in a classroom setting.