Summit Assistance Dogs trains highly skilled service dogs for people with mobility or hearing disabilities and therapy dogs for medically fragile children or for use in schools and other institutions where a dog can provide therapeutic intervention.
Our dogs come from our own breeding program, other breeders and from people needing to rehome pets. We also get many of our dogs from shelters and breed rescue groups, giving these deserving animals a “new leash on life.”
Prospective candidate dogs undergo extensive evaluation before being accepted into our program to ensure that only healthy dogs with suitable temperaments are placed with clients. Although we use suitable dogs of various breeds, the most commonly used are Golden Retrievers and Labradors and crosses with those two breeds.
Service Dogs
Service dogs provide assistance to people with mobility disabilities by performing such tasks as picking up dropped items, turning lights on and off, opening doors, retrieving an emergency phone, helping tug clothes off and pulling a wheelchair. Dogs can also be custom trained to meet specific needs once they are matched with particular applicants.
Special note about service dogs for wheelchair users
Summit currently has very few applications for service dogs for clients who use wheelchairs and need assistance with tasks such as retrieving items, opening/closing doors, tugging clothing off, etc. We have several dogs in training who are going to be ideally suited for this type of placement. This means that the wait time to be matched with a dog may be much shorter than the usual 2-5 years. If you are a wheelchair user looking for a service dog, we encourage you to begin the application process by contacting kim@summitdogs.org.
Hearing Dogs
Hearing dogs provide assistance to people with hearing disabilities by alerting to sounds such as doorbells, phones, smoke alarms or a baby crying. Dogs are trained to lead their partners to the source of the sound and can be custom trained to meet specific client needs.
Facility Dogs
Facility Dogs are trained dogs who partner with a facilitator working in a health care, visitation or education setting.
Our Facility Dogs are trustworthy in professional environments and can perform commands that can help motivate and inspire clients with special needs.
Facilitators are working professionals responsible for handling and caring for the Facility Dog. Additionally, facilitators are committed to long-term employment where they directly serve clients. One of the most valued qualities of the Facility Dog is the unconditional love and attention it gives to the clients and patients with whom it interacts.
In an educational setting, a Facility Dog helps engage students in schools and special education classes.
In a health care environment, activities such as grooming, feeding and playing fetch with a Facility Dog can aid patients in medical rehabilitation, psychiatric and counseling programs.
A well-mannered and highly trained Facility Dog encourages feelings of calm and security for clients in a visitation setting such as a courtroom, nursing home, hospital, or residential facility.
Skilled Companion Dogs
Our Skilled Companion Dogs are trained to work with a child with disabilities under the guidance of a facilitator. These dogs are ideal for children with disabilities who are not yet ready to steward a service dog for themselves. Skilled companion dogs do not work in public access. A facilitator is typically a parent, spouse or caregiver who helps handle and care for the dog, encourages a strong bond between the recipient and the Skilled Companion Dog, and helps facilitate the customized tasks
of the dog with the child.
The skilled companion dogs are selected for excellent temperament, are in good health, and have good manners and basic obedience. These dogs are task trained to help at home, and provide love and companionship, giving the child nearly infinite unconditional positive regard. A child with disabilities might have trouble at home reaching a light switch, picking up dropped items or opening a door. Imagine having a dog that could help with those tasks, which boosts the child’s confidence and feelings of self-sufficiency.
