Physical and Occupational therapists have found that having a canine companion along is not only good for patients but also for staff and visitors. Human interaction with animals reduces blood pressure, provides an outlet for daily tension and increases overall emotional well-being, according to Occupational Therapy Forum magazine. Assistance dogs trained at CCI come from carefully selected stock and are bred for trainability and temperament. Puppies start socializing with humans at 3 weeks and at 8 weeks enter the home of a volunteer puppy raiser. For the next year the puppy raiser will attend obedience classes with the puppy, teach in-home etiquette and expose the puppy to a variety of situations.
Many puppies accompany their raisers to work.
This is an important training as these puppies will someday need to work in hospitals, schools and hospices or assist a person with a disability. At approximately one year old, CCI puppies return to one of the organization's four training facilities for 6 months of advanced training. The dogs work with professional instructors to perfect lessons introduced by the puppy raiser and learn advanced commands. Upon completing the training, assistance dogs know approximately 50 commands. There is one more training class necessary before the dogs are certified to work with the public or a person with a disability Team Training.