Easter Egg Hunt for Dogs & their Families
National Service Dogs’ Easter Egg Hunt for Dogs has been hosted in various cities across Ontario over the last 15 years. Getting its start in Oakville ON in 1998, the event quickly became NSD’s largest and most anticipated event. The hunt is hosted every Good Friday and in nine Canadian cities: Barrie, Brampton, Calgary, Guelph, Kitchener, London, Oakville, St. Catharines, and Windsor. Help us exceed last year’s total of $100,000 raised. Select the location nearest you to register and start fundraising today! Barrie, Brampton, Calgary,...
read moreAnnual General Meeting
All parties having an interest in the business of National Service Dogs are invited to attend the Annual General Meeting. A tour and refreshments will be provided on June 11th from 6 to 6:30 p.m., with the meeting starting promptly at 6:30 p.m. Please come out and join us.
read moreThank You NSD Volunteers!
National Service Dogs is a volunteer-driven organization. We’d like to take this day to thank the volunteers that help make our mission possible. In 2011, 561,000 hours of volunteer time were donated to NSD. This represents the same amount of hours worked by 270 full-time employees and a savings of over $5,000,000 for the organization. We have people helping us from the moment our puppies are born (and about 8 weeks before that) right until the point that they go home with their brand new families (and sometimes even beyond that!) We start...
read moreThe Public Access Test
ADI states that for dogs to be certified for access to public places like shopping malls, movie theaters and public pools, they must pass a standardized test. This test is called the Public Access Test (PAT) and is administered by a staff member of the assistance dog organization. Every type of service dog is put through this test if they are being used in the public and the organization training the dog is ADI accredited. National Service Dogs puts every dog through this test and bases much of their training on the skills the dog must have to...
read moreAccessibility Laws
Canadian accessibility laws for assistance dogs and their handlers differ from province to province. A complete list of these laws can be found at www.nsd.on.ca/about/legislation. Although the roles of assistance dogs have evolved quite a bit, the laws and people’s perceptions have been slow to follow. For instance, although National Service Dogs has been training and placing dogs for over 15 years, our Certified Service Dog Program is still seen as a new program by government standards and is not recognized in a lot of the legislation....
read moreTypes of Assistance Dogs
There are many types of assistance dogs being used worldwide. The determining factor in which type of service dog used is the disability the recipient has. There are three types of assistance dogs: guide dogs, hearing dogs, and service dogs. This last category is where National Service Dogs fits in, as you could probably tell from our name! Guide Dogs are used by individuals with visual impairments. They help their handler by avoiding obstacles, navigating steps and curbs, and avoiding traffic and dangerous situations. Guide dogs wear a...
read moreAssistance Dogs International
Assistance Dogs International (ADI) is an organization that sets the standard for member service dog organizations, their users, dogs and volunteers. It aims to improve awareness and education of both the general public and those intimately involved with the training and placing of service dogs worldwide. Accreditation by ADI ensures proper procedures are followed by everyone involved in the accredited organizations. Members of ADI meet regularly to share ideas, attend seminars, and conduct business regarding such things as educating the...
read moreIntroducing International Assistance Dog Week
August 5th to 11th, is International Assistance Dog Week (IADW) and is sponsored by Assistance Dogs International. Assistance Dogs International (ADI) is an organization that sets standards for member organizations on how they train and place their service dogs. The aim of this week is to improve the awareness of assistance dogs, honor puppy raisers, trainers and the dogs themselves. To celebrate, we will be discussing various topics related to ADI and assistance dogs every day next week. National Service Dogs has been a member of ADI since...
read moreShaping
Shaping is a fun way to train your dog to complete more complex behaviours that are not easily lured. It often makes use of a clicker (which was discussed in our last training blog) and rewards very small increments of the desired behaviour. For example, if you were trying to teach your dog to stand with his front two paws on a step, you would break down the behaviour into as small of increments as possible. When the dog completes an increment on his own, with minimal prompting from you, he is rewarded with a click and a treat. The timing of...
read moreClicker Training
Clicker training is a fun way of training your dog with positive reinforcement. It typically makes use of a device called a clicker that makes a sharp “click” noise to mark good behaviors, but a concise marker word such as “yes” is also common. By associating your mark with a treat or reward, clicker training creates a situation where there is immediate compensation for desirable action. With proper timing of your click or marker word you can create a very strong link between the behavior and the reward, often making training progress...
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