Talk:Canine Companions for Independence
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 |
This article is within the scope of WikiProject Dogs, an attempt to build a comprehensive and detailed guide to articles on Canines on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, you can edit the article attached to this page, or visit the project page, where you can join the project and/or contribute to the discussion. | ||
| Start | This article has been rated as Start-Class on the Project's quality scale. | ||
|
Article Grading: The article has been rated for quality and/or importance but has no comments yet. If appropriate, please review the article and then leave comments to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the article and what work it needs. |
|||
[edit] Content from alternative page "Canine companions"
moved content from the page "Canine companions" - this content should be compared with and incorporated into the existing content--Rcragun 18:19, 30 November 2006 (UTC):
Canine Companions for Independence is a non-prfit organization that raises laboradors, golden retrievers, and a genetic cross of the two for people with mental or physical disabilities such as Autism, Cerebral Palsy, or Deafness. They have five campuses around the United States, which they have broken up into four different regions. Canine Companions (CCI) is funded by generous donations from contributors. There is no charge to receive an assisstance dog from CCI.
Facts
~CCI was founded July 1975 in Santa Rosa, California by Charles Schulz. ~First Canine Companion teams placed in 1978 ~42 teams have graduated in 2006 (as of 02-25-06) ~Several hundred CCI release dogs are currently functioning in such human services roles as bomb searching, border patrol, customs, and therapy and guide dogs.
"The volunteer puppy raising program is of extreme importance to the CCI program; it establishes the foundation of early experiences, which are critical in preparing the puppy for Advanced Training. Volunteer puppy raisers must have the ability to safely house and care for a puppy from eight weeks of age until the required turn-in date (approximately 16-18 months). Volunteer puppy raisers must be willing and able to devote time each day to oversee the complete care of the puppy: feeding, grooming, socialization, and exercise as recommended by CCI Puppy Program staff.
After the Puppy Raiser returns the dog to CCI at approximately 15 months of age, the dog attends a six-month or, in some cases, nine-month course of Advanced Training with professional instructors at a Regional Training Center. The first two weeks, dogs are screened, undergoing x-rays and medical tests as well as tests to evaluate their temperaments. Some dogs are released at this point due to medical or temperament problems. The others continue into Advanced Training.
The first semester, which lasts three months, reviews and builds upon the basic obedience commands the dogs learned as puppies. It is during this semester that the dogs begin to work around the wheelchair and learn the retrieve command. Those that pass the first semester continue into their second semester of Advanced Training.
The second three-month semester finishes the commands the dogs will need to know such as pull, and light-switch. They are also taken out to train in the field and to determine whether the dogs can handle the stresses of different environments. Dog tugging door openDuring training, the dogs are screened to see if they truly have what it takes to become a CCI Assistance Dog. The dogs can be released at any time.* See below for information about dogs who are released from the program.
In Team Training, the dogs are paired with a recipient and both human and dog are trained to work together. This two-week session teaches the recipients proper care and handling of the Canine Companion. If both the dog and recipient pass the two-week course, they attend a Graduation Ceremony in which the Puppy Raiser passes the leash to the Graduate and the Graduate officially receives the Canine Companion."
Dogs who are released from the program are matched with owners who wish to make the dog a family pet. There is a $500 adoption fee.
