Canine Companions NWR Puget Sound

Mission

Canine Companions provides children, adults and veterans with disabilities with expertly trained service dogs so that individuals can live with greater independence. Canine Companions also provides professionals working in healthcare, criminal justice, and educational settings facility fogs to engage with clients in stressful settings. Since its founding in 1975, more than 7,800 service and facility dogs have been provided to individuals and organizations at no cost, including follow-up services.

DONATION MATCH

Donate through Washington Gives GiveBIG May 7 and 8, and your donation will be matched up to $10,000, thanks to generous supporters Mary and Timothy Ord!

Lead with Independence

Canine Companions is leading the service dog industry so our clients and their dogs can live with greater independence. We provide service dogs to adults, children and veterans with disabilities and facility dogs to professionals working in healthcare, criminal justice and educational settings. Our dogs are expertly trained in over 40 tasks, including retrieving dropped items, opening doors, and can even assist with making purchases. A Canine Companions service dog not only assists with physical tasks but also provides meaningful companionship. Canine Companions does not charge for service dogs or the lifetime of ongoing support they provide to the service dog teams. As a result, they depend on private funding through donations from individuals, corporations, foundations and community organizations. A Seattle Give Big gift of $10,000 would fund the cost of a local resident’s two-week training course where they will be matched with their own service dog at our new Puget Sound Field Office in SODO Seattle.

Local Story of Independence

Brooks Abel grew up near Seattle, extremely active in the outdoors of the Pacific Northwest: playing football, camping, hiking, fishing and hunting. During a trip to the Columbia River with friends in 2016, Brooks dove from a boat, unaware that the dam had released excessive amounts of water during the week, creating a shallow canal in the sand of the riverbed invisible from above. The dive caused a spinal cord injury, leaving Brooks with quadriplegia and loss of use of his hands. Brooks still leads a very active lifestyle from his electric wheelchair, with an expertly trained service dog by his side.

In 2022, Brooks was matched with Service Dog Whitley free of charge by national nonprofit Canine Companions. Whitley is expertly trained to pick up dropped items, open and close doors and drawers, turn on and off lights and has even learned new tasks to better help Brooks. “Picking up dropped items is the biggest thing she does, and she gets so excited when she gets to do it. Her tail is always wagging,” Brooks shares. “When we’re out in public, she pushes all the automatic push plates to help me easily get into buildings.”

Brooks feels safe and secure with Whitley by his side. “I don’t have to rely on other people to help. I’m never worried about dropping my phone or wallet in public.” He continues, “Life with Whitley has so far exceeded my expectations of what I thought it could be.”

There are thousands of people like Brooks who are living more independently with their service dogs by their sides, with thousands more to come. You can help more people receive their expertly trained service dogs free of charge, by donating today.