The midst of an emergency, like a fire in the middle of the night, is not the time to test a service dog’s ability to stay calm and focused while surrounded by the hustle and bustle of the oddly dressed, and sometimes frantic strangers of the fire department and other first responders. It’s important that a service dog is acclimated to the sights and smells of firemen in uniform, EMTs, gurneys, trucks, ambulances, sirens and many other new stimuli.
So, the local volunteer firemen and women visited East Coast Assistance Dog’s (ECAD) breeding center to help expose the dogs of Lu-lu’s Litter to first responders. Service Dog organizations have to be creative and think outside the box in order to train the dogs to accept anything, at anytime, no matter what it may look like. Lives may depend on it.
ECAD’s mission is to educate and place assistance dogs to help people with disabilities gain independence and mobility.
