COURAGE SERVICE DOGS

In 2019 our dogs worked over 1500 hours and assisted hundreds of individuals. Due to COVID-19, in 2020 we were only able to provide services between January and March. The clinics our dogs work for have been closed and therapy sessions have been conducted online. If the current health situation allows us to return to providing services in January of 2021, it is our goal to have our dogs working over 2000 hours next year. This would allow us to add more clients to the caseload of each service dog.

We will continue to reinforce the training of our dogs so they will be ready to return to work once it's medically safe to do so. We acquired a new puppy in June of 2020 and have placed her in a permanent foster home. The puppy has already begun her training program. We are working together with our largest client (a mental health care system in the area) to find additional clinicians and therapists to add to our program. Once it is safe, we will also reconnect with the local fire departments who are members of our pilot fire station program

We currently have personnel to meet our goals. However, as we add dogs to our program, it will be necessary to find volunteers who can assist with dog transportation. This likely won't be a problem, as we have several resources to draw from. We have some financial reserves that we are using to cover the most basic expenses.

We currently have five dogs who work from 8-20 hours per week. Each dog works a four hour shift and has an average caseload of four clients per shift. At the beginning of 2020, were in the early stages of developing a pilot program with local fire departments. Some are interested in respite visits from our dogs on a weekly basis, while others are on the path to acquiring a "station dog" that will live at the station. We are looking forward to returning to the planning of that unique program. We would also like to add another puppy to our training program. This will allow us to provide uninterrupted support as our older dogs begin to reach retirement age.