Welcome to Dogs In Service

Imagine if you couldn't reach or turn a doorknob, get the laundry from the back of the dryer or hand the teller your bank deposit.

Imagine if you couldn't hear someone calling your name, your baby crying or the smoke detector going off.

Imagine that just picking something off the floor required assistance.

These are a few of the issues that a person with a disability might face dozens of times a day. Service/Assistance Dogs do these and many other tasks for persons with a disability.

Can you imagine how frightening being hospitalized can be to a toddler? Strange people come right up to you and poke and prod you.

What is it like to be hospitalized on Christmas or your birthday or for the 10th time this year - especially if you are a child?

Would you be motivated to do your therapy, take your medication, co-operate with the staff or sit still for a procedure if you were seven and scared?

Specially trained  Animal Assisted Therapy teams, under the guidance of facility personnel, help children and adults by normalizing the institutional experience, de-mystifying procedures as well as acting as facilitators for physical, recreational and psychological therapy.

Dogs in Service, located in Hunterdon County, New Jersey, provides Assistance Dogs to people living with a disability, trained Pet Assisted Therapy Dog/Handler teams to chronic and acute care facilities, offers public education, trains dogs and handlers and helps chronic or acute care facilities set up and manage testing and standards for Pet Assisted Therapy programs.

Dogs In Service was honored to be asked by the New Jersey Department of Health and Human Services to work with the relief workers, victim's families and rescue workers after the events of September 11, 2001.  Dogs In Service helped co-ordinate over 140 Pet Assisted Therapy teams from four different organizations.  Under the direction of the Division of Mental Health the teams served the Family Assistance Center at Liberty State Park from September 19, 2001 to January 18, 2002. Dogs In Service is a participating member of the Northeast Crisis Response Coalition.

Special thanks to our friends at The Barker Lounge for their incredible generosity in fundraising for us.  Their hard work will help us with all of our programs.
	Dogs in Service 1271 Route 22 East - Suite 23, Lebanon, NJ 08833 908-996-9911 FAX 908-236-8883 barking@eclipse.net We'd love to hear from you, whether you need more information,   want to share your experiences with dogs in service, or just want to ask a question.
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