Canine Companions 2007 Annual Report - Canine Companions for ...

Training and Graduates
A labor of love, dedication and skill.
It takes two years and thousands of hours of hard work to produce a Graduate Team.
Training — Training CCI dogs is a highly
structured program that takes place at five
Regional Training Centers across the country.
Training lasts six to nine months. During that time
professional CCI instructors teach the dogs to
master 50 specialized commands. Then dogs enter
Team Training where they are matched with an
adult or child with a disability.
Team Training — An intensive two-week training
course teaches dog handling and care, training
methods and commands and field trips where
individuals can practice as a team with their
potential assistance dog. Twenty-four Team
Training sessions took place across the country
in 2006, with 178 teams placed. Each team
participates in a Team Training graduation, which
is the joyful start of a new life together.
10 • Canine Companions for Independence
Skilled Companion Team
Johanna Benthal and
Facilitator Eileen Benthal
with Taffy II.
Ongoing Support — Graduate teams can remain
active for ten years or more, and CCI had 1237
active teams in 2006. Follow-up services include
in-person visits, phone calls, e-mail and regular
training workshops to add extra skills and finetune
existing ones. In 2006, 668 graduates
received follow-up services from CCI, and
901 follow-up visits were conducted across the
country.
When a dog is ready to retire, CCI assists
graduates in planning the dog’s retirement and in
applying for a successor Canine Companion.
There is no charge to graduates for the assistance
dog, its training, or ongoing follow-up services. Your
generous support is what makes CCI teams possible.