Canine Partners For Life Partners With SPCA, Humane Association

Press release from the Delaware Humane Association:

Aug. 19, 2022

Canine Partners for Life (CPL), a training program for service and companion dogs that assist individuals with a wide range of disabilities, has officially partnered with Delaware Humane Association (DHA) and Delaware SPCA to expand their network of service and companion dogs. This partnership will enable CPL to increase the number of service dogs in their program while giving deserving shelter dogs the chance to take on the important, rewarding job of becoming a service or companion dog.

For more than 30 years, Canine Partners for Life has been dedicated to training service dogs, home companion dogs, residential companion dogs, and courthouse companion dogs to assist individuals who have a wide range of physical, developmental, and cognitive disabilities. A recognized and highly respected leader in the assistance dog industry, CPL was one of the first service dog organizations in the world to be accredited by Assistance Dogs International (ADI) and continually meets the highest standards in the industry. CPL has placed more than 750 service and companion dogs nationwide and provides support to nearly 200 active teams and 50–70 service dogs in training.

While most puppies that enter the program come from CPL’s own in-house breeding program, CPL has adopted 3 puppies in the past month from DHA that met specific traits and qualities required for service dogs. By working with DHA, CPL not only provides support animals to those with disabilities, but also provides these deserving dogs with rich, rewarding lives.

“We are thrilled to establish this partnership with the Delaware Humane Association,” says Janie Cramer, Executive Director of Canine Partners for Life. Cramer continues, “We have adopted a few dogs from DHA in the past but with this established partnership and continual communications between both organizations, we will work together to identify dogs that have the potential to become service or companion dogs, ultimately changing the lives of individuals in need. It’s an incredibly beneficial program that is supporting both our mission and DHA’s mission.”

CPL puppies go through a thoughtful training and socializing process to prepare them for life as companion animals. Puppies are placed in volunteer community puppy homes from 2 months until 6 months of age. This time period is critical in terms of socialization and the puppy raisers will focus on socialization as well as some basic obedience training. At six months, all puppies go to one of the six prisons participating in our Prison Puppy Raising program. For the next 6–8 months, inmate raisers focus on training new obedience commands and service skills until the puppies move into the CPL kennel, around 14 months of age, for advanced training with CPL’s professional trainers.

Since establishing the partnership, 2 puppies and 1 adult dog have already been adopted by CPL from DHA and have begun different stages of training. Puppies Kramer and Wiss Fiss have begun basic obedience and socialization training in community puppy homes, while adult dog Chief has begun working with professional trainers since he is older.

“Our goal is always to find the most loving home possible for our animals in need” Patrick Carroll, Chief Executive Officer of DHA states. Carroll continues, “We see many curious, highly intelligent dogs that come through our doors, who with the proper training could become incredible service dogs. We are thrilled to work closely with Canine Partners for Life to ensure shelter animals also have a chance at helping others. This partnership will have a significant impact on the lives of shelter animals and the people they serve.”

Delaware Humane Association and Delaware SPCA merged earlier this year and will announce their new brand name and logo this fall. Combined, the newly merged organization has over 200 years’ experience in animal rescue, rescuing 3,500 animals annually. They also provide a myriad of community services to pet owners such as low-cost vaccination clinics and spay/neuter services, training programs, a free pet food pantry, and more.

Learn more about Canine Partners for Life and Delaware Humane Association and Delaware SPCA by visiting www.k94life.org and www.delawarehumane.org. Follow along on social media at www.facebook.com/CaninePartnersforLife and www.facebook.com/DelawareHumane to learn updates on dogs adopted for the CPL training program.

This press release was produced by the Delaware Humane Association. The views expressed here are the author's own.