

Canine Companions for Independence




Over the years I have worked with many clients who have a child with autism.  Parenting any child is full time and if a child has autism it is more so and can be overwhelming for the parent.  I have observed the many benefits of a trained, calm family pet for these children.  

Meet Canine Companions for Independence or CCI.  Generally, people think a service dog just provides assistance for people who are blind or hearing impaired.  But dogs can provide so much more talent for people with specific medical conditions.   That talent can be applied to people with autism. 

I had a lovely interview with Angie Schacht from CCI who contacted me initially regarding autism awareness
month and about a placement here in Seattle.

  cci austism Kyle and Finnian
Meet Kyle and Finnian
photo courtesy of CCI

CCI breeds their own dogs specifically for service work and predominately uses Labradors and Golden Retrievers or a cross between these two purebred dogs.  CCI has a network of puppy raisers to help with the pup’s socialization and foundation training.  Then these young dogs go back to CCI’s training centers around the country where they learn more advanced training and skills specific to the medical condition for the benefit of a potential handler and family. Once the dog is trained and matched with a particular family the whole family trains with CCI for two weeks.   

CCI is a nonprofit organization and provides dogs to families free of charge.  Angie states CCI has placed 155 dogs in homes for children with autism.

 Canine Companions’ Skilled Companion dogs are trained in 40 different commands to help people with a wide variety of disabilities. For children with autism, a dog that walks calmly and steadily in a “let’s go” while in public is important, as are the “visit” and “lap” commands. “Visit” is when the dog places its head on the recipient’s lap, and “lap” is when the dog places the front half of its body across the recipient’s lap. Both of these can provide deep pressure, which can interrupt self-stimulating behaviors like repetitive hand movements or repetitive speech. The dogs can also be trained to perform a parent-directed nose nudge to interrupt these behaviors.

 Aside from the command-specific benefits listed above, the dogs provide many others. The benefits are often difficult for someone outside of the family to see, but the dogs provide a freedom to these families that is hard to quantify. The dog attracts people, acting as a social bridge to other children and adults when in public. Parents have reported a number of benefits, including easier transitions from one location or task to another, fewer meltdowns, improved behavior at school, sleeping through the night, and increased empathy.

To learn more about CCI go to

Fake Service Dogs
There are many “fake” service dogs out there. People think just because a dog provides comfort or emotional support that alone makes it a service dog. This is legally not the case but that doesn’t stop people from lying to a landlord or a business owner stating they have a service dog so they can gain access or compliance where dogs are not allowed. Service dogs are not pets.

The ADA (American disabilities act) states that a service dog must provide specific tasks for an individual. All our dogs provide us with comfort and emotional support but that doesn’t make our dog a service dog. Updated information on service dogs.

KUDOS to CCI.  Amazing organization.

Diane Rich Dog Training, LLC

Diane Rich