Canine Partners For Life
Canine Partners For Life (CPL) is a non-profit organization that places service dogs to assist individuals with a wide range of physical and cognitive disabilities. The mission and program of CPL is funded entirely by donations. Since 1989, CPL has been training service dogs which provide physical assistance to their partner 24-hours a day in the home and public environments. Disabilities served include:
- Muscular Dystrophy
- Cerebral Palsy
- Spina Bifida
- Polio
- Stroke
- Multiple Sclerosis
- Seizure Disorders
- Spinal cord injuries
- Arthritis
- Parkinson’s disease
- ALS
- Huntington’s disease
- Fibromyalgia
- Charcot-Marie-Toothe Disease
- Post Polio
- Spinal Muscular Atrophy
- Friedreich’s Ataxia
- and many others
CPL also places seizure alert dogs which detect and alert to upcoming seizure activity. These dogs have an innate ability to detect seizure activity in advance of a seizure, and they are extremely accurate. Some dogs will alert up to two hours in advance!
CPL feels that having a service dog can contribute to a person’s ability to return to the work force or stay employed longer as their disease progresses or their mobility decreases. When service dogs are placed with a school-aged child, the dogs allow the children to experience a more typical school environment with a dog as their support “person”. The social bridge that the dog provides with the child’s peers is particularly important.
Each dog receives training adapted to meet the specific needs of their human partner. Skills the dogs may be taught include: how to retrieve items, operate light switches, elevator buttons or door openers, tug a laundry basket and put laundry in or out of the machine, roll someone over in bed to prevent sores, pay cashiers, open or close doors, assist with dressing or undressing, help steady a unsteady walker negotiate bumpy terrain or stairs, and a multitude of other tasks.
CPL also places home companion dogs with children with special needs or the elderly and they work only in the home environment. These dogs are placed with recipients diagnosed with:
- Cerebral Palsy
- Autism
- Neurological impairments
- Global Developmental Delay
- Sensory Integration Dysfunction
- Alzheimer’s
- ADD/ADHD
- Tourette Syndrome
- Down Syndrome
- Seizure Disorders
- Spina Bifida
- Parkinson’s disease
- and many others
All CPL dogs are placed with a volunteer puppy raiser for their first year where they learn basic obedience, and socialization. CPL developed a prison puppy raising program when the organization’s growth exceeded the number of available community puppy home volunteers.
Your interest and support of CPL will provide the dogs and the tools necessary for people with disabilities, who seek and desire to live more independently. The total cost to raise, train, and place each dog while providing lifetime support for each of our teams is over $22,000 per dog; however the recipients are asked for a nominal donation at a fraction of that amount. Visit http://www.k94life.org or call (610) 869-4902 x 216.
