Canine Companions Puget Sound

Mission

Canine Companions provides children, adults and veterans with disabilities with expertly trained service dogs so that individuals can live with greater independence. Canine Companions also provides professionals working in healthcare, criminal justice, and educational settings facility fogs to engage with clients in stressful settings. Since its founding in 1975, more than 8,400 service and facility dogs have been provided to individuals and organizations at no cost, including follow-up services. This year we are celebrating 50 years of empowering people with disabilities to live with greater independence.

Lead with Independence

Canine Companions is leading the service dog industry so our clients and their dogs can live with greater independence. We provide service dogs to adults, children and veterans with disabilities and facility dogs to professionals working in healthcare, criminal justice and educational settings. Our dogs are expertly trained in over 40 tasks, including retrieving dropped items, opening doors, and can even assist with making purchases. A Canine Companions service dog not only assists with physical tasks but also provides meaningful companionship. Canine Companions does not charge for service dogs or the lifetime of ongoing support they provide to the service dog teams. As a result, they depend on private funding through donations from individuals, corporations, foundations and community organizations. A Seattle Give Big gift of $10,000 would fund the cost of a local resident’s two-week training course where they will be matched with their own service dog at our new Puget Sound Field Office in SODO Seattle.

Local Story of Independence

Evan was born a week early and experienced seizures, which have since stabilized, but left him with hemiplegic cerebral palsy. He was also diagnosed with autism from a young age, and matched with Service Dog Kalvin in June of 2024, not even a year after the Puget Sound Field Office opened in Seattle. According to Kalvin’s puppy raisers, “Kalvin is like a 7-year-old boy in a dog’s body,” making him the perfect best friend for Evan.

Since being matched, Evans' quality of life has improved significantly with the support of Kalvin, as he assists in physical tasks, such as retrieving his ankle brace and opening and closing doors for him. Support with these tasks is especially important for Evan, as it allows him to conserve his energy for more important things throughout the day, as his endurance is essential for his coordination and balance. 

As an especially anxious 7-year-old, Kalvin also provides physical support by sleeping back-to-back with Evan, using the “visit” cue to rest on his lap, and providing a distraction from moments of overstimulation by getting in a good brushing session together, or feeding him. He has also served as the bridge to Evan’s social life, being the reason he is now able to attend school in person, and the perfect conversation starter when meeting new people. He’s even helped Evan find the words to verbally express his feelings to his family and peers.

“When I feel like I need to cry, Kalvin is always there for me,” says Evan. Thanks to Kalvin, Evan doesn’t feel alone, or like he is being left behind because of his disabilities.

Here from Evan's mom when she spoke to Fox News here.