Partnership Includes Ongoing Visits During Segerstrom Center’s
School of Dance & Music for Children with Disabilities
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A new and mutually beneficial partnership has formed as Segerstrom Center for the Arts and Canine Companions for Independence have joined together to have puppies training to be assistance dogs visit children who are dancing with Segerstrom Center’s School of Dance & Music for Children with Disabilities.
Since April 2017, volunteers from Canine Companions have been bringing puppies before and after classes as part of the socializing phase for each puppy’s training. This socializing phase is critical to the puppy’s training, ensuring that the dog is exposed to and prepared for any situation that might arise in their lives as assistance dogs.
Canine Companions assistance dogs are bred to be calm, reliable, affectionate and utilize trained skills and tasks to help mitigate the recipient’s disability. The visits have been providing a welcoming and calming effect for the children and even the guardians, along with lots of smiles – one parent said of the experience, “My child loved the visits with the dogs!”
scfta.org
