Canine Leaders Freedom Dogs, CLFD, (a subsidiary of Canine Leaders) is a progressing company dedicated to improving the quality of life and assisting in providing a sourse of independence through the outlet of highly trained service dogs to those with disability's. CLFD is providing Freedom, one dog at a time, by taking the "dis" out of disability!

Service dogs, for mobility assistance, assist people who use wheelchairs by opening doors, or drawers, pushing up ramps and over curbs, picking up dropped objects, and carrying parcels.

 Service dogs, for seizure assistance, can push a button to send an alert (for example "dial" 911), bark to get help, prevent their handler from going on a road, notify the onset of a seizure, and pick up dropped objects. Dogs cannot be specifically trained to alert the handler to a coming seizure, however dogs who are sensitive to people, and who have developed a strong bond with their handler, may learn to pre-detect seizures.

Service dogs can be trained to support persons with autism by helping them cope with their sensory and social differences in a number of ways: 

1. By assisting them to modulate their sensory and motor behaviour
2. Dogs can help orientate their owners to their environments and alert caregivers to any problems
3. The social isolation of a person with autism can be overcome when s/he has a service dog that attracts positive attention and thus facilitating social interaction with others
4. A dog’s natural ability to learn routines can help its owner to learn a sequence of steps in a routine activity. Also, a dog's ability to recognize and accommodate to change can help a person become more flexible to unforeseen changes.

If you have a family member or know someone who is disabled and would qualify as someone who would need a special skills dog then please contact us.

NOTE:  We are currently seeking as much help as possible in this area of our company.

We are interested in finding sponsors. We also could use some determined people to join our fundraising committee. Since we are not a non-profit organization, and this type of service is very expensive, most people cannot come up with the money for a service dog on their own. We must raise the money ourselves, which can be quite challenging at times. However, with the right team of people, we will be able to help put more trained dogs each year in the hands of those who truly need a Special Skills dog.

Please contact us for any questions concerning this training.

Niki Wilkins

Treasurer/Trainer

(905)563-6648

n.wilkins@cogeco.ca