EDC Service Dog Scholarship
Our Mission:
The EDC Service Dog Scholarship is a small locally owned charity organization that serves the community by providing financial assistance for the training of a service dog for families or individuals in need for their health or wellbeing through a simple but thorough application process.
The Purpose:
Our purpose is to make the expensive and extensive training of a service dog more available to families and individuals who are in need of a canine but have limited financial means to do so.
Some General Information about Service Dog Training:
average cost of training a service dog: 20,000 - 50,000, depending on the service work the dog will do
What is a service dog? A service dog is a canine trained to complete a specific task or fill a certain job needed to make a disabled person's life more manageable.
What is the difference between service dogs and emotional support dogs? Service dogs are trained to complete a specific and repeatable task that helps their handler in daily life. Emotional support dogs are not trained in a task.
You can ask someone what task their dog is trained to do, but you cannot ask if they are "certified" or other prying questions.
Some things we have and can train a service dog for here at EDC:
your dog has to be trained in a task to assist you with your disability.
some examples include but are not limited to: hearing assistance, mobility assistance dogs, PTSD assistance, odor alert for someone without scense of smell, deep pressure therapy, medical alert dog.
We do not train diabetes dogs or seeing eye dogs at EDC at this time.
Our scholarship will be available starting this year through a thorough application process reviewed by our board members.
Acceptance for scholarship funds will be based on financial need and availbility at the time.
You may have your service dog trained with us even if you do not apply for this scholarship. Read below for the story that caused our inspiration for the creation of this foundation.
Our Core Values:
We believe in connecting to our community through helping others by practicing our core values:
Integrity - honesty and transparency in our decisions and interactions.
Collaboration - working together to make decisions on scholarships and with the individuals and families who are awarded our services.
Respect - appreciation for our donors, volunteers, and for the people and canines we serve.
Simplicity - keeping the process of application simple, streamlined, and accessible.
Passion - remaining dedicated and driven to create lasting and dependable service dogs with an unmistakable bond to their handler.
Our Story:
In the fall of 2023 a family came to me asking EDC to help train their new corgi puppy as a service dog trained in deep pressure therapy and other emotionally supportive tasks as their toddler had been diagnosed with an aggressive cancer. They were looking for a quote and hoping it would fit their small budget as their daughter’s medical bills were already taking a toll. Immediately I wanted to help them and reached out internally to my clientele. The outpouring of their support to sponsor this family they did not know was heartwarming. At their first lesson, I was able to surprise the family that the dog’s service training would be on the house and they cried with gratitude. Their corgi Dustin has done amazing and accompanies their daughter to the hospital on many occasions providing comfort and support for her and the family. Through this non-profit EDC hopes to be able to help other families faced with medical hardships that no one should ever have to face. Through a detailed application process we hope to help families in need be provided with service dog training and continued training support by awarding EDC scholarship funds based on need and availability.