December Logotech-4-Good Recipient

The Exceptional Sidekick Service Dogs Help Young People Succeed.

When the Sandy Hook School shooting changed her community forever, Abby Hill was a dog trainer in Newtown, Conn.

Many people reached out to her, offering their pets as comfort and service animals. Most of those dogs were not appropriate for the work, but it sparked an idea for Hill. She reached out to Assistance Dogs International for start-up advice and support.

Nine years later, The Exceptional Sidekick Service Dogs matches trained psychiatric service dogs with young people. They work with youth ages 12 to 22 within a 30-mile radius of Newtown.

Our Logotech-4-Good program helps spread its message by giving $500 in new promotional products. Hill asked for products to give away during school career days, educational events and fairs.

Training service dogs is expensive, but the dog allows these young people to reclaim their lives, Hill said.

Their clients come with many issues a trained therapy dog can assist in treating.

"It was Sandy Hook that got it started, but our dogs are not just for kids in school shootings," she said.

Their clients include children with medical trauma, sexual assault survivors, LGBTQ youth, and victims of bullying. "It is very far-reaching," Hill said.

Service dogs are trained not just to be in public -- which can be stressful for them in itself -- but to help their people in specific situations.

The dogs can block their person to clear space around them. They train the animals to give deep pressure therapy, stop panic attacks and self-harming behavior, bring medication when needed, and alleviate anxiety and stress.

Not every dog has the temperament to work as a service dog. It is very breed-specific, Hill said. Even in the breeds that are successful service dogs, less than 15 percent advance in training. "The dog can't be trained. It is either genetically in them or not," she said.

Success for The Exceptional Sidekick is when the young person can return to school and learn.

One of their clients is now at school learning to be a service dog trainer herself. "She wants to pursue this as a career and dedicate her life to this," Hill said.

Traditional school settings can be difficult for both the children facing psychiatric issues and the dogs. Hill and her team are raising funds and campaigning for a therapeutic school. There, young people would get the emotional support they need to finish their education with their service dogs.

Learn more about The Exceptional Sidekick Service Dogs at its website.

Apply for the Logotech-4-Good program on our page.