Empowering Partnerships

Program Details

A program for those who have dedicated their lives to serving us in crisis and emergency. Our program includes; Firefighters, EMT, Law Enforcement, Dispatchers, Medical Examiners, Forensics, and Crime Scene Investigators.

We provide our dogs free of cost, we are helping facilitate life-empowering partnerships to those working on the front lines in (3) ways:

Partner Service Dog: This dog is publicly-accessible through the American with Disability Act (ADA). He/she is trained to perform tasks that help strengthen the mental health and overall wellbeing of a First Responder. For example we are working with several First Responders with traumatic and/or repetitive stress injuries, as well as brain injuries.

Team Dog: This non-ADA accessible dog is trained to provide comfort and support for first response teams at their facility or as part of a crisis intervention and debriefing.

Buddy Dog: This non-ADA accessible dog is trained to perform tasks that provide comfort and support for a First Responder at home.

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Are you interested in getting a First Response K-9? Do you know of someone you would benefit from having a service dog, team dog, or buddy dog?

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Training

During training, our First Response Canines learn core tasks as well as tasks specific to the needs of the First Responder. Core tasks include how the dog responds and supports their human (like applying deep pressure therapy or cuddling upon cue) and how the dog helps their human navigate crowds (like controlling spacing and interactions in public).

For First Responders, dogs may also be trained for a wide range of additional skills, like finding help, sweeping a room, turning on a light switch, or finding an exit. NICST works closely with clients to determine how our dogs can respond to the needs of their daily life and work to individualize the training for each First Responder.

The training of First Response K-9’s and all NICST dogs is based on the industry-leading scientific standards for which we have developed for over 15 years.

Every dog is trained to reliable and accurately perform their skills and tasks. We ensure that First Response Canines will strengthen the health, mental well-being, and overall wellness of individuals, teams, and organizations

Empowering Partnerships

Program Details

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Training

Program Brochure

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