Canine Partners of the Rockies is a Colorado nonprofit organization with the mission of positively impacting the lives of Colorado residents with disabilities. Canine Partners raises, trains and places highly skilled service dogs with individuals who have mobility-limiting disabilities and facility dogs with professionals who provide therapeutic services to people with disabilities. Through speaking engagements, Canine Partners also educates the public about the role assistance dogs play in the lives of people with disabilities.

Canine Partners of the Rockies is supported by individual donations, grants, foundations and fundraising activities. Canine Partners does not receive government funding.

As an accredited member of Assistance Dogs International (ADI), Canine Partners has also joined the ADI American Breeding Cooperative (ABC). Members are able to exchange puppies with other member service and guide dog organizations to continually replenish the population of dogs bred for service work. These wonderful dogs are chosen for the physical characteristics, mental stability and temperaments that make them ideally suited for assistance dog careers.

Puppies begin training when first placed with their volunteer puppy raiser at approximately 8 weeks of age.

A puppy starts their training with their first volunteer Canine Partners Puppy Raiser (PR) who is responsible for the puppy while it lives in their home. The PR teaches basic obedience and service dog cues learned in class with trainers at the Canine Partners facility. Puppies 8 weeks – 8 months old attend puppy kindergarten and move to intermediate level classes from 8 – 14 months; classes are once a week. Puppies ready for advanced training work one-on-one with trainers 3x/week and will attend class with their PR every other week. Puppy raisers make an 8-12 month commitment to care for and train the puppy. The puppy will then shift to a new family in order to allow for more socialization and to experience different environments and training styles. Puppy raisers have the option to either raise another young puppy or take on an intermediate or advanced dog. All PRs are highly encouraged to raise a young puppy to acquire a strong foundation of how to train basic manners and cues. Canine Partners covers the cost of food, all necessary vet appointments and training equipment for the puppy. To learn more about the training stages, visit our Their Journey page.

Canine Partners of the Rockies is dedicated to using positive reinforcement training methods.

Throughout training, Canine Partners puppies live in a home environment.

Without question, it is difficult to give up a puppy. Volunteer puppy raisers and advanced trainers bond strongly with a puppy as part of their effort to help the puppy thrive in a loving and nurturing environment. Nevertheless, there is a great sense of pride and accomplishment when “their” dog is placed in a working partnership.

Canine Partners of the Rockies attempts to find another “job” for the dog to have a working life. Even though our dogs are bred to be working dogs, sometimes they decide they do not want to work to reach the level required for certain skills, or medical reasons do not allow them to continue training. The dog will be released and available for adoption.

Canine Partners only places dogs with Colorado residents age 14 and older. Mobility service dogs are placed with people who have mobility-limiting conditions. Facility dogs are placed with professionals who provide therapeutic intervention services within a visitation, education or healthcare setting. Descriptions of each type of placement, information about the application process, and applicant expectations and requirements can be found at our Apply for a Dog page.

When an applicant is matched with an assistance dog, the partnering phase of training begins. Team Training, a combination of hands-on experience with the dog, lectures and self-study, takes approximately two weeks and is designed to give the candidate necessary skills and knowledge to handle and care for an assistance dog. Sessions may be individualized or in group settings.

Canine Partners specializes in training mobility service dogs who assist individuals with medical conditions such as:

  • Multiple Sclerosis
  • Spinal cord injuries
  • Parkinson’s Disease
  • Amputations
  • Cerebral Palsy
  • Mobility-impacting auto-immune diseases (e.g., Rheumatoid Arthritis)
  • And other mobility-limiting challenges

*We place our dogs with people 14 years of age and older

Though many of our mobility service dog clients may exhibit more than one medical condition to some degree, Canine Partners does not train mobility service dogs to support the following:

  • PTSD
  • Psychiatric disorders (including but not limited to anxiety, depression, bipolar, schizophrenia, borderline personality disorder)
  • Hearing loss
  • Visual impairment
  • Autism
  • Disabilities requiring medical alert (including but not limited to seizures, diabetes, allergy, heart/blood pressure)
  • Disabilities requiring balance and support

Canine Partners does not train emotional support dogs or personal dogs to become mobility service dogs.

Be a Canine Partners Puppy Raiser! We are always looking for people who want to make a difference by helping train our puppies. For more information, please go to our Volunteer page for this and other volunteer opportunities.

You can help by making a financial contribution to Canine Partners of the Rockies. For more information or to donate, please go to the Ways to Give page on our website.