ADEPT™ (Assistance Dog Education Program and Training) is an innovative experiential education program that utilizes PawPADs’ positive training methods and philosophy to give participants an opportunity to grow, both professionally and personally, while also preparing assistance dogs to help people with disabilities gain independence.

• ADEPT is unique in that it provides an intensive, life-changing opportunity for participants to learn life-skills through the training of an assistance dog for placement with a person with a disability.
• Unlike traditional assistance dog “puppy-raising” experiences, ADEPT offers a full curriculum covering topics like team building, disability education, advocacy issues, nonprofit management, service dog laws/ethics, reward based training and canine enrichment.
• PawPADs provides ADEPT participants with service dogs in-training, professional training instruction and opportunities for broader collaboration within the industry and the community. It’s a serious commitment of time, patience, and teamwork on the part of the participant, but the benefits are truly life-changing.
• ADEPT offers participants a unique opportunity to learn practical life skills such as time management, emotional regulation, problem-solving, communication, leadership, and teamwork.
• Participants are responsible for the training, socialization and welfare of the ADEPT assistance dogs in-training. They learn high-level socialization/public access training, obedience skills, and task training that is useful to a person with a physical mobility challenge, such as retrieves, turning on lights, opening doors, as well as alerting to blood sugar changes in Type 1 diabetics.
• The ADEPT program has proven to be highly successful, with many of the dogs trained in the program going on to help individuals with disabilities gain independence. The program has also been a transformative experience for many of the participants, providing them with a sense of purpose, and a deep appreciation for the impact that they can have on others.