ADEPT™

Assistance Dog Education Program and Training

Assistance Dog Education Program and Training (ADEPT™)

ADEPT™ 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.

Prison road

How Does ADEPT Work?

✯ 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.


Bring ADEPT to your College, University or other Institution

Ask Us About ADEPT

We offer:
✯ An established curriculum and extensive experience training both dogs and people.
✯ A mission statement specifically focused on the educational aspect of training dogs.
✯ A complete package of skills and knowledge developed by pioneers in the field.
✯ Broad, up-to-date, and relevant Continuing Education experience.
✯ In-depth experience within the University of Wisconsin and Federal Bureau of Prisons systems.

Grace M.

Grace M.

2020 ADEPT Alumni, University of Wisconsin River Falls

"As I reflect on my time at UW-River Falls, I can’t imagine not being in the ADEPT program, the impact it had on me is hard to put into words. I not only had the amazing opportunity to train four assistance dogs and see two of the dogs that I trained through to placements with clients, but I also made lifelong friendships with my fellow ADEPT interns. Being an ADEPT intern was challenging but so incredibly rewarding, each dog teaching me something new and bringing a new set of challenges and opportunities. To this day I am so proud to be able to share with others the amazing work PawPADs and the ADEPT program is doing and my experiences from the past two years. From the beginning I said that these dogs are life changers and I know that is true because they have forever changed mine.”

- Grace M

Nathan D.

Nathan D.

2019 ADEPT Alumni, University of Wisconsin River Falls

"ADEPT creates the opportunity for coming-of-age students and service dogs in-training to learn from each other, resulting in life-changing client placements. Student interns live their lives with their dogs, which means going to class, work, appointments, events, you name it. It also means going through the highs and the lows with each other, learning their personalities, celebrating small victories, educating the community, and advocating for individuals with disabilities. Living this life leads to endless teaching moments, both human and canine. The process of raising a service dog requires intense love, hard work, and determination." - Nate D.
Alana S.

Alana S.

ADEPT Intern, University of Wisconsin River Falls

The ADEPT internship has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my life. Helping service dogs develop from puppies with no manners to fully-fledged diabetic alert dogs or physical assistance dogs is eye-opening. I have been able to see the dogs I have worked with find their perfect match and take on the world with their partner, and this has shown me that the ADEPT internship has not only changed my life for the better, but has also helped me change the lives of others in monumental ways." - Alana S
Lauren S.

Lauren S.

2022 ADEPT Alumni, University of Wisconsin River Falls

“Throughout my three years as an ADEPT intern, I’ve been able to work with seven incredible dogs. Each dog provides new opportunities to learn and grow, both personally and as a trainer. Being able to watch partnerships form between clients and our dogs is a magical experience, and knowing you played a role in allowing those partnerships to develop makes all of the challenges we face during training worth it. Interns learn how to advocate for not only our clients and dogs, but also for ourselves. We learn how to tackle life with strength, confidence, and determination. This organization has changed my life in the best way possible and I’m so excited to continue working with PawPADs in order to help change other people’s lives.” - Lauren S.