If you are the parent of a child with autism and you are interested in DFA, here are some basics to help you understand what is and is not available through our program.
What We Do
Breed, raise, train, and place service dogs to work in homes and in public with children with autism. Our service dogs work primarily in response to the parent's direction, not the child's.
Breed, raise, train, and place companion dogs to work in homes only with children who have autism. Whether the dog responds primarily to the parent or the child's direction is for the parents to decide.
Select and train dogs to work in clinical Animal Assisted Therapy according to a specific list of tasks given to us by the clinician purchasing the dog.
Provide a limited number of general puppy and pet obedience classes to the public.
Provide a limited number of small-group classes for families with autistic children who wish to involve their child in interaction with a family dog.
If you are interested in applying for a service dog for your child, you should start with the online application at this link: Application for Service Dog
What We Don't Do
We do not train and/or certify service dogs that come from outside our own program.
We do not release our own service dogs to any individual or family without an accompanying training contract that lasts the lifetime of the dog.
We do not accept donated dogs from any outside sources.
We do not sell or place outside service dog programs any dogs that are intact for breeding
Who We Serve
Service dogs: we are currently limited almost exclusively to serving clients in the immediate area of Greenville, SC, or Raleigh, NC.
AAT dogs: we are willing to provide dogs to clinicians who are willing to travel to Greenville for training.