Welcome to the family!

It hardly seems possible that it’s a year since I wrote this blog to mark the UN International Day of Families.

I pointed to the growing body of evidence that assistance dogs can have a beneficial impact for the whole family, not just their human partner - as well as the potentially calamitous consequences of introducing a poorly-trained dog into a family with particular needs.

Of course, as a life-long dog owner I don’t need to be convinced about the benefits of having a canine member of the family - my faithful black Labrador Tori has been with me through good times as well as bad. Dogs have been shown to have both physical and mental health benefits for the whole family, as well as helping with kids’ development and confidence. Dogs can also help build family bonds - how often have you heard someone say their dog is “part of the family”?

This year, however, I got to thinking about families from a slightly different perspective. Families come in all shapes and sizes. At Assistance Dogs International (ADI) - with nearly 200 member programs managing more than 27,000 assistance dogs, 42,000 volunteers and 6,000 staff - that’s a big family!

Like all families, ADI has its up and downs and our family gatherings can be pretty lively, with a wide diversity of experiences - that’s why I’m so much looking forward to our next conference in Zagreb, Croatia, later this year when we have a chance to meet and swap news and experiences. It’s always great to catch up face to face.

We’re a hugely diverse family. Our members come from 25 different countries across five continents. They  offer a wide range of assistance dogs including guide dogs for the blind or visually impaired; hearing dogs for people who are deaf or hard of hearing; service dogs for those living with disability, mobility challenges, autism, dementia, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), epilepsy, diabetes and other medical conditions; and facility dogs which work with a trained handler such as in a classroom or residential hospice facility. Our certified assistance dogs come in many shapes, sizes and colors; pure breeds and cross-breeds; adult rescue dogs and puppies from special breeding programs.

Despite this huge diversity, what unites us as a family is our constant desire to make life easier for people with disabilities and those facing mental health challenges. We are committed to ensure that our clients, who every day trust their lives and safety to their assistance dogs, can be confident their dog has been trained to the highest standards.

No matter where in the world they are based, ADI member programs share the same high set of standards and have passed the same rigorous accreditation process. No matter the size of their organization, they must be re-assessed every five years to earn their prized ADI accreditation. Every single one of those 27,000 certified assistance dogs has been trained by an accredited professional, experienced trainer.

It’s not easy to become a member of the ADI family - it can take up to five years for a candidate program to achieve full membership - but the rewards are immense. Talk to any of our members and they’ll tell you that sharing know-how, experience and challenges is one of the biggest benefits.

I count myself very lucky - not all families share the close-knit bond and common sense of purpose that ADI does. As the head of one of our programs told me at last year’s conference, “The value of ADI is the way we come together and support each other, and ADI encourages that. They want us to be open and sharing, and embrace our differences and commonalities.”

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Chris Diefenthaler is the Executive Director for Assistance Dogs International (ADI), who works with the international and regional boards to oversee the daily operations, provide information to the public about the high standards developed by ADI and helps direct potential assistance dog consumers to the appropriate member organization that can meet their needs.

From my experience of twenty-five years managing a variety of nonprofit organizations including as an executive director of an assistance dog organization, I have a strong understanding of the issues and challenges facing assistance dog organizations. I really enjoy providing support to our members by organizing educational conferences/seminars, providing networking opportunities and sharing best practices and information to continually improve our member’s programs and services. I have a black lab, Tori, that has a wonderful sweet temperament and an ornery orange tabby cat, Scout. I enjoy outdoor activities with my husband, playing tennis, biking and walking at our local parks.  

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