A unique feature about ECAD is that all of the dogs we place are trained by adolescents attending alternative schools on the campuses of residential treatment centers. The ECADemy© program takes place in five facilities in lower New York,, all of which specialize in helping children with emotional, behavioral, and learning problems.
On the surface, the ECADemy is a vocational education program designed to teach much-needed work skills and expose students to career choices to consider pursuing after high school. By assuming the roles of teachers and service providers, the students learn to set goals and solve problems using patience, communication skills, self-control, frustration tolerance, and motivational techniques. The students also perform a community service by helping people with disabilities to become more independent. Please see the ECADemy video for more details.
The therapeutic benefits of working with dogs go far beyond the educational, though. Most of our students are struggling with anger and pain, have difficulty succeeding at traditional schoolwork, and often feel incapable of giving or receiving love. In ECAD programs, working with the dogs helps even the most difficult children establish a sense of self worth, master their tempers, and learn to trust again. Every day, we see the dogs provide students with immediate and non-judgmental feedback about their own behavior, and teach them new ways to modify that behavior. For many of our students, it is the first time they have experienced ongoing success. The pride they gain from their accomplishments —and their dogs’— is invaluable.
The benefits work both ways, though. Thanks to the inexhaustible energy, dedication, enthusiasm, and creativity of the teen trainers, ECAD is able to produce a high number of extremely well-trained, well-socialized, highly skilled Assistance Dogs. The students and clients also learn a lot from each other, and not just about training dogs! ECAD would like to recognize its ECADemy partners:
The Children's Village and Greenburgh Eleven USFD in Dobbs Ferry, NY
Green Chimneys in Brewster, NY
mercyFirst in Syosset, NY
The Jewish Board of Family and Children's Services in Hawthorne and the Bronx, NY