Neads Inc

Total waste of time with staff that could care less about helping, lack of common sense and compassion is a common thread with this organization. Find another reputable business because this is not one of them.

We have spent well over 3 years in contact with this company to get my little brother a service dog. Time that should clearly have been spent somewhere else, we've heard every excuse in the book and some were even verbatum copied with over a year apart. This facility claimed to be able to train the dog that he needed, yet they raised money, we raised money, people and companies have donated and now the only person out of luck here is a kid with spastic quadreplegia with an advancing white matter disease. The one thing that excites him is a potential friend in the form of a service dog and now even that idea is better left untalked about because it upsets him, that is 100% on this company.

I consider myself fortunate to be client of NEADS. I have seen many "Service Dogs" that make me question whether they even benefit and increase the quality of life for the disabled client. I have also heard plenty of "Dog Whisperer" wannabe's argue over what method is better. Ate the end of the day, I am CONSTANTLY complimented about how well behaved my dog is and most never even know he's with me until I exit a building or restaurant.

The process used by NEADS for training and matching their dogs to clients is on point. It saves clients time and the organization money. As far as quality of the dogs or behavior once they are in the care of the clients is concerned, I think people easily forget that the clients are responsible to continue enforcing the lessons taught to the dogs by the process. Prime example would be the recertification process. When I took my dog for re-certification, he was able to complete all tasks perfectly and all in less than 15 min; while I heard that some other clients took a bit longer due to their failure to maintain the training as they were taught during the TWO WEEK on on site training when they first received their service dog. Like parenting and organizational leadership, the ongoing performance of the service animal is a direct reflection of the behavior which the person in charge allows. Dogs are still like children, you give them an inch and they will try to take the mile. Unlike children, however, minor corrections and reminders will keep them at the high standard and level of training which (to me is) seems to be the standard which NEADS provide to clients.

When compared to some of the other ADI certified organizations which provide similar services, NEADS will always be the standard to which others have to strive to achieve.

NEADS looks at each perspective client, family member, from not only the disease or disorder, but more importantly from the specific disabilities and difficulties, including lifestyle and family surroundings. For someone such as me this is a Godsend. From the moment I was interviewed before receiving my first NEADS dog, I felt that warmth and validation. The training consists of both on site, and field trip experiences. You are able to interact, perform, and live with your new canine partner. The client is also given the opportunity to visit the prison where the pups receive their initial training and meet your partner’s inmate trainer. It’s amazing to see the dog and inmate….the love between them is palpable. The pride in the inmate’s eyes is an emotion that I’ve yet to see anywhere else. I have yet to find anything that my assistance dog partner, my friend, my confidant can’t handle. We are indeed one, we work with each other, as each other, and for this reason, I am indeed blessed. Thank you NEADS.

I am a Professional Working Dog Trainer with over 20 years of experience in the working dog and assistance dog field. I have seen the quality of the dogs from NEADS go downhill severely since early 2002 and it is getting progressively worse. While NEADS in fact has a very friendly staff, the loss of their old training director in the early 2000’s impacted the quality of the final product produced by NEADS to a very concerning level. While the majority of people that puppy raise and train these special dogs have their hearts in the right place, they lack the professional experience needed to reproduce the quality of trained dogs they once offered in the late 90’s. Although NEADS is an ADI accredited School, the complaints of performance issues now fall on deaf ears by ADI when it comes to a good number of ADI accredited organizations. Many of the recipients that have issues with a NEADS dog live in fear of the organization repossessing their assistance dog and place them on another multiple year waiting list because of issues the organization is unwilling or unable to repair with their current assistance dog.