all things dog are a passion of mine…

Understanding and working with standard poodles destined to become service dogs is a calling. I have puppy raised, obedience trained and harness trained guide dog poodles. I am fortunate to have trained weekly with a blind handler for over two years and learned to truly understand how guide dogs need to perform in daily life with their human. I am grateful to have worked and trained with Bob Wendler (GDMI extraordinaire) while learning how to harness train guide dogs.

Call me at 970.708.7977 if you need a helping hand with your own service pup.

STRATEGIC PROFESSIONAL PURPOSE
— Making a positive impact in the lives of service dogs and their handlers
— Bringing my skills and passion to the table on behalf of assistance dog non-profits
— Helping match dogs who love to work with handlers who love dogs
— Using my extensivebusiness strategy, marketing and coaching skills to grow non-profit assistance dog organizations in their purpose
— Training potential service dogs to perform needed tasks for persons with disabilities

SERVICE DOG TRAINING AND RAISING (2015 – PRESENT)
I am fortunate to have trained weekly with a blind handler for over two years and learned to truly understand how guide dogs need to perform in daily life with their human. Because blindness rarely presents alone, I have also learned to work with multiple disabilities including deafness, cognitive impairment and physical limitations.

I am an active apprentice with Bob Wendler (GDMI extraordinaire: Guide Dogs of America, Guide Dogs for the Blind, Guide Dogs of the Desert, Custom Canines Service Dog Academy)

— Guide harness training with certified GDMI (all aspects including traffic and platform work)
— Skills training and coaching for post-traumatic stress relief with dogs and their handlers
— Obedience training methods of GDD and GDB
— Orientation and mobility (O&M) training
—Standard poodle grooming
— Life skills for blind and visually impaired as resident home manager
— Logged 6–13k miles/year for the last 10 years road travel while maintaining clients and socializing service dog puppies
— Currently demonstrating the Unifly guide harness and other service harnesses with a retired service dog while traveling and camping throughout the continental United States.

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PHILANTHROPY  ::
I am honored to devote my time, love and energy to being a trainer and puppy raiser for future service dogs who serve blind & visually impaired individuals, and veterans and first responders with PTSD. In these efforts I proudly support and volunteer with a number of non-profit organizations who breed, train and place service dogs.

Custom Canines Service Dog Academy is a non-profit organization, powered by wonderful volunteers, and dedicated to raising, training, and giving service dogs to individuals with disabilities, free of charge. In so doing, they enable people to live fuller lives of courage and passion with their canine partners at their side. Their main focus is helping first responders and military veteran handlers needing help with PTS, TBI and other related disabilities.

Growing Up Guide Pup Many service dog organizations do not have their own breeding programs and that is where the Service Dog Litter Project comes in. This project breeds, whelps and provides puppies, free of charge, to service dog organizations across the country including Phoenix Assistance Dogs, Cascade Service Dogs and Custom Canines.

Below is a photo of Reed, a dark blue standard poodle puppy, when he was about 20 months old. He is now a trained guide dog living and working with his handler in Las Vegas. Visit my page on Instagram for more videos, photos and stories @sandyleebassett

As well, I have co-founded the Las Vegas Service Dogs Training Club. Skye Dunfield and I are dog training geeks and created this twice-monthly group for service dog teams that meet for conversation, support, obedience and training sessions. Feel free to email me at sandy@sandybassett.com for more information.

PS: I can’t resist buying the litter from Two Blind Brothers!