Why We Fundraise
Canine Companions is leading the service dog industry so our clients and their dogs can live with greater independence. We provide service dogs to adults, children and veterans with disabilities and facility dogs to professionals working in healthcare, criminal justice and educational settings. Since our founding in 1975, our dogs and all follow-up services are provided at no cost to our clients.
Elizabeth Pode and Service Dog Edge
Elizabeth Pode is a career coach at Pepperdine Graziadio Business School and lives an independent, active life. She is always on-the-go between work, graduate school, traveling, social events and more. Elizabeth also lives with cerebral palsy, specifically spastic diplegia, which causes her to have extremely limited balance; she is not able to walk without assistance from her walker or with help from someone and often can fall or drop items she cannot pick up.
While Elizabeth was fairly independent before she was matched with Service Dog Edge, she always lived with a fear of being a situation where she would need to call for help or would be stranded and need to rely on a stranger passing by.
Elizabeth was matched with Edge at the Southwest Region’s Oceanside campus in August 2022. Service Dog Edge picks things up off the ground for Elizabeth, limiting the likelihood of a fall. He can also bring her walker back to her, eliminating situations of her being stranded and having to rely on a stranger to come by and help. Edge is trained in over 45 tasks that all assist with Elizabeth’s ability to maintain an independent lifestyle and give her the reassurance she needs to navigate through life without fear.
Elizabeth remarks, “I’m an outgoing and social person by nature, but Edge just takes it to the next level. As I make my way up in my career, I really feel like people are drawn to us as a team and he’s a great ambassador for people with disabilities. I also feel like when I’m alone, he’s wonderful insurance that I can remain independent. While my disability is not progressive, as I get older, my body acts differently based on wear and tear. I have gotten stiffer and have less strength and balance. Things that used to be easy are getting harder, so Edge is a great help in navigating my changing ability level.”
When you raise funds through DogFest, you make a direct impact and make the gift of enhanced independence possible for the people we serve. Get started now!
