DOG TRAINERS > ECAD
EDUCATED CANINES ASSISTING WITH DISABILITIES
P.O. Box 831 Torrington, CT 06790 PHONE : 860-489-6550 WEBSITE : https://www.ecad1.org/ EMAIL : info@ecad1.org |
ECAD stands for Educated Canines Assisting with Disabilities and that’s exactly what co-founder, Lu Picard’s dogs do. Their mission is to enable people with disabilities to gain greater physical and emotional independence and mobility through the use of specially educated dogs. Lu and Dale Picard started ECAD over twenty years ago in their two-car garage with a $15,000 grant from the Hartford, Conn Jaycees. Their passion and commitment has helped build this organization into what it is today – a beautiful breeding and training facility in Torrington, Conn, that places a minimum of seventeen service dogs a year.
Lu started to train dogs after her father had a stroke, and ended up severely depressed because of his lack of mobility. Deeply concerned, Lu decide to teach the family dog, Juliet, to do tasks for her father, like “pull” and “brace”. Lu’s father and Juliet became a team and Lu was off and running with her new purpose in life, determined to help other people too. Lu and Dale’s dogs help with all kinds of disabilities and that include veterans with physical injuries, PTSD and TBI.
As with all the facilities we’ve filmed, ECAD provides a safe, nurturing environment for veterans to come to meet their dogs, learn how to handle them and go off to a better life with an extraordinary, superbly trained companion.
As with all the facilities we’ve filmed, ECAD provides a safe, nurturing environment for veterans to come to meet their dogs, learn how to handle them and go off to a better life with an extraordinary, superbly trained companion.
ABOUT LU PICARD
I had always had a way with dogs but I never thought I would be an educator of dogs and work with them to help people with disabilities. Then my dad had a stroke. He had been a strong, independent man and it pained me terribly to see him unable to do anything by himself. If this pained me, then it made my dad despondent.
I had an idea. We had a dog, Juliet, and I began putting her leash in my dad’s hand and commanded her to pull, or walk forward. Soon my dad was able to rise up from the sofa without our help. He and Juliet became a team, and little by little, step-by-step, with her assistance, he began to walk again. I knew then that I had found my purpose in life.
In 1995, my husband Dale and I started ECAD, a not for profit organization whose mission is to educate canines to assist people with disabilities so they may lead lives with more independence and mobility. Over the years, I learned everything I could about this field. Today we have the highest accreditation given by Assistance Dogs International.
We have placed over 300 Service Dogs with people who have a wide range of disabilities, both visible or physical, and invisible emotional, psychological or behavioral disorders.
In 2007, we started our Project HEAL Program specifically for Veterans, many of whom were suffering from PTSD, TBI or lost limbs. We have had Veterans from all of the conflicts, including Vietnam. But most have been in combat in Iraq and Afghanistan. Dale and I are so proud that we can help these men and women who have risked all for our country, for us.
I am so proud of Greg. He looks big and strong, and he is, but he is the first to admit that the issues he has been dealing with for many years now have robbed him of the motivation to lead a life outside his safety zone. He had become isolated and solitary. This is the reality of PTSD and TBI. Greg wanted a Service Dog to be his motivator. And within the first three days of being at our Team Training session, it was clear that Service Dog Velveeta was already being just that. Greg was open for it to happen and it did. That is why he could get up in front of the audience at graduation and be the spokesperson for the class.
When this happens, and every time it happens, it is the Gregs of this world who motivate me to continue on to the next client, the next Service Dog, the next team.
I had an idea. We had a dog, Juliet, and I began putting her leash in my dad’s hand and commanded her to pull, or walk forward. Soon my dad was able to rise up from the sofa without our help. He and Juliet became a team, and little by little, step-by-step, with her assistance, he began to walk again. I knew then that I had found my purpose in life.
In 1995, my husband Dale and I started ECAD, a not for profit organization whose mission is to educate canines to assist people with disabilities so they may lead lives with more independence and mobility. Over the years, I learned everything I could about this field. Today we have the highest accreditation given by Assistance Dogs International.
We have placed over 300 Service Dogs with people who have a wide range of disabilities, both visible or physical, and invisible emotional, psychological or behavioral disorders.
In 2007, we started our Project HEAL Program specifically for Veterans, many of whom were suffering from PTSD, TBI or lost limbs. We have had Veterans from all of the conflicts, including Vietnam. But most have been in combat in Iraq and Afghanistan. Dale and I are so proud that we can help these men and women who have risked all for our country, for us.
I am so proud of Greg. He looks big and strong, and he is, but he is the first to admit that the issues he has been dealing with for many years now have robbed him of the motivation to lead a life outside his safety zone. He had become isolated and solitary. This is the reality of PTSD and TBI. Greg wanted a Service Dog to be his motivator. And within the first three days of being at our Team Training session, it was clear that Service Dog Velveeta was already being just that. Greg was open for it to happen and it did. That is why he could get up in front of the audience at graduation and be the spokesperson for the class.
When this happens, and every time it happens, it is the Gregs of this world who motivate me to continue on to the next client, the next Service Dog, the next team.