Service Dog Demonstration

There is nothing like a dog to soothe the way through a difficult day. But for some people dealing with disabilities a dog’s presence can be even more compelling.

A demonstration of how helpful a dog can be will be given Saturday, May 12th, at 10:30AM when the David M. Hunt Library hosts a demonstration of ECAD (Educated Canine Assisting with Disability) dogs.

Attendees will be able to snuggle with a puppy in training and see specially trained canines in action. A volunteer and staff member of the Torrington/Winchester-based non-profit ECAD will talk about how dogs are trained to serve people with disabilities and how the placement process happens.

ECAD, founded by Lu and Dale Picard of Torrington, grew out of personal experience. When Lu’s father suffered a stroke she saw how much he hated being dependent on her. She taught their family pet to help him rise from a chair and retrieve some items and noticed that her father actually became more active and less depressed.

In 1995, she quit her full-time job to start ECAD. One year later her husband, Dale, also gave up his own business to work full time for ECAD, constructing kennels and offices, and redesigning the house in which their family lived.

Since then ECAD has received nonprofit status and has grown to have training facilities in Connecticut and New York. Their dogs have been placed with disabled persons in more than a dozen states.

This event is free and open to the public. For more information call the library at 860-824-7424, visit www.huntlibrary.org or contact ECAD at 860-379-7788. Hunt Library is located at 63 Main Street in Falls Village CT.