Summit Assistance Dogs Presentation

Have you ever wondered how service dogs are trained? Join Village Books and Summit Assistance Dogs and learn all about it! You'll even have a chance to meet a mobility assistance dog in training! Since an in-training dog will be joining us for this presentation we ask that you please leave your pets at home if you are attending this event.

Summit Assistance Dogs is a nonprofit organization that creates life-changing partnerships by providing highly-skilled mobility service dogs for people living with disabilities in the Pacific Northwest. By assisting with tasks such as retrieving items, opening and closing doors, and turning switches on and off, our dogs help their partners live with greater independence and confidence. These companions can also help diminish depression, anxiety, and loneliness. We believe all people and animals deserve to reach their highest potential, and that frequently this is best achieved in partnership with one another.

Summit was founded in 2000 by Sue Meinzinger, a graduate of the Assistance Dog Institute in Santa Rosa, CA, to help meet the overwhelming demand for skilled service dogs. While training at the Assistance Dog Institute, Sue worked with Eddy, a lovely Golden Retriever. A minor health issue caused Eddy to be career-changed from the service dog program, so Sue adopted her and brought her back to Skagit County as her "co-founder" of Summit Assistance Dogs. Eddy served as Summit's chief ambassador and demonstration dog until the fall of 2013, when she crossed the Rainbow Bridge.

Sue started the program out of her home, later moving to facilities in Anacortes, WA. Achieving a life-long dream, Summit acquired a piece of land on north Whidbey Island in 2014 and has begun building a service dog training campus on the property.

Summit Assistance Dogs has become one of the leading providers of assistance dogs in Washington State, and the need for our services continues to grow as more and more people recognize the benefits of these life-changing partnerships. Since it's founding in 2000, Summit has helped positively influence hundreds of lives, not only by partnering service dogs, but through its Pr*son program partnership with Monroe Correctional Complex, in Monroe, WA.

To learn more about Summit Assistance Dogs, head to summitdogs.org.

*Feel free to call Village Books and Paper Dreams for further assistance at 360-671-2626!*

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