Who We Are:
Our Mission Statement:
We champion our dogs and their people. We lift up their lives.
𝓐𝓷𝓭 𝓽𝓱𝓮𝔂 𝓵𝓲𝓿𝓮𝓭 𝓱𝓪𝓹𝓹𝓲𝓵𝔂 𝓮𝓿𝓮𝓻 𝓪𝓯𝓽𝓮𝓻…
Our Vision:
People living with disabilities deserve a life-changing dog from us.*
*If they can competently and humanely care for a dog.
Our Values:
Compassion towards people and dogs, excellence, transparency in all aspects of our operation, and thoughtful use of our resources.
And they lived happily ever after…
Founder Nancy Teague lives this every day, as do all who have joined the Putnam Service Dogs cause. We champion our dogs by housing and training them compassionately, using expert trainers, and allow the dog to show us who their person is – whether it’s a graduating service dog, or a release dog. Our dogs, either service or release, are teamed with a person with disabilities or a Veteran with PTSD to change their life. We transform unwanted rescue dogs into highly valued members of our community.
What led Nancy Teague to found Putnam Service Dogs? She saw the incredible magical effect dogs have on people – either as service, therapy, or emotional support dogs. Creating this magic every day has become Nancy Teague’s life passion. She’s honored to be the Founder and CEO of Putnam Service Dogs.
Putnam Service Dogs adopts carefully chosen dogs from rescue groups – dogs in cages, without homes, to train as our service dogs. Our service dogs, and follow-up training, are free to their recipients.
We’re guided in all our decisions and actions by our Mission Statement: We champion our dogs and their people. We lift up their lives. And they lived happily ever after…
We adopted our first dogs in 2017, and placed our first two service dogs in 2020. We train our dogs an average of two years before they’re placed as a service dog. It’s a rare dog that’s capable of becoming a service dog. The success of a dog, and length and intensity of training is similar to producing an Olympic Athlete. Daunting, but so incredibly rewarding! If a dog doesn’t graduate, when we releae it, we match it as carefully as though it were a service dog, and it’s matched with a person with disabilities.
Our dogs are highly sought after. We’re receiving four applications a week now. Our volunteers and donors are key to our pursuing our Mission.
Do something great today, and join our cause! Volunteer, Donate, Spread the word about us. Lift Up Two Lives.
Our Residential Training Center
We proudly opened our new Residential Training Center November 3, 2023. Our center is innovative – no offices on site or a huge multi-million dollar complex. It’s a small, intimate residential home setting that houses 4 dogs at a time. Our Training Center supplements the efforts of our hard working volunteer puppy raisers. As we continue to grow, we’ll add more small, residential training centers. That’s our model. We champion our dogs. No mass kenneling of them.
Our carefully trained live-in caretakers assist our trainers to socialize and hone the obedience and service dog tasks of our dogs at the center. When our dogs are placed with their recipient they won’t counter-surf, jump on doors or people, etc. because they’ve been kenneled the last 6 months of their training.
Happy dogs learn better and our dogs thrive at our center. There’s a large fenced backyard for the dogs to be trained in, and to run and play together.
Our Training Center increases our output which is greatly needed. The demand for our types of service dogs is huge. We’re doing our best. Your support is crucial to our providing free service dogs.
Our dogs change lives and create happiness for people living very challenging lives. Thank you!
Our Mission Statement
And they lived happily ever after... Our service dogs change lives.
We champion the nurturing bond between dogs and people.