About Us
About Us
Pawsitivity Service Dogs is a nonprofit organization dedicated to rescuing dogs and training them as Service Dogs for people with disabilities.
About the Nonprofit
Our goal is to “rescue dogs to rescue people.”
PAWSITIVITY SERVICE DOGS
An award-winning 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.
Pawsitivity Service Dogs is a St. Paul, Minnesota 501(c)(3) charity, EIN 47-144664. Pawsitivity was founded in 2012 to rescue dogs and train them assistance dogs for people with developmental and physical disabilities, focusing on children with autism. When a dog is not appropriate for a child with autism, we train the dog for someone with a different disability. Pawsitivity provides focused, personalized assistance and guidance to each family/handler throughout the training process and then throughout the lifetime of the dog.
OUR STORY
One day in the early spring of 2012, a good friend, a single mother with a child with autism, told us how her boy was so greatly helped by his dog that it changed the course of his life. The two of us, Tom and Julie Coleman, were newly-married, but we were middle-aged and had no kiddos of our own. While we had been through many challenges in our lives, we didn’t get through them because we were smarter or more talented. We got through these challenges because of the love and support of others. We decided that day
to “pay it forward” so that others could pay it forward. We decided to found Pawsitivity.
It's hard to admit how much the thought of breaking new ground scared us, and the more we worked, the harder the challenges got. From the very beginning, we decide to use scientifically-based positive training, focus on underserved populations, and commit to staying small to give individualized attention and keep standards high. Rescuing and training Service Dogs and getting them into the hands of the people who need them so badly takes not just dogs, not just trainers, but also a whole coordinated system of organization. But how could we fight the Goliath of regulations, fundraising, insurance, licensing, and board creation? How could we sustain the costs of training (including a decade of support), as well as find the emotional strength to work year after year? We quickly found that we couldn't do it alone.
We found the key to Pawsitivity's sustainable success lay leveraging the power of the community. In addition to Pawsitivity's strong board of directors (which includes two doctorates), we discovered help in many ways: Grand Avenue Veterinary Center vowed to manage the spaying and neutering, Garrison Keillor donated autographed items to be auctioned off, John D. Docken VP and Corporate Counsel of First Intl. Bank & Trust of ND, MN, and AZ advised on compliance, plus the Minnesota Wild awarded Pawsitivity "Charity of the Month." Together, we discovered that unwanted dogs can be rescued and rehabilitated, the dogs and families can be trained to work as effective dog-handler teams, and experts can be used in every step of the way.
We at Pawsitivity discovered that you, too, can be part of the solution.
TOM COLEMAN
Executive Director
Tom (also known as “Pawsitivity Tom”) works with the families receiving the Service Dogs, as well as with their doctors, teachers, and caregivers.
Tom is American Kennel Club approved Canine Good Citizen evaluator #88541.
JULIE COLEMAN, CPDT-KA
Head Trainer and Managing Director
Julie is a Certified Professional Dog Trainer, Knowledge Assessed (#3164407). The title of CPDT-KA is one that less than 2,000 trainers have worldwide--to even apply to take the test requires a minimum of 300 hours of experience in dog training within the last three years. Julie trained at CATCH Dog Training Academy at the Saint Hubert Animal Welfare Center in Madison, NJ in positive-reinforcement force-free training methods. Julie joined as a professional member of the Association of Professional Dog Trainers (#85974) and has taken dog-training seminars in person from Connie Cleveland, Sue Sternberg, and Ian Dunbar.
Memberships
Compared to many heavily-funded charities, Pawsitivity stands as a small underdog, yet we adhere to the highest standards of training, ethics, and transparency.
Partner Member of the International Association of Assistance Dog Partners (IAADP).
Achieved Candidate status with Assistance Dogs International.
Joined as a proud member of Animal Assisted Intervention International and the Minnesota Council of Nonprofits.
Contact Info
Pawsitivity Service Dogs
197 Griggs St N
St Paul, MN 55104
651-321-3647
mail@pawsitivityservicedogs.com
http://www.pawsitivityservicedogs.com
