IAAD Working Together with the CBSA

IAADs Nori and CBSA Dog Handler

Nori’s Getting Some Exciting Training!

Assistance Dog organizations are built upon a simple yet powerful idea: that dogs, when given the right guidance, can be a lifeline for the people that they support. These dogs are carefully trained to help individuals with physical and medical disabilities - opening doors, retrieving items, alerting to medical conditions and offering emotional stability that technology alone cannot replicate.

But not every dog is meant to be an assistance dog - and that’s where an unexpected second path can begin.

Training a service dog requires a very specific temperament: calm under pressure, highly focused, and deeply attuned to human needs. Even with expert guidance, some dogs simply don’t thrive in that role. At IAAD, we don’t view these pups as ‘failures’, we recognize their potential in other fields! For high energy, scent driven or independent dogs, a different kind of purpose may be waiting!

The qualities that can make a dog unsuitable for assistance work - high drive, intense curiosity, and a love of problem-solving - are exactly what make a great detection dog. This is why IAAD is working with the CBSA and other detection agencies to trial our pups in another career that could be a better fit.

IAAD’s Nori is on her way to test her skills at detection, traveling to Riguad Quebec and working with handlers in their detection program for 3 months. After her trial, she’ll move into her next phase and we’re so excited to see where her path leads her.