We are happy to announce that Assistance Dogs International informs us that C.O.P.E. Service Dogs successfully met all the professional standards and requirements necessary to achieve full accreditation status. In fact, Peter Gorbing, President of ADI writes: "...full accreditation represents a significant achievement for the staff and management of C.O.P.E. Service Dogs. It is indicative of your organization's strong commitment to upholding the highest professional standards of excellence within the Assistance Dog Industry. Congratulations once again on this important achievement."

Assistance Dogs International, Inc. is a coalition of not for profit organizations that train and place Assistance Dogs, and essentially acts as the international regulatory body for the assistance and service dog industry. The purpose of ADI is to improve the areas of training, placement, and utilization of Assistance Dogs as well as staff and volunteer education. Members of ADI meet regularly to share ideas, attend seminars, and conduct business regarding such things as educating the public about Assistance Dogs, and the legal rights of people with disabilities partnered with Assistance Dogs, setting standards and establishing guidelines and ethics for the training of these dogs, and improving the utilization and bonding of each team.

Accreditation is a voluntary peer–review process for member organizations to officially measure their compliance with ADI's established ethical and operational standards. These standards have been developed and refined in the various ADI committees over the years. The actual ADI Accreditation Manual, which is comprised of the specific standards to be evaluated during the survey, was developed and fine–tuned by the ADI Accreditation Committee.

To meet the high standards and achieve Accreditation, C.O.P.E. Service Dogs underwent a detailed and lengthy review and upgrading of all aspects of the business, including administrative, program-related, training standards and staff & volunteer professional development. In October 2009, three peer-reviewers spent 24 hours visiting our program and met with:
1 High School Principal
3 Life Partners
2 Board Members
3 Volunteers including 1 current Puppy Raiser
3 High School Assistance Dog Program Students
FOUR Instructors
enjoyed Intro and Debrief meetings with Executive Director
AND, had a full tour of our Nantyr facilities and observed a High School Assistance Dog class!
We'd like to thank all the staff and volunteers, our students and our canines who made this achievement possible!