Dr. Bonita Bergin
invented the concept of the Service Dog to assist people
with mobility impairments in 1975. At that time she
founded Canine Companions for Independence (CCI), the
first nonprofit to train and place Service Dogs.
After leaving CCI In 1991, Dr. Bergin founded the Assistance
Dog Institute.
Dr. Bergin has been
honored with numerous awards including Oprah Winfrey’s
“Use Your Life Award”; Presidential Points
of Light Award; “What Matters” HBO TV; Council
on Disability Rights Individual Achievement Award;and
Alumni of the Year Sonoma State University.
Under Dr. Bergin's leadership, ADI continues to break new ground
in "Helping Dogs Help People" - founding the
only college offering Master of Science and Associate
of Science degrees in dog studies, creating the High
School Assistance Dog program for at-risk teens, and
researching how to teach dogs to read and how to train
pups as young as three weeks.
