Chloe, retired hearing assistance dog from Fidos For Freedom, Inc., was diagnosed with Transitional Cell Carcinoma on 8/25/16. This page is to raise awareness about Fidos For Freedom and assistance dogs.

Fidos For Freedom, Inc. (Fidos) is a non-profit 501 (c) (3) organization located at 1200 Sandy Spring Road, Laurel, Maryland. Founded in 1987, the organization has been a constant in the region for the last 25 years, providing Assistance Dogs and Therapy Dogs to communities within a 75-mile radius, including the Baltimore-Washington Metropolitan areas.

Fidos for Freedom has a number of programs which directly involve the training and utilization of dogs in service and therapy. The Client Services Program deals with individuals who have either mobility or hearing challenges and can benefit from a trained dog to help ameliorate their disabilities. The Training Program provides puppy raising, skilled training for service dogs, and continuing education for the dog and client teams.

The Therapy Dogs Program focuses on the training, development, and implementation of therapy dog teams in nursing homes, hospitals, cancer care settings, and the DEAR program – Dogs Educating and Assisting Readers, which provides specially-trained therapy dogs to school and library reading programs. The Community Education Program provides demonstrations of service dog skills and programs on disability awareness to community groups, churches, and schools to educate the public about individuals with disabilities and about the benefits of assistance dogs and therapy dogs as well as the work that these specially trained dogs do for individuals with disabilities, children with reading difficulties, and patients in health care facilities.

Fidos is a fully accredited and voting member of Assistance Dogs International, Inc.