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     Where Wagging Tails Meet Smiling Faces

The Gabby Jack Ranch pairs people in need with partners for life.

Our philosophy is that people with disabilities are perfectly capable of training their own dog; so long as they have the desire, the right tools and personal commitment.

We provide an excellent puppy; one that is born and raised in a home environment that compliments the human and animal network. Your puppy companion is prepared to be trained. Your skills and ability, as a trainer, are important to your puppy's success. The Gabby Jack Ranch helps you develop the necessary program and skills but you must be committed to work very hard because your puppy's achievment depends on your dedication.

Apply for a service dog puppy through Gabby Jack Ranch: http://www.gabbyjackranch.org/content/application-service-quality-puppy-0

Our Program

The Gabby Jack Ranch believes that early matching (puppy to human) is a critical step, leading to early puppy placement with the client. This creates early bonding between the puppy and human partner.

Bonding is the foundation to any canine/human partnership. But not all people are ready for the responsibility of training a small puppy.

Since we place puppies, rather than fully trained adult dogs, our clients sometimes require the assistance of a facilitator or puppy raiser to help train their puppy for a few months. We do  not provide facilitators (at this time) but once the client selects a facilitator, we provide you and your facilitator with the tools,  training program and support necessary to assist in a positive, structured way, helping you raise your puppy. We ask that your facilitator be in close proximity to you so that you will have daily contact with your puppy.

The Gabby Jack Ranch dogs, because of their sensitive nature and our puppy program, are well suited to helping individuals with physical, mental and emotional (invisible) disabilities. They are excellent companions and often they sense oncoming "events" such as seizures, low blood sugar, etc. Not every dog is capable of such awareness, even Gabby Jack Ranch dogs, and this ability takes time to develop and to recognize.

Skills and instincts that a dog needs in order to become "alert" dogs are not part of the natural ability for every dog. If your pup DOES react to an event, then it is up to you to train him to appropriately respond to the event. If your dog DOES NOT "sense" an oncoming event (which still may happen over time), then the best you can do is to train him to comfort you or get help when an event occurs. Only time, understanding and communication with your dog will tell if your puppy has the ability to sense and alert you to an event.

We do not recommend that you try to train your own dog as a guide dog for the blind or similar critical safety need since a dog trained in this capacity is, literally, required to protect human life. This takes extensive, specialized training and is usually not generally appropriate for in-home programs, such as the Gabby Jack Ranch placement.

Gabby Jack Ranch dogs are NOT to be used as guard dogs, bomb-sniffing dogs, police dogs, or any other job that would put the dog at risk. We do not release our puppies for programs where their physical or emotional safety will be at risk.

Companion Dogs

Gabby Jack Ranch dogs are sensitive and need their "human". Therefore, they will not thrive if left alone for long periods or if they are locked away in a kennel or crate (crate training for short periods, however, is encouraged). These dogs are provided to you as companions. We require that your puppy be housed with you, that they are cared for, and made a part of your family. They are not out-door dogs.

We promote communication between the canine/human partners because it is through communication that training becomes more instinctive, natural and pleasant. We encourage our clients to observe their canine partners, recognizing and utilizing non-verbal signals.

Gabby Jack Ranch values the natural instincts of our dogs; we recommend tempering these instincts only when necessary for canine/human comfort or safety and for the dog's acceptance within the public domain.

Selection and Purpose

It is very important that you understand that we select your Gabby Jack Ranch puppy based on our expert matching criteria and that you may not request a certain color, coat type or gender. If, however, any placement is not a good fit, we expect that the puppy (or adult dog) will be returned to the Gabby Jack Ranch for re-homing or placement.

Finally, we provide dogs to be trained according to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and we acknowledge that various states and local governments may require specific documentation, training or behavior in order to allow you to claim that your companion is a service or assistance dog. We advise you to study the federal ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act), specifically related to service dogs, and to become aware of your state and local regulations. The ADA is far less restrictive than some state and local laws and it is up to you to interpret their meaning as it relates to your circumstances.

We welcome your questions but we ask that you first read through the materials provided because we believe that many of your questions will be answered in the information packet.