Sponsorship

Celebrating 10 Years

Hearts of Gold is the flagship program for Human-Animal Bond which raises, trains, and places dogs to assist people with disabilities. Certified Mobility Assistant dogs and Psychiatric Service Dogs can perform a number of different commands after their two year training, depending on the client’s needs.

“The gift of Stryker helped return some honor that my illness robbed from me.”

Jim, Air Force Veteran on his Hearts of Gold service dog

Program Highlights

Throughout its 10-year history, the Hearts of Gold Program has:

  • Published and presented multiple research papers in peer-reviewed Journals and at national conferences.

  • Trained 1200+ handlers

  • Trained over 100 dogs with students at WVU and inmates at Federal Corrections Institute in Morgantown, WV

  • Placed 48 dogs to date

  • Placed 29 service dogs with individuals with disabilities.

  • Placed eight service dogs with veterans

  • Placed nine visitation therapy dogs

  • Placed 10 emotional support animals

  • Six emotional support animals placed with veterans

Research

The Hearts of Gold program is dedicated to studying the most efficient, positive training methods of Service Dogs through research. The trainers have expertise in the area of behavior analysis. As such, all training methods are grounded in empirical evidence for their effectiveness.

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Training

Over 1200 student and volunteer handlers have been taught service dog training methods and principles. Our handlers have an understanding of how to train, not just a “recipe-style” format of training.

Currently, Hearts of Gold is providing training for service dogs through four courses in partnership with West Virginia University. Additionally, Hearts of Gold partners with the Federal Corrections Institute in the  Veteran to Veteran Service Dog Training Program in Morgantown.

Placement

To date, Hearts of Gold has placed 29 service dogs, eight of which have been with veterans. An additional three dogs are in the final stages of training. Ten emotional support animals have been placed and nine visitation therapy dogs are employed in various schools and departments at West Virginia University.

2018 Outlook

Hearts of Gold is excited to announce a new litter of NINE purpose-bred puppies—five males and four females—will enter our training program in 2018. Additionally, we are adding online and hands-on training courses, handler workshops for the community and expanding the Federal Corrections Institute handler training program. Finally, more therapy dogs will be made available for use at West Virginia University.

Based in Morgantown, West Virginia, the Human-Animal Bond’s Hearts of Gold program works closely with other organizations in the community. As a 501(c)3 organization, Human-Animal Bond is funded through grants, foundations and private donations enabling us to place dogs based on need, rather than client income.

The 2018 budget, which includes food, shelter, veterinary care and other needs for the animals, as well as other program expenses is $165K.

2018 Sponsorship

EXCLUSIVE SPONSOR  •  $150K  •  Please contact us for details.

GOLD LEVEL  •  $5K  •  Seven available
Partners at this level receive: top-level logo placement on website and all promotional materials  •  customized in-house service dog demonstration with media press release  •  availability of dogs for advertising and promotional purposes  •  Hearts of Gold Gold Level Sponsor plaque for display  •  permission to use Hearts of Gold logo in all promotional materials  •  logo on dog’s vest and all Hearts of Gold T-shirts  •  naming rights to one puppy

HEART LEVEL  •  $2,500
Partners at this level receive: second-tier logo placement on website and all promotional materials  •  customized in-house service dog demonstration with media press release  •  Hearts of Gold Heart Level Sponsor plaque for display  •  permission to use Hearts of Gold logo in all promotional materials

FRIEND LEVEL  •  $1,000
Partners at this level receive: third-tier logo placement on website and all promotional materials  •  Hearts of Gold Friend Level Sponsor certificate for display  •  permission to use Hearts of Gold logo in all promotional materials

Contact

For more information about Human-Animal Bond, the Hearts of Gold Service Dog Training Program, or sponsorship please fill out the form below and we will be in touch as soon as possible.