The librarian at Triton High, Jennifer Jones walks around

a massive Great Dane, nearly as tall as her hip, through the library. 

Northeast Canine is a service dog training center located in New Hampshire. Their goal is to help wounded people such as first responders and individuals who are wounded and are in need of support. 

The librarian of Triton High, Jennifer Jones, volunteers to help there. She brings the dogs into the school library and watches over them throughout the day. The students love to see the dogs, and the dogs love seeing the students. There have been two Great Danes who Jones has brought to Triton, Luna and Stella. Jones volunteers to host the dogs temporarily when the trainer is away, or if they need somebody to look after the dogs. She helps to socialize the dogs in a more active environment. 

During the week of finals in 2022, Jones and other volunteers from Northeast Canine brought in four Great Danes for the students to interact with to help with the stress of finals.  

Being in a public setting is also great for the dogs’ training. It helps to acclimate them to a public environment, which they need the practice for in order to be comfortable around strangers while servicing somebody who needs them. 

Northeast Canine uses specifically Great Danes for their service. They breed the dogs themselves, and raise as well as train them until they are ready to go to a home. These dogs are very sturdy, strong, and are the perfect height for someone who is prone to losing their balance, helping someone who fell, or helping someone to walk across curbs. The dogs and applicants are matched based on height, weight, and also the lifestyle. Some people tend to stay home more often, while others are more social. The dogs are assigned accordingly. 

Northeast Canine is funded entirely off of donations from people willing to help the cause. The team is committed to helping those in need of a very specific form of support. 

One trainer named Devin DiBerto, works hard from the day the dogs are born to train them until they are ready to go to a home.

 “Working with dogs is extremely rewarding and fun. It requires a lot of patience. You learn something from every single dog you work with and you will never find an exactly similar dog to another,” says DiBerto. 

Once the dogs are ready to be assigned to a person, they get shipped to the person.

“Graduating them is bittersweet- we will miss them so much, but we know they are going to do life changing work.”