Service Dogs of America
Working Dogs Of America is a dog sport that was developed in the United States in 2001 under the name of "Service Dogs of America" (SDA) to offer training titles for individuals and professionals training their dogs in service, personal protection, law enforcement, search and rescue and military environments. Over the years, the word "Service," in the name became confused with what are more commonly known as, "assistance dogs." To correct this confusion, the word, "Service" was replaced with "Working."
History Of WDA[edit]
In the spring of 2001, Working Dogs of America (then Service Dogs of America), affiliated itself with the UKC to incorporate protection dog criteria and evaluation into the UKC's portfolio of hunting and working dog competitive designations. In 2002 and 2003, the co-founders presented live demonstrations of prospective titles to the UKC Premiers. The first official trial was held in October, 2004 in Tennessee. There were approximately 80 entries in an event which lasted three days. Other events hosted by the then titled, "SDA" included training seminars by top IPO competitors such as Gary Hanrahan and other protection dog trainers. In May 2004, SDA founders signed a 10-year contract with UKC. For five years, SDA conducted dog sport trials, demonstrations and non-title competitions at the UKC Premier dog show in Kalamazoo, Michigan. On June 16, 2009 the UKC ended affiliation with SDA.
After the termination of UKC's Involvement, SDA continued to hold trials, add clubs and members in Alabama, California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Michigan, North Carolina, New Jersey, Tennessee and Wisconsin. Efforts to develop a search and rescue (SAR) title were also initiated though not fully developed.
In February 2010, an SDA Registry was created to automate the clerical work associated with the club and to take the place of UKC's involvement with SDA.
In March 2018, the active majority of SDA voted to change the name to Working Dogs of America (WDA) and have continued the development of the sport to include expanded titles such as Scent Work and Sport titles. The name change better describes the function of the organization and differentiates it from the abundance of "service dog" organizations that provide certificates for "service or emotional support dogs" that can be used to bypass travel, access, and housing restrictions.
Similar Organizations[edit]
SDA Clubs[edit]
References[edit]
External links[edit]
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