Canine Companions Earns U of A's Highest Research Honor for Transforming Service Dog Science

The University of Arizona Office of Research and Partnerships presents the Convergence Awards, one of the highest honors for interdisciplinary research, honoring faculty, staff, and external partners whose work exemplifies the university’s commitment to inquiry, innovation, and societal impact. This annual recognition program celebrates the individuals and teams advancing transformative research and creative activity across disciplines, sectors, and communities. In honor of their exceptional commitment to advancing research, the College of Veterinary Medicine is celebrating the selection of Canine Companions for the Distinguished Partner in Research award.

Founded in 1975, Canine Companions is dedicated to enhancing the lives of children, adults, and veterans with disabilities by providing highly trained service dogs and ongoing support, free of charge to recipients. As the largest and first organization providing service dogs for people with physical disabilities, they match over 600 individuals each year with life-changing working dogs. Beyond the sheer scale of its operation, Canine Companions is exceptional among its peers in the depth to which research is integrated into the organization’s mission. Canine Companions is unique among nonprofit service dog organizations as they recognize research as an essential core pillar of their work. Driven by a dedicated internal research department led by Chief Veterinary and Research Officer Dr. Brenda Kennedy, the team excels in collaborative research, uncovering findings that are translatable to both human and canine health and well-being.

Assistant Professor, Dr. Emily Bray first began working with Canine Companions as an undergraduate and later became their first postdoctoral research associate, a pioneering position jointly supported by the University of Arizona. Now, with over a decade of direct work at the intersection of human–animal wellness, behavioral science, and service dog outcomes, the collaborative partnership continues to lead large-scale longitudinal projects that advance our understanding of canine cognitive development and aging. The significance of this long-term partnership with an organization like Canine Companions is best reflected by Dr. Emily Bray,

“I have worked particularly closely with Canine Companions’ research leadership team, including Dr. Brenda Kennedy, Dr. Theadora Block, and Laura Douglas. Their collective expertise—spanning biology, genomics, veterinary medicine, animal behavior, ecology, and special education—has been instrumental in shaping studies that are both scientifically rigorous and highly relevant to driving discovery around which traits and experiences lead to a successful service dog.”

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As a testament to this longstanding and productive scholarly partnership, of the 48 peer-reviewed publications that Canine Companions has co-authored in the past 25 years, more than half were produced jointly with University of Arizona–affiliated researchers.

Our most recent joint publication, led by former graduate student Dr. Gitanjali Gnanadesikan, followed over one thousand Canine Companions dogs to understand how cognitive and behavioral traits are influenced by genetics. By behaviorally testing dogs as puppies and adults, we tracked how heritability—the proportion of variance in any given trait that can be attributed to genetics—changed over time. We found that traits like boldness (captured by dogs’ reactions to animatronic toy cats and unexpected events, like an umbrella suddenly opening) and interest in humans (captured by how much they made eye contact with a human when spoken to) had some of the highest heritability in puppies. We also found that the heritability of most traits stayed stable or declined with age — a pattern distinct from humans, where heritability of cognitive traits typically rises over development. These findings reveal which traits are most shaped by genetics during key developmental windows, with direct implications for how service dog programs might use selective breeding to improve training outcomes. 

Canine Companions continues to demonstrate their commitment to partnership by supporting a unique research assistant position, affiliated with the University of Arizona but embedded within their organization. This forward-thinking infrastructure ensures continuity of research and strengthens the bridge between academic discovery and applied impact. This also reflects their ongoing and meaningful support of the research training pipeline.

The societal impact of this partnership is substantial. As a founding member of Assistance Dogs International, Canine Companions has over 2800 active clients across the country and is widely recognized as an industry leader in best practices. Their continued investment in research reflects a sustained commitment to improvement, innovation, and evidence-based excellence. With the support of Canine Companions, together we have secured over $14.5 million in federal and foundation funding dedicated to research that improves the lives of individuals with disabilities and the animals who support them. More importantly, the research we conduct together changes lives. 

For example, our current Bridging Futures project directly addresses a nationwide shortage of volunteer puppy raisers by creating and evaluating a joint service dog raising model that brings together college students and incarcerated individuals. This innovative approach aims to broaden access to service dogs for those in need by increasing placement capacity. It also improves the canine experience by identifying how behavioral characteristics can be optimally matched to environments, promoting the comfort and success of the dogs. Together, our partnership exemplifies the University’s land-grant mission and its leadership as a convergence hub by addressing complex, real-world challenges.