ICAN Service Dogs at Indiana University

• About ICAN: The Indiana Canine Assistant Network (ICAN) is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization founded in 2001 that utilizes multiple prisons in the state of Indiana to train service dogs. These service dogs are then carefully paired with an individual living with a disability, ensuring their personality types and needs match up.

• About ICAN at IU: We are a group of students with a mission to educate, fundraise and volunteer with ICAN. Our goal is to spread awareness on campus and within the Bloomington Community, as many individuals do not know basic service dog etiquette or about how the process in general works. 

• ​Low Time Commitment: G​eneral members meet once per month for less than an hour with the goal to learn more about general service dog topics. So far, we have discussed how staring at service dogs is just as distracting as petting one and the difference between Emotional Support Animals, Therapy Dogs, and Service Dogs. 
• Volunteer Opportunities: ICAN at IU provides our members with opportunities to go out into the community and help educate the public. We've attended an ICAN event and had volunteers working the Kelley School of Business destress event and plan to visit local elementary schools and nursing homes this semester! 
• Leadership Positions:​ ICAN at IU offers tons of opportunities to hold a leadership role.  We have several committees and executive positions in a variety of topics!

• Follow Us on Social Media: To see pictures from the Kelley Destress Event, Winter Involvement Fair, and to learn more about ICAN, ICAN at IU, & our upcoming events, please visit our social media sites.

• ​Facebook: ​Facebook.com/ICANatIU
• Website: ICANatIU.weebly.com
• BeInvolved: beinvolved.indiana.edu/organization/ican
• Instagram: ICANatIU​

• Callout Meeting: ICAN at IU will be hosting our Spring Callout Meeting on Thursday January 18th in Woodburn 101 at 7 pm. We will be having guests from ICAN come, including several ICAN graduate dogs & service-dogs-in-training (and puppies!) to demonstrate some of the skills they have learned to help individuals living with disabilities. We hope you will join us that evening to learn more about ICAN and ICAN at IU, even if you are uninterested in joining at this time. 

• Chipotle Dine & Donate: We will be holding a Dine & Donate on Tuesday January 30th at the Chipotle on Kirkwood from 5-9pm, and all you have to do is present a flier (digitally or in print) or tell them you are there for the ICAN at IU Dine & Donate. We hope that (even if you are unable to attend the callout meeting or are uninterested in becoming a member of our student organization) you will attend and bring friends to help us raise money for such an incredible cause!​

• Volunteer Community Training Program: We know that many of you may be interested in serving as a volunteer community trainer, and we are excited to share more details about this program at our Spring Callout Meeting. This role would involve you pairing up with another ICAN at IU member to host a service dog in training for a 3 week period several times throughout the academic year. This would include the dog living with you and your partner (regardless of your living situation) and attending classes with you. Please note that this portion of our organization will require an extensive amount of additional training (via ICAN) and is much more than having a dog for short periods of time to play with. We will be opening up applications for this program this semester, and we hope if you are interested in helping expose these dogs to new situations & educate the public about service dogs and service dog etiquette that you will consider applying.​ We will also be offering a lower commitment version of this program where you will still undergo ICAN training but will act as a "sitter" and watch service dogs in training for a few hours at a time while another Volunteer Community Trainer is in a situation where the dog may not accompany him or her.