OUR MISSIONOur mission is to break down the barriers to service dog ownership. We empower individuals with disabilities by making owner-training affordable, inclusive, and achievable, ensuring that anyone who needs a service dog can successfully partner with one.
To create a 'Domino Effect' of independence, where every person with a disability has the tools, community, and confidence to train their own life-saving partner.
BREAKING DOWN BARRIERS TO SERVICE DOG OWNERSHIP IN COLORADOThis Work Is Personal
Domino Service Dogs was founded on love.
Love for a daughter.
Love for a dog.
Love for the belief that disability should never mean limitation.
We are a Colorado-based nonprofit dedicated to breaking down barriers to service dog ownership for people with disabilities. This work is about restoring independence, protecting dignity, and ensuring no one is told, “This isn’t for you.”
We are rooted in Colorado.
We serve Colorado families.
We strengthen Colorado communities.
The Domino Effect: Flipping the Script on AccessibilityWhen the traditional system breaks down, community-led innovation steps in. In Colorado, where the barriers to service dog ownership leave vulnerable individuals isolated, Domino Service Dogs (DSD) offers a radical, empowering alternative: the owner-trainer model.
Instead of forcing people to wait years or pay tens of thousands of dollars for a pre-trained dog, DSD flips the script. They teach individuals with disabilities how to train their own canine partners, handling everything from fundamental obedience to life-saving, specialized tasks.
Radical Affordability: By utilizing an owner-trainer model and actively helping clients secure scholarships, sponsorships, and financial aid, DSD eliminates the crushing $25,000–$45,000 price tag.
A "By Us, For Us" Philosophy: Founded out of personal necessity by Barbara Henry in honor of her daughter Caitlin, DSD is run by people with disabilities for people with disabilities. They don't turn applicants away just because they don't fit into a rigid corporate or program category.
The 2-Year Comprehensive Program: DSD provides a structured, multi-year program featuring weekly instructional classes, private sessions tailored to specific medical needs, and real-world public access outings in the Denver metro area.
Humane, Evidence-Based Training: Every team is trained using positive, reward-based techniques that build an unbreakable bond of trust and mutual respect between handler and dog.
Advocacy and Isolation Demolition: Beyond the leash, DSD is a community hub. They actively empower handlers to understand and defend their legal housing and public access rights, while providing a safe space for isolated individuals to learn, fail, try again, and succeed together.
Over 200 owner-trained service dog teams have been supported by Domino Service Dogs to date, proving that independence shouldn't have a luxury price tag.
By transforming a solitary uphill battle into a community-driven team effort, DSD ensures that disabled Colorandans don't just survive—they move through the world with safety, dignity, and true independence.
Domino Service Dogs operates a dedicated Training Center in Lakewood, Colorado — a place where possibility replaces doubt.
Inside our training center, you’ll see a handler taking confident steps with a dog at their side. You’ll see teams practicing public access skills until fear turns into focus. You’ll see parents watching their children gain independence. You’ll see relief when a trained dog prevents a crisis before it escalates.
You’ll hear clickers, quiet praise, and sometimes tears of relief.
From our Lakewood home base, we serve teams across the Denver metro area, the Western Slope, Southern Colorado, and rural communities throughout the state. We build stability that stays in Colorado — keeping families housed, employed, and connected to their communities.
Our structured, multi-year owner-trained service dog program provides:
• Ethical, evidence-based instruction
• Professional coaching
• Public access training in real Colorado environments
• Service animal law education
• Long-term alumni support
We do not remove people from their communities.
We strengthen them where they live.
Domino Service Dogs was founded in honor of Caitlin Tyra Brady.
Her courage, her love for dogs, and her determination shaped the heart of this organization. She understood what it meant to navigate a world that was not always built with disability in mind. She also understood the comfort, confidence, and connection that a dog could provide.
Her legacy lives in every training session, every team that finds stability, and every barrier removed.
Through this work, her life continues forward — in partnership.
A Message from the FounderI founded Domino Service Dogs in honor of my daughter, Caitlin Tyra Brady.
When Caitlin was injured and required a wheelchair, she refused to let her mobility define her. At just eight years old, she insisted she needed a service dog. But as a mother searching for answers, I quickly ran into a brick wall. The reputable organizations at the time charged astronomical fees, had years-long waiting lists, or outright restricted placements to children over twelve. Caitlin didn't fit into their boxes.
So, we decided to build our own way forward. It took two years of intense training to prepare her first partner, a 95-pound Great Pyrenees named Badger. By 2007, Badger was helping Caitlin walk, navigate floor transfers, and pull her manual wheelchair. But Badger gave her something even bigger than physical mobility: he restored her self-esteem, expanded her social connection, and gave her back her autonomy.
That personal fight reshaped my life’s work. This organization is not simply a program—it is a promise born from a mother's love and a daughter's fierce determination.
A Promise That Disability Does Not Disqualify Someone from Independence: We refuse to let rigid, corporate program categories dictate who is "deserving" of a life-changing partner. DSD is a disability-led nonprofit run by people with disabilities for people with disabilities.
A Promise That Service Dog Ownership Can Be Ethical, Sustainable, and Accessible: Independence should not carry a luxury price tag. Through our structured, 24-month owner-trainer model, we provide the gold standard of professional coaching, legal literacy, and public access training without the crushing financial barriers.
A Promise That Colorado Families Deserve Solutions Rooted in Their Own Communities: We do not isolate people or ask them to change their lives to fit a program. We meet you where you are, serving teams across the Denver metro area and rural communities statewide, building stability that stays right here in Colorado.
To ensure that financial hardship is never the reason a qualified individual is denied autonomy, we have established The Caitlin Tyra Brady Training Fund. This permanent fund provides direct training scholarships, assistance for evaluations, and long-term alumni support. It is our concrete commitment to making sure the door to independence remains wide open.
Over the years, I have watched fear turn into fierce confidence. I have watched stability return to families who were standing on the very edge of crisis. I have seen true, uncompromised independence restored to dozens of handlers.
That is Caitlin’s legacy in motion—moving forward, four paws at a time.
— Barbara Henry, CPDT-KA
Founder & Executive Director, Domino Service Dogs
