Good Karma Assistance Dogs CIC was founded by two disabled LGBTQIA+ members, Nina Shaw and Nico Aikman. Nina began her journey training to become a pet trainer but soon realized she wanted to give back to her community by becoming an assistance dog trainer. She started planning Good Karma Assistance Dogs, which incorporates part of the name from her original training company, Karma Dog Training. She chose the name “Good Karma” because she believes that disabled people deserve some good karma in their lives.

Nina later invited Nico to join her. Nico is transgender and a part-time wheelchair user who has loved dogs his whole life. He has been around them since birth and always wanted to do something with dogs. After Nina asked him to join, he was excited to participate and went on to earn the qualifications he needed.

They have been working together for over a year on this organization and recently opened this month with five members now working on training with help from both nico and nina. Dazai, Nico’s dog, recently passed his PAT (Public Access Training) assessment under Good Karma Assistance Dogs CIC.

Good Karma Assistance Dogs CIC provides support to individuals with neurodiverse disabilities and psychiatric conditions, but we welcome anyone who wants to join, regardless of age, gender, or sexual orientation. We are also looking for more volunteers, irrespective of their disability status or other identifiers.

While we have some safety rules in place, we encourage open discussions in our chats. We are committed to advocating for equality and supporting anyone who faces discrimination in places where they shouldn’t be refused entry.

Additionally, we plan to reach out to schools, businesses, and even police forces to train them on how to interact appropriately with assistance dogs and to educate them about the rights of both the human and the dog.