Hawaii Fi-Do Service Dogs

08/25/2026

Check out this article about our new Executive Director! Thanks for your support!

Former UH Athletic Director David Matlin joined Hawaiʻi Fi-Do Service Dogs in June as executive director, bringing more than 30 years of leadership…

08/24/2026

Some service dogs help by retrieving an item, providing mobility support, or responding in an emergency. Sometimes, the task is simply knowing when their person needs them close. 🐾❤️

For years, Buzz has been Larry’s partner. Along with mobility and retrieval tasks, when Larry experiences post-traumatic stress or anxiety, Buzz knows how to come close and help bring him back to center.

Now Larry is working with his next service dog, Boomer.

Boomer is naturally affectionate. Recently, Larry captured a moment that felt like the culmination of all that training: Boomer stretched out beside him with his head resting on Larry’s shoulder.

That’s what makes every service dog partnership so unique. The tasks may be trained, but the bond that develops between a dog and their person becomes something much bigger.

We’re grateful to be part of this transition where Buzz gets promoted to “pet,” and Boomer steps up as a working service dog.

08/22/2026

Another Thursday, another step closer to changing a life. 🐾💙

Weekly training is where the magic happens at Hawai‘i Fi-Do. Our service dogs in training and their dedicated raisers come together to practice obedience, public-access skills, confidence, and the real-world tasks they’ll one day use to help their future partners live more independently.

It takes hundreds of hours, plenty of patience, and a whole community to raise a service dog. We’re grateful for everyone who shows up week after week to make it happen. 🌺🐕‍🦺

08/21/2026

SERVICE DOG ETIQUETTE: PART 1
What is a service dog, really?

A service dog is specially trained to assist a person with a disability, and under the law, that dog has the right to go wherever their handler goes — restaurants, stores, planes, workplaces, all of it. Not as a courtesy. As a right.

Here's the part people often miss: not every disability looks like something you'd recognize on sight.

Some service dogs are trained for things you can see right away — guiding someone around obstacles, pulling a wheelchair, bracing for balance. Others are trained for things you'd never guess just by watching: alerting to a seizure before it happens, interrupting anxiety before it spirals, sensing a blood sugar crash before their partner even feels it.

If a dog's job isn't obvious to you, that doesn't mean it isn't real. It just means the disability it's responding to isn't visible — and that's true for a huge number of people living with disabilities.

So before you assume, before you question, before you decide a team "doesn't look like they need that dog" — remember: you're only seeing a fraction of the story. Respect the team, not just the parts of their situation you can see.
Stay tuned for Part 2 in this series. 🐾

08/20/2026

We’re growing the Hawaiʻi Fi-Do ‘ohana — and we need your help. 🐾❤️

There are so many ways to make a difference in the life of a future service dog, whether you’re ready to welcome a puppy into your home or only have a few hours each month to give.

We’re currently looking for volunteers to join us as:

🐶 Full-Time Puppy Raisers
🏡 Part-Time Puppy Raisers / Co-Raisers
💛 Short-Term & Respite Fosters
📸 Media & Content Creators
🌺 Program & Outing Ambassadors
🚗 Dog Transport Volunteers

Every role matters. Every hour helps. And every volunteer plays a part in preparing exceptional service dogs to provide greater independence, support, and companionship to people with disabilities across Hawaiʻi.
Swipe through to find the opportunity that fits your schedule and interests.

Ready to join the pack? Visit hawaiifido.org to learn more and apply.

Mahalo for helping us transform lives, one paw at a time. 🐾

08/18/2026

When he’s not hard at work learning the skills that could one day change someone’s life, Sal is happiest with a ball, some waves, and plenty of room to play. 🌊🐕🎾

Sal has been a true water dog since he was little, and beach days are more than just fun. At Hawaiʻi Fi-Do, we work to expose our service dogs in training to as many real-world environments as possible, including the ocean and beach.

Why? Because their future partner may love swimming, surfing, paddling, fishing, or simply spending a day by the water. Our dogs need to be confident, comfortable, and ready to assist wherever life takes their person.

For Sal, that training assignment happens to involve a lot of fetch. We don’t think he minds. 💙🐾

08/17/2026

Service dog in training Ulu visited a building with an elevator and he did great! When pups are training to be service dogs, we try to expose them to as many experiences as possible. Big elevator doors can be scary the first time a dog sees them, but Ulu did great!! He is eager to please and *very* food motivated. Follow along to track Ulu’s journey!!

08/14/2026

Why trained tasks matter — not just good behavior?

A calm, friendly dog is wonderful. But calm and friendly isn't what makes a service dog legally different from a pet under the ADA. The line is trained tasks. A service dog has to be taught to do something specific that directly addresses their partner's disability — not just tolerate crowds or sit quietly under a table.

Here's why that distinction actually matters:

It's the difference between comfort and function. Plenty of dogs offer comfort just by existing. But comfort isn't a trained task — it's a byproduct of having a dog around. A service dog is trained to act: brace a partner who's losing balance, retrieve a dropped phone, open a door with a tug strap. The dog is doing a job, not just being present.

It's what earns public access rights. Businesses can't ask about someone's disability, but they can ask what tasks the dog is trained to perform. That question only has a real answer if actual training happened. No trained task, no legal standing — full stop.

It's what makes the partnership sustainable. A dog trained to specific tasks can be evaluated, refreshed, and relied on. "Good vibes" can't be trained, tested, or trusted the same way a tug-open-the-fridge command can.

It protects everyone who depends on the real thing. Every untrained pet in a vest chips away at public trust — and that trust is what lets our graduates walk into a grocery store without getting stopped. Training isn't paperwork. It's the whole reason the system works.

Our dogs spend years learning tasks like these because a disability doesn't take a day off, and neither should the dog trained to help with it.

08/13/2026

A huge mahalo to Coach Laura Beeman () for filming our PSA today at Magic Island, and for joining us on ESPN Honolulu ( ) last week! 🎬📺

A big mahalo as well to KHON2 News and for providing the platform and helping us share our mission across the islands. And a special thanks to our stars of the day, our pups Ulu and Sadie! 🐾🐶

Coach Beeman, your support means so much to everyone at . Swipe through to see a few photos from our shoot at Magic Island today! 🐶❤️

📢 Stay tuned! We’ll be launching our upcoming online campaign and a new volunteer recruitment drive very soon!
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