Over the last 15 months, the University of San Diego (USD) School of Law has partnered with Canine Companions to sponsor and follow future service dog, Amicus.
Amicus, a yellow Labrador Retriever/Golden Retriever cross, became a friendly face around USD School of Law. Through a voting contest, law students gave Amicus his name and have followed him ever since on his journey to becoming a service dog.
Raised by Canine Companions volunteer puppy raiser and triple USD alumna Dr. Leslie Hennessy (MBA), (Ph.D. Leadership), (JD), Amicus appeared with Hennessy on campus throughout the 2023 and 2024 school years. He attended classes that Hennessy lectured in, visited campus to see students while they studied for their midterms, finals and Bar exam, appeared at several events at the School of Law and was awarded a certificate of excellence as the outstanding legal clinics’ mascot.
These events helped Amicus with socialization, outings with large groups of people and basic skills and manners, all to help prepare him for a life as a service dog, assisting someone with a disability.
On Friday, November 8, Amicus will move on to professional training at Canine Companions Southwest Regional Training Center in Oceanside. He will spend 6-9 months in training learning more advanced skills including picking up dropped items, turning on and off light switches and opening and closing doors. In total, he will master up to 45 skills to help someone with a disability.
When he graduates professional training, Amicus will be matched with an adult, child or veteran with a disability and help provide his partner with a life of increased independence and loving companionship.
To honor the next step in Amicus’ journey, a formal matriculation ceremony will take place on Friday, November 8 at 12 p.m. at North Coast Church (The Edge). The event is open to the public. For more information, click here.
About the University of San Diego School of Law
Each year, USD educates approximately 800 Juris Doctor and graduate law students from throughout the United States and around the world. The law school is best known for its offerings in the areas of business and corporate law, constitutional law, intellectual property, international and comparative law, public interest law and taxation.
USD School of Law is one of the 88 law schools elected to the Order of the Coif, a national honor society for law school graduates. The law school’s faculty is a strong group of outstanding scholars and teachers with national and international reputations and currently ranks 34th nationally among U.S. law faculties in scholarly impact and 37th nationally in past-year faculty downloads on the Social Sciences Research Network (SSRN). The school is accredited by the American Bar Association and is a member of the Association of American Law Schools. Founded in 1954, the law school is part of the University of San Diego, a private, independent, Roman Catholic university chartered in 1949.
