Bellomo & Associates and Susquehanna Service Dogs (SSD), a program of Keystone Human Services, recently announced a partnership to name an assistance dog. SSD Ruby is a yellow Labrador retriever named by Bellomo & Associates employees and social media followers.

Each dog that SSD places is individually trained to mitigate the effects of its partner's disability and enhance his or her life. Dogs can assist people with physical disabilities that impact mobility or balance, as well as people with psychiatric disabilities, autism, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and seizure disorders. SSD also trains hearing dogs to assist people with hearing impairments, as well as facility dogs.

Training starts from the moment a dog is born to set it up for future success. SSD Ruby will spend the next 15 to 18 months with her puppy raiser, who will teach her good house manners, self-control and more than 20 different foundational cues. Ruby will then enter advanced training, where SSD's professional trainers will match her with her partner and individually train her in specific tasks specially designed for her partner's needs.

SSD is a program of Keystone Human Services and has been breeding, raising, training and placing assistance dogs in Pennsylvania and the surrounding states since 1993. SSD is an accredited member of Assistance Dogs International.

Bellomo & Associates is located at 3198 E. Market St., York. For more information, call 717-845-5390 or visit http://www.bellomoassociates.com.