Service dog training for owner-trained service dogs
Training a service dog from start to finish can take one to two years. There are many ups and downs in this journey, and having professional guidance along the way can help you reach your training goals while becoming a confident service dog handler. We’re here for you for the long haul.
Whether you have a puppy who you hope will one day be your service dog, an existing service dog who needs some help learning new skills or modifying existing behavior challenges, or a service dog in training who is ready to take public access and task work to the next level, our experienced service dog trainers can help you assess your options, make a plan, and complete your dog’s training.
How to start training your service dog with Woof! San Diego
Step 1: Service Dog Candidate Training Questionnaire
The first step in considering whether you should train your dog to be a service dog is to complete our Service Dog Candidate Questionnaire. This questionnaire will ask you many questions about your dog and their training and behavior history, your lifestyle and needs, and your disability and the tasks you would like your dog to learn in order to mitigate your symptoms and support you both at home and in public. If you aren’t sure exactly which tasks will benefit you, we will help you explore your options and choose which tasks would be most appropriate for you and your dog.
Under ADA law in the United States, service dogs do not require any specific certification or registration (the ones sold online are not legitimate). Service dogs are required to be task trained – meaning they perform a specific task to assist a person with their disability. They must also be under control of their handler at all times. This means they need a very special temperament and a lot of special training to make sure they can not only behave appropriately in all environments where they may work but also be willing and able to perform their assistive tasks for their handler despite all of the distractions around them.
At Woof! San Diego, we work with our clients to train their dogs to become psychiatric service dogs, mobility service dogs, and medical alert service dogs. For medical alert service dogs, please email us to discuss your needs prior to completing the questionnaire to ensure we can help you.
Step 2: Assessment & Planning Meeting
When your questionnaire is complete, we will send you a scheduling link so you can book your first Assessment & Planning Meeting. At that meeting, we will review your questionnaire together, assess your dog’s current behavior and temperament as it relates to their potential for service dog work, and make a recommendation as to how to begin with training to help you meet your goals.
Time: 2 hours
Cost: $200
Assessment & Planning Meetings will continue to be scheduled every 2-3 months until your dog passes our Public Access Test.
Step 3: Service Dog Candidate Training & Socialization
Service dog training begins with foundational training at home and at pet-friendly locations. We work on a core curriculum of behaviors and skills that will be used to successfully navigate spaces for public access, maintain appropriate manners at home, and set the stage for future task training.
This stage usually lasts around 4-10 months, depending on the age and stage of the dog, the experience of the handler, and the pace of progress. Moving too quickly can cause a young dog to burn out early and wash out of service dog training, so it is important to train and socialize at a pace that is appropriate for the team.
Foundational training can be taught in either our group classes or our private training sessions. Because our group classes were developed by service dog trainers, the class curriculum is appropriate for service dogs in training or puppy service dog candidates to learn the basics they will need as they continue and to continue to reinforce those skills in a group environment.
Service dog training clients who start with group classes will eventually move into private training to continue working on their service dog candidate’s specific training needs as they work toward public access and task training goals.
Private training packages for our service dog training clients are typically purchased in blocks of four one-hour sessions ($565) or eight one-hour sessions ($1095).
Service dog training clients typically begin with sessions approximately weekly, and this may be adjusted depending on the needs of the dog and client. Packages that accommodate private training sessions more frequently than once a week, as well as board and train options, may also be available.
Public access curriculum & testing
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Step 4: Preliminary Public Readiness Test
When a service dog candidate team completes our foundation training and socialization in either private session or a combination of group and private training, usually between their fourth and eighth month of training and socialization and always after their dog is a minimum of six months old, we will administer a Preliminary Public Readiness Test. This test will include a series of behaviors the handler and dog will perform together as well as a report that the handler will complete that will address behaviors that may not be able to be observed at the time the test is administered. This will help us determine whether the dog is ready to move on to practicing in public as a Service Dog In-Training.
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Step 5: Public Access Curriculum & Task Training
Through our professional experience training service dogs, we have developed a curriculum for public access training that is designed to help our clients successfully navigate public environments with their service dogs. We will help you develop your dog’s assistive tasks based on your needs and symptoms, as well as guide you in training your dog to perform those tasks when needed.
During this stage, the team will be working in public environments, including those where only service dogs are allowed. They will be mastering their curriculum behaviors in a variety of environments with a trainer’s guidance. Handlers will also receive a thorough education on how to handle common situations that come up when working in public with a service dog. At home, they will work with their trainer to teach their dog the Assistive Tasks the dog will perform to mitigate the symptoms of the handler’s disability. Teams will begin to practice these tasks in public when they are ready.
The time a team remains at this stage depends on the age and maturity of the dog and the complexity of assistive tasks the dog will learn. The dog may be able to pass our Public Access Test when their curriculum and behavior in public places is appropriate and they can functionally use at least 3 of their tasks. If more tasks are desired by the client, the dog can continue to learn these after achieving public access.
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Step 6: Public Access Testing
When a team has completed our Public Access & Task Training Curriculum, they can schedule a Public Access Test. Our Public Access Test is based on the testing criteria used by Assistance Dogs International and are designed to assess the team’s ability to navigate public spaces safely and effectively. The public access test will also evaluate the dog’s ability to perform the trained Assistive Tasks in a way that is functional for the handler. (Note: Assistance Dogs International does not currently accredit for-profit service dog training organizations, so our organization is not affiliated with ADI at this time though our trainers have experience training to their standards.)
After passing our Public Access Test, you can remove the “in-training” identification from you Service Dog’s vest and we will provide a program certification stating that the dog has passed our testing criteria and has been task-trained in accordance with ADA law. Remember, there is no certification required by law for a service dog to work, but we provide these things in order to provide legitimacy to our teams who have completed all requirements and are appropriate for work.
Speed bumps & washing out - As anyone involved in service dog training knows, becoming a service dog is not for every dog, and this is a reality about which we must maintain open communication. Although many behaviors can be modified successfully, sometimes dogs show us through their behavior that they don’t want a career as a working dog for the rest of their lives, or they may do behaviors that are dangerous or incompatible with public access. While we hope your dog’s journey as a service dog goes smoothly, we will also advise you when there are speed bumps and help you with behavior modification if public access training needs to pause or end. If your dog doesn’t become a service dog, we can help you continue your dog’s training in another direction and/or support your search for a new service dog candidate.
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Step 7: Maintenance Training & Annual Program Recertification
Each year, we will review your dog’s working status, and we will support your continued training needs as-needed.