Service Dog Readiness Checklist

While many individuals with a disability benefit greatly from partnering with a Service Dog, it’s not the solution for everyone. Here are several important points to consider before training your own Service Dog. During our consultation, we will discuss these factors with you and help you decide if our program is the right fit.

The Human Half (That’s you!)

• Are you financially able to take on the costs of caring for a dog for 15 years?
  Maintaining care for your dog is not cheap. The old saying, “there is no such thing as a free puppy,” is completely true. A service dog is likely not the right solution for you if you are not confident you can meet a dog’s day-to-day and emergency medical needs.
• Are you prepared to care or arrange for care for a dog every single day?
  Your dog must be cared for every day: taken out several times, cleaned up after, and fed a meal at least once a day. Your dog’s ongoing training must be maintained or improved, mental and physical exercise provided, and grooming, if necessary.
• How much dog training experience do you have?
  Training a service dog is intense! The training requires hundreds of repetitions for each skill and many hours in public settings to help them generalize skills and respond in a variety of public places.
• How complex are the disability skills you want the dog to perform?
  If you need the dog to perform highly advanced, discriminating tasks with multiple steps, guided self-training may not be the best option. We can determine the best plan for your unique situation.
• How much support will you need?
  Your disability may make some aspects of training and caring for your dog more difficult. Do you have a consistent way to transport yourself and your dog to various training environments? Are you able to work with your dog in those environments on your own?
• How much support do you have?
  Are multiple people in your household, or readily available, to help with exercising, training, and caring for the dog when you are unable to?
• Are you prepared for the attention that comes with having a Service Dog?
  When partnered with a Service Dog, you will never be invisible. People will stop and engage you in long-winded conversations and ask tons of questions, many of which will be very intrusive or personal.
• Are you prepared to deal with conflict?
  Not everyone will understand WHY you’d need or want a Service Dog. Some relationships may suffer, particularly if you have an invisible disability.
• Service dogs aren’t always perfect.
  Even the most well-trained service dog will have bad days. You must be able to pick up and carry on when these days happen, and accept professional help if needed.
• Would you consider another dog?
  If your dog is not a candidate for service work, would you consider getting another dog who is? Will you be able to provide for your current dog while training a new one, or would you need to rehome? As many as 70% of dogs who begin service training don’t make it to graduation due to medical or behavioral concerns.

The Dog Half (That’s your dog!)

• Is your dog appropriate for service dog training?
  The list below will help you see your dog and pay careful attention to their responses. If you have questions, please reach out before scheduling an assessment.
• At what age does training begin?
  Dogs should be at least 6 months old to begin our service dog program. Training and socialization should begin earlier, but dogs at this age handle advanced training better. If your dog is not yet 6 months old, a puppy or relationship-building class is a great way to lay a foundation.
• How long does it take to train a service dog?
  There is NO quick, cheap, or easy way to train a service dog. It requires hours of training and exposure. Our program can take 6 months to 2 years.
• What if my dog is a little ruff around the edges?
  With time and consistent training, many behavior challenges can be worked out. However, a dog who needs extra help is less likely to complete Public Access. Your valuable time, energy, and money could be spent training a dog with a greater likelihood of supporting you sooner.
• Being a service dog is stressful.
  It’s hard work, and requires exposure to all kinds of situations and environments. If your dog’s temperament isn’t suited for this, they will never be truly happy.

Temperament Assessment

While the actual assessment we perform is more detailed, here is an overview so you know what to expect and determine if your dog is a candidate.

• Reaction to a New Environment: We take the dog to a new environment and assess body language and comfort. We look for confidence and happiness.
• Responsiveness to Handler: Does your dog check in with you? Do they acknowledge you when called, or come to you after exploring?
• Startle and Recovery: We expose your dog to novel, loud, or unusual things. How quickly do they recover after being startled?
• Resource Guarding: Your dog should not freeze, guard, growl, or respond aggressively around valued resources (food, resting spots, people).
• Aggressive Responses: No fearful or aggressive responses to other animals, adults, or children who are interacting appropriately.
• Body Handling: How willing is your dog to let you examine all parts of their body? Ideally, the dog remains calm and seeks more attention after being released.
• General Skills: Is your dog excited to learn something new? What is their biggest motivator—food, toys, or praise?