Service Dogs
The rules and roles differ for service dogs, therapy dogs, and emotional support animals (ESA). Each type of dog has a different skill set, temperament, and rights or limitations to access public spaces.
Service dogs are trained to perform a task or tasks for an individual to help mitigate their disability. Service dogs accompany their handler in public where pets are not permitted.
Therapy dogs are trained to give comfort to persons they visit. Therapy dogs are invited into facilities for therapy for therapy dog visits. Reading groups, family courts, nursing homes, and hospitals are typical visits for a trained therapy dog.
Emotional Support Animals (ESA’s) do not require training and may be permitted to live in housing where pets are not permitted. An ESA can be any animal that you feel provides comfort in your home. ESA’s are not permitted on airline flights or in public spaces.
Service Dogs of Excellence
We select, breed, and raise golden retriever puppies exclusively for our service dog program. The golden retriever is outgoing, devoted and affectionate, fostering exceptional partnerships with their handlers. We have been developing our line of golden retrievers for health, temperament and conformation to build a better working dog.
Breeding our best service dogs allows us to capture, preserve and advance health, temperament and conformation traits. Each of our breeding dogs completes two years of training for Therapy Dog and Service Dog in addition to Puppy Head Start, On Leash, Off Leash, and public access training. Breeding dogs must also meet our rigorous health and conformation standards.
Owner, Katie Weibel, graduated from university that specialized in breeding service dogs for over 40 years. The university’s research is applied to our screening and selecting breeding stock, whelping practices, and early handling protocols giving our puppies a monumental advantage to succeed in health, temperament and trainability.
A service dog is a financial and emotional investment and we guarantee a sound, working service dog for our clients. We do not accept existing pets into our program as health, temperament, and trainability are traits that cannot be overlooked.
Approved service dog applicants will be matched with a service dog based on application requirements, medical recommendations, task(s) required, and lifestyle. You will meet with our service dog trainers and approve of the service dog selected for you. Training will then be completed, and the dog delivered to your home over several days of training.
Types of Service Dogs
Autism Assistance service dogs and child Assistance service dogs work for the parent or guardian to help mitigate their child’s disability. The parent/guardian is fully responsible for all the care, handling, and facilitating of the service dog. Children who are not of mature age and capacity cannot facilitate their own service dog at school and are not able to take the dog to school.
These service dogs provide support to the parent/guardian through tasks tailored to the child’s needs. The dog can interrupt stemming behaviors, provide deep pressure therapy, track a child that has eloped, and serve as a tether or lead for the child when out in public.
A service dog helps provide focus for the child by giving them a job to do. The child is encouraged to use their special lead to “walk” the service dog, while the parent/guardian is actually in control of the service dog and commanding the service dog to perform the tasks.
Many parents find the service dog to help their child fall asleep faster stay asleep longer. While sleeping with their child is not a “task”, allowing the parents to sleep through the night is an enormous victory.
Service dogs provide a calming presence. They are affectionate and love to perform their tasks.
Teens and adults can experience a greater sense of independence with a highly trained service dog. Service dogs that can be controlled properly and effectively by their handler can accompany them at school or in the workplace.
It is in these most challenging environments, school and work, that a service dog is most helpful. They provide a calming presence and sense of security. Service dogs are trained in all public access in addition to the special requirements of working in a public school or busy work environment.
Tasks may include touch and lay. The dog may also be trained to sleep soundly overnight, providing that continuing comfort for sleeping through the night.
Autism/Adult assistance may include additional tasks to best help their handler. Our application process helps us to learn which tasks would be most beneficial.
Mobility service dogs assist individuals who currently utilize a manual or power wheelchair. The dogs assist their handler in various ways such as opening doors, retrieving dropped items, and turning on lights. They do not pull the wheelchair. They help their handler to navigate this very inaccessible world by reaching things high and low.
Stability service dogs are of considerable size to provide the strength needed to help their handler sit down and stand up. They also provide a strong guide when walking up and down stairs. Many stability dog handlers utilize a wheelchair and/or roller walker.
These service dogs also retrieve dropped items, open doors, and turn lights on.
|
A service dog performs customized tasks to help bring a sense of safety, security, self-awareness and companionship to affected individuals, military and civilian. PTSD/ Psychiatric service dogs can enter the house in front of their handler and turn on a light, activate a K-9 Rescue Alarm to call for help, and stand away from their handler to increase their ‘space bubble’. The service dog may be trained to retrieve a medication bag, provide stability task assistance when medication causes imbalance, or respond to the alarm clock by licking or nudging the handler awake. The service dog may be trained to provide an interruption when emotional overload or disassociation occurs. Deep pressure therapy can be provided by the service dog lying on your lap or chest during times of stress. |
Service Dog Application Process
Determine whether your needs fit our Service Dog Program by completing our free Online Application. Our trainers review every submission to understand your disability, symptoms, severity, lifestyle, and the potential benefit of a service dog within our program parameters.
Please note that while you may have a qualifying disability, our program is designed for individuals with severe to profound disabilities. We are unable to approve applications for mild, moderate, or temporary conditions.
If your initial application is approved, we’ll email you your status and mail the next set of forms. Once all paperwork and medical references are received, our trainers will begin the process of selecting the right service dog for you.
Please allow up to 4 weeks for an approval decision. We recognize the deep need for reliable, fully trained service dogs and hope we’re able to support you. When completing your application, answer each question as accurately and thoroughly as possible.
Appalachian Dog Training LLC has a specialized golden retriever breeding program that consistently produces actively working service dogs. When producing a service dog of excellence, we are selecting for superior health and sound temperament to meet the demands of a service dog’s working life.
Our service dogs complete training that spans 1 to 2 years and thousands of individualized training sessions. Training programs include Puppy Head Start, On Leash, Off Leash, public access, task training, and at completion, delivery training.
While owner-training or purchasing your own puppy can be considered a low cost option to obtaining a service dog, it statistically has a success rate of about 10%. This means that your investment costs of the puppy and your time face a 90% failure rate.
Having a washed service dog is expensive, emotionally upsetting, and may affect your opportunity to get a working service dog in the future. When you get a service dog from Appalachian Dog Training, LLC, you know your investment is guaranteed.
We do not accept pets or existing dogs into service dog program because we cannot guarantee another dog’s health or temperament, but they are welcome and encouraged to attend our immersive Board and Train program or Private Training classes. Puppy Head Start, On Leash and Off Leash will provide you with a great level of communication and ease of handling with valuable obedience training for your pet.
Service Dog Delivery
Service dog costs include the dog, training, care, veterinary services, and equipment. Fees range from $20-30,000 and are based on the type of service dog and tasks required. Payment terms are offered in 6 months or 12 months and will allow time for fundraising to help cover the costs of your service dog. Costs and payment terms are identified in our Training Agreement.
Once your service dog is fully trained, he or she will be delivered to you. Delivery is conducted in your home from morning until evening over the course of several days. You must be home and schedule all appointments and activities you regularly attend such as therapy sessions, grocery shopping, dining out, and religious services. Costs you must pay include the final payment, our travel to your home, lodging, and meals.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes. Because a successful service-dog placement depends on both the puppy’s temperament and the owner’s training support, applicants must secure an approved professional service-dog trainer or program before we can approve them for a service-dog prospect.
The trainer or program must provide:
- In-person training or a hybrid program that includes in-person support; remote-only programs do not qualify
- Service-dog-specific education through an established school or vocational program, such as Highland Canine or Bergin University of Canine Studies
- An established owner-trained service-dog program with its structure published online
- Previous experience successfully graduating working service-dog teams
- Experience with the applicant’s specific disability-related tasks
- Guidance identifying the tasks the dog will perform and the temperament best suited to those needs
- Support evaluating and selecting an appropriate puppy
General dog-training certifications, including CPDT or KPA credentials, do not qualify a trainer for this placement unless the trainer also meets our service-dog-specific education and experience requirements.
Applicants must provide their trainer’s website and contact information so we can review the program and confirm that it meets our requirements.
Not every puppy will have the environmental stability, sound confidence, resilience, and other traits required for service work. The percentage of suitable prospects varies by litter, and placement cannot be guaranteed. Applicants must remain flexible regarding sex to have the best opportunity for a successful match. If the current litter does not produce the right prospect for an applicant’s needs, we will ask them to wait for a future litter rather than place an unsuitable puppy.
Yes. Appalachian Golden Retrievers offers discounted puppy pricing for approved service-dog organizations, training programs, and companies. Please contact us directly to discuss your organization, placement needs, and availability.
Service dogs can be any breed, however, we select the most human-cooperative breeds for service dogs. Service dogs must have the desire to please and work for people. These breeds are Golden Retrievers, Labrador Retrievers, Poodles, Doodles, and Shepherds.
Service dogs are trained specifically for you. Because the training is tailored to you, there is not one for adoption. Service dogs require one to two years of training. After application approval, you are matched with a service dog for your needs, then highly specialized training begins.
Service dogs start training at eight weeks old. They have extensive testing and perfect temperaments for the job, upwards of $5000+. However, the puppy is still the cheapest part of training a dog to become a service dog. Training, lasting 18 months on average, accounts for most of the costs of a service dog. The national average cost of a service dog ranges from $25,000 to $35,000. We strive to keep costs well below the national average to help make service dogs more accessible to those who need them most.
Some local and federal agencies may be able to provide you with funding towards your service dog. This usually involves contacting local agencies (such as your local Family Center) and requesting assistance.
Many families do not have the funds ready to pay for a service dog. Several options to help with this challenge are split payments and fundraising. We do not require that you pay the entire costs all at once.
Fundraising is an excellent way to offset costs for your service dog. While we do not organize your fundraising events, we often join them! Options are virtually unlimited. A few ideas are: a dog wash, car wash, spaghetti dinner, sidewalk sale, a walk-a-thon, just to name a few!
A go-fund me page with updates is another excellent way to reach many people without even leaving your home. We provide periodic updates for you to post about your service dog’s training journey. You also get to share the daily and weekly training pictures we post on Facebook and Instagram for everyone to follow.
Use your talents and contacts (sewing, mechanical expertise, gardening, friend’s business etc.) to think of creative ways to share an enjoyable experience, service, product or gift in exchange for a donation. Many clients raise funds well over the costs and well before delivery day. You will be pleasantly surprised with the support from your community.
Applications can be completed online, or you can request one to be mailed to you. We will review your application to better understand your needs and how a service dog may best mitigate your most significant symptoms.
We select a dog for you and invite you to the Training Center to meet your dog. If the match between you and your service dog is approved, we enter into a training contract and begin training your service dog. You are encouraged to visit your service dog periodically while he is in training over the next 1-2 years. At completion of training, your service dog will be delivered to you with a in-home training to ensure you master all of your service dog’s care, handling, and training.
Yes, we have a detailed health guarantee for our service dogs which takes effect when your dog is delivered to ensure your dog’s health and your investment. We do not health guarantee a service dog when you purchase your own puppy/dog to be trained. We also provide support training for life, for both you and your service dog. In addition, we require that your service dog attend refresher training in the first year to ensure his training is maintained and no task changes are needed. We support our working service dog teams for life!