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Professional Training - What Do You Need to Consider Service Dog Training Organizations Near You

Before reaching out to a professional trainer or deciding to train your own service dog at home, you need to make clear what type of assistance dog you need and which breed will be most suitable for your lifestyle. There are things you need to consider before choosing between a professional or an individual training.

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Renee Fong · Oct 21, 2021

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Individual or a Professional Training - Advantages and Disadvantages
Things You Need to Consider Before Choosing Between a Professional or an Individual Training
What Do You Need to Consider When Choosing a Professional Trainer?
Training Organizations by States
Proper Behavior in Public
Do You Need To Provide A Training Certificate While in Public?

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Choosing the most suitable breed as well as the most suitable dog for a service dog can be a very challenging task. The dog needs to suit the individual’s needs and lifestyle. In addition, the strong bond between both a handler and a dog is crucial for the success of service dog training.

Individual or a Professional Training - Advantages and Disadvantages

Training their own service dog is beneficial for many owners, as it is affordable and the dog adjusts to their particular needs easily. However, training your own service dog has disadvantages as well, since it requires a lot of time and energy, constant monitoring of the dog’s behavior during the training process, patience, and strict following a training program. Some owners may find it difficult to distinguish the regular interaction with their dog as a pet from the interaction with the dog as a service animal. A service animal needs to follow strict rules, as he/she will be trained to perform specific tasks for the benefit of an individual with a disability. That means that a service dog is a working dog and he/she needs to stay focused on his/her handler at all times. According to the ADA regulations (Americans With Disabilities Act) service dogs can be trained both professionally and individually, and in both cases, they must be granted accommodation access rights.

Professional training is often prohibitively expensive for many people. Getting a trained service dog from a non-profit organization may take years, as there are long waiting lists. Both factors can be considered the main disadvantages of training provided by a professional trainer. Of course, professional training will ensure that the dog has been trained the most proper way to perform a specific work and be able to meet the needs of his/her handler efficiently.

Things You Need to Consider Before Choosing Between a Professional or an Individual Training

What Kind of an Assistance Animal Do You Need?

Depending on the individual’s disability assistance animals can provide different types of support like mental, emotional, and physical.

Animals, not only dogs, can comfort a person when just being around them. These kinds of animals- emotional support animals (ESA), companion dogs, or therapy dogs (used as a calming device for people in hospitals, nursing homes, schools, and different types of facilities) are not service animals. They do not qualify as service dogs and do not have access rights to public spaces. Moreover, they are not accepted by airlines as service animals and can travel as pets only. With that in mind, you do not need to provide a special training in order to make your pet an emotional support animal.

It is a different case when the animal is trained to perform specific tasks. According to the ADA regulations only dogs can be service animals (some states accept miniature horses as well). The tasks that a service dog can be trained to perform can be physical like- turning the lights on/off, opening the door, alerting the handler to different sounds like alarms, seizure alerting, detecting low levels of blood sugar, retrieving certain objects, etc… If you are dealing with anxiety, PTSD or depression, you may need a calming stimulation, provided by a Psychiatric dog. These kinds of dogs can also be trained to notify you when you need to take your medication or even bring it to you.

The age, health condition, and temperament of the dog are crucial for making the right choice.

Considering the things mentioned above, you can understand how important it is is to identify what kind of assistance dog you need, in order to train him/her (when necessary) properly.

After identifying the type of assistance dog you would like to have, you need to choose the most suitable breed for you.

Most Suitable Breeds for Service Dogs

In some of our articles we provided detailed information about the most suitable breeds for different types of assistance dogs, as well as the main features that they need to posses. In general, an appropriate breed should be easy to train, intelligent, with a stable temperament, with good obedience and social skills, with a large size- when needed for physical tasks like pulling a wheelchair or balance support. Some of the most suitable breeds for service dogs are: Labrador/Golden Retrievers, German Shepherds, Poodles, Border Collie, Bernese Mountain Dog.

After you chose the most suitable breed for your needs, you need to decide whether you want to train your own service dog or to reach out to a professional trainer. Considering the disadvantages of the individual service dog training at home, some owners decide to reach out to a professional trainer.

What Do You Need to Consider When Choosing a Professional Trainer?

Certifications and Qualification

Not every state requires professional trainers to be certified. With that in mind, you may want to check the qualification background of the trainer in order to ensure that he/she is a dedicated person, who wants to provide service dog training as efficiently as possible. There are training certification programs that many trainer find valuable. Some of them are:

Certification Council for Professional Dog Trainers (CCPDT)

This program is one of the most popular training programs that offers two levels of certification:

CPDT-KA and CPDT-KSA.

Among the documentation forms that the CPDT-KA (Knowledge Assessed) requires are: minimum 300 hours dog training for the last three years, completing an exam with 250 multiple-choice questions with a passing grade, as well as a statement from a veterinarian or a member of the CCPDT. The applicant must sign an ethic code as well.

Getting a CPDT-KSA (Knowledge and Skills Assessed) certificate is an even more demanding task, as the trainer is required to have a CPDT-KA qualification, to upload a passport photo, as well as two videos. The first one has to include four defined exercises with four different and unfamiliar dogs. The second video has to feature the applicant coaching three students with different dogs. The applicant must keep meeting all ongoing requirements.

International Association of Canine Professionals (IACP)

Applicants for a Certified Dog Trainer certification (IACP-CDT) must have been members of the IACP for minimum of six months and must have been engaged in the training of dogs for minimum of two years. When an applicant passes the CDT exam they are allowed to take the CDTA (Certified Dog Trainers Advanced). In order to pass the advanced exam, the applicants must submit a video for assessment of their training skills.

National Association of Dog Obedience Instructors (NADOI)

NADOI is considered the oldest organization that provides dog trainer certification. If an applicant wants to be a certified member of it, they must have been engaged in obedience training for a minimum period of five years. For at least two of these five years, the applicant must have been a head trainer. Other requirements include: a minimum number of trained dogs- 100, providing a group training for minimum of 104 hours, or giving individual lessons for minimum of 288 hours. In addition the applicant needs to pass a test, that includes essay writing.

Karen Pryor Academy

If a trainer is interested in receiving the KPA-CTP (Certified Training Partner) they need to participate in a course that includes four weekends of intensive learning with a trainer as well as online lessons. The length of this program is six months. This program is accepted by CCPDT and IAABC and can be used as proof for ongoing qualification.

Personal Contact

When choosing a professional trainer you may want to talk to them in person. That way you will be able to evaluate the trainer as a person and to ask all questions that are of interest to you directly.

Visit the Facility

You may want to visit the training facility as well, as you can check the equipment, the maintenance of the building, the conditions, in that dogs have been trained. You will be able to observe practical training and to evaluate whether it is adequate or not. You may find it efficient or rather stressful and overwhelming for the dogs.

Making personal contact and checking the training facility are some of the most important factors you need to take into consideration when choosing a professional trainer for your dog.

Reviews from other students

You can find easily if there are complaints, or extremely negative reviews when making detailed research about an organization or a certain trainer. You also may want to check the Better Business Bureau for trainer or trainer organization reviews.

Private Lessons

If you would feel more comfortable when your dog has been trained individually by a professional trainer, you may want to check if the trainer you are about to choose provides individual training.

Training Organizations by States

We will list some dog training organizations in different states, so that you can find easily an organization near you.

Alabama

K-9s 4 Kids and K-9s 4 Heroes

Programs of Easter Seals Alabama

Frances McGowin, Director

5960 East Shirley Ln.

Montgomery, AL 36117

(334) 395-4489

Arizona

K9 Paws Behavior Dog Training

Marsha Tonkinson

(928) 530-4605

Professional Training - What Do You Need to Consider Service Dog Training Organizations Near You

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Travel Everywhere Together

Psychiatric Service Dogs can accompany their handlers anywhere – even airplanes

Individual or a Professional Training - Advantages and Disadvantages

Things You Need to Consider Before Choosing Between a Professional or an Individual Training

What Kind of an Assistance Animal Do You Need?

Most Suitable Breeds for Service Dogs

What Do You Need to Consider When Choosing a Professional Trainer?

Certifications and Qualification

Personal Contact

Visit the Facility

Reviews from other students

Private Lessons

Training Organizations by States

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