For those that suffer from a disability, having a trained service dog can help to make everyday tasks easier, while also ensuring that they are able to stay safe.
From helping their handlers with simple, everyday tasks, to alerting them to potential dangers – a service dog has the potential to greatly improve quality of life.
However, even though dogs are known for their loyal, kind and intelligent nature, that doesn’t mean that they can begin working as service dogs for their owner or handler – they will first need to undertake training in order to be able to effectively carry out disability-specific tasks and commands.
The only question is, how much is service dog training? In this article, we are going to be taking a closer look at what service dog training consists of, how much it costs, as well as some alternatives that you might want to consider.
So, whenever you’re ready – let’s dive right in.
How Much Does It Cost To Train A Service Dog?
If you’re interested in acquiring a service dog to help assist you with day-to-day activities and other tasks, one of the easiest ways that this can be done is by simply opting to get your pet dog trained to be a service dog!
Before we get any further, let’s take a look at what makes a good service dog:
- A willingness to please their owner/handler
- Calm nature
- The ability to retain information and learn commands
- Intelligence
- The ability to remain non-reactive in various situations
- Patience
If your dog meets the criteria of what makes a good service dog, then you will be able to take them to a local service dog training organization in your area.
Once there, your dog will begin training to be a service dog, which can typically cost anywhere from $50-$250 per session/hour. For the whole training experience, you can expect to spend upwards of $20,000+.
With that being said, if your dog does not meet the criteria to be a good service dog, you will alternatively need to get one that is better suited to handle the requirements of being a service dog. This brings us to our next point.
Where To Find A Service Dog
If you don’t currently have your own dog that you want to get professionally trained or your dog isn’t a good candidate, there are many different organizations out there that train service dogs that can provide you with one.
In order to do this, all you are going to need to do is simply provide them with relevant information about what you need your service dog for, and then they will be able to help determine the appropriate service dog for you.
Once this has been achieved, you will most likely be placed on a waiting list and you will be alerted when the right service dog has been found for you.
During this time, you will also be required to pay for the cost of the service dog, as well as any other additional fees that the organization you are getting the service dog from might charge.
How To Train Your Own Service Dog
At the time of writing this guide, the ADA does not currently require service dogs across the country to be professionally trained.
For this reason, if you do not want to pay for your dog to be professionally trained by a service or organization, you can alternatively decide to train your dog by yourself.
When it comes to training your own service dog, it is important to keep in mind that the process can be quite a lengthy one, so you’re going to need to make sure that you have the time and patience as your dog learns.
To begin, we recommend that you start out by making sure that your dog has plenty of time to learn basic obedience commands, including basic house training.
Along with that, before you start to train your dog to perform specific tasks, you are also going to need to make sure that you are spending plenty of time making sure that your dog is being introduced to a variety of different situations.
This is because your service dog will need to be able to handle a variety of different situations while staying calm and non-reactive. You can do this by taking your dog on regular walks at the local dog park and other places.
After these stages have been successfully achieved, you can then go ahead and begin teaching your dog to perform certain tasks when given the relevant commands.
As a side note, if you would like assistance with your dog’s training but don’t want to take them to an organization/service – there are plenty of service helpers available that will be able to help train your dog with you from the comfort of your own home.
Wrapping Up
There we have it! When it comes to training a service dog, there are plenty of different options to choose from.
On one hand, if you are interested in getting yourself a trained service dog, then you will be able to get one from the various organizations that train service dogs to handle various types of disabilities.
Alternatively, if you do not want to go down that route, you alternatively have the option of training your own dog at home, as the ADA does not require service dogs to be professionally trained in order to begin serving as one.
Still, now that you have taken the time to read through the above guide, we are hoping that you now have a much better understanding of how much it costs to get a dog professionally trained to be a service dog – as well as some alternative options available to you, too.
Thank you for taking the time to read through this article, we hope that it has been useful!
The result of that was Bunny - a 5 year old labrador who follows me around everywhere and is trained to detect when I’m about to have an anxiety attack. Through our three years together, Bunny can even sense when I’m feeling just a little bit anxious and work to calm me down.
- Are Antlers Safe For Dogs? - January 14, 2024
- Can Dogs Eat Honey Nut Cheerios? - December 23, 2023
- Natural Deworming Remedies for Your Dog - December 18, 2023
