Service Dogs are specially trained to assist a person with a disability. They may accompany their disabled partner in public places as allowed by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
Mobility Assistance Dogs
Perform at least 3 tasks to mitigate their partner’s disability. This may include retrieving, support work, opening and closing doors, and other tasks.
Signal (Hearing) Dogs
Alert their partner to at least 3 different sounds by making physical contact or some other behavior and then lead the person to the source of the sound.
Medical Response Dogs
These dogs include Seizure Dogs, Diabetes Dogs, Psychiatric Service Dogs, and dogs trained to assist wtith other medical conditions. They respond appropriately to their partner’s symptoms such as alerting their partner to seizure or high/low blood sugar levels, lying on or near them, or alerting others to the situation and perform at least 2 other tasks to mitigate their partner’s disability such as retrieving medication or getting help.
Guide Dogs
Guide their partners around obstacles, assist in street crossings, stop at curbs, and other guide tasks. Because there are many well-funded guide dog schools, we encourage clients to look there first. We train guide dogs on a limited basis for clients who cannot travel to other guide dog schools for whatever reason or may need additional special training.
Training
In addition all Service Dogs are trained to dial 9-1-1 in case of an emergency using a special phone.
All Disability Assistance Dogs are trained to meet or exceed ADI training standards.
Applying for a Service Dog
Please complete a Service Dog application and return to Disability Assistance Dogs.