Top Dog Training does service dog training only for customers with a psychiatric disability. According to the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA), there is no certification required to have a service dog. Most people do not understand this and they go online and work with disreputable companies to acquire a service dog “Certificate” but it is worthless. In fact, the ADA does not even require your dog to wear a service dog vest.
According to the ADA, you must have a government-acknowledged disability in order to have a service dog, and that dog must perform a task to help you with that disability. A store owner must accept you and your dog once you claim he/she is your service dog. However, the store owner is allowed to ask 2 and only 2 questions: (1) if the animal is required because of a disability, and (2) what work the animal has been trained to perform. The store owner cannot ask you to leave unless your dog is being unruly, urinates or defecates, jumps on people, bites or nips, barks or growls.
Therefore, we recommend that your dog become an American Kennel Club Canine Good Citizen. Passing the Canine Good Citizen test means that your dog is well-mannered and has all the skills required in a typical service dog. However, it does not mean your dog is a service dog. It just means your dog is well-mannered and knows its commands and is less likely to act out in a manner whereby a store owner would ask you to leave. Make sense? After passing the CGC test, we need to teach your pup approximately 10 specific commands that suit the needs of your disability. These additional commands include “touch”, “bump” and DPT, which is having your dog lay gently on top of you, providing deep pressure therapy. There are additional items such as having your dog lay “under” your table or chair at a public setting.
You may review all the requirements to become a Canine Good Citizen as well as the requirements of the ADA at this link, https://www.akc.org/products-services/training-programs/canine-good-citizen/canine-good-citizen-test-items/. Our training to pass the Canine Good Citizen test is normally 10 lessons, 45-minutes each, done weekly. This allows you to do 15 to 20 minutes a day of additional training so that we can move forward more quickly with the training. At the end of 10 weeks, your dog should be ready to take the 15-minute Canine Good Citizen test – we will set you up to take the test with a local American Kennel Club evaluator for the test. An important note, it may take a few more lessons beyond the 10 to get your dog ready, only time will tell. Please feel free to contact us for our rates.
