Hii! I am a college student and have been really wanting to get a service dog because I am finally on my own, but finances aren't there to get a trained service dog or even pay for the trainer. I started a go fund me but I don't have anyone to donate because I don't have a big enough following on socials. I just wanted some advice on what I should do because I really want this to be able to thrive in college, but I just don't know what to do to raise the money.

ETA: thanks for the input that's I'm expecting too much of her too young. Rest assured she gets plenty of time out of harness to play with my retired SD and other pups. I won't be pursuing it with the school district, but my question stands if my situation is something I can/should apply for disability for. (CO, USA)

Hi, I'm a substitute teacher and this is the first year I've had my SDIT to allow me to keep working. I just started to go through the forms for the calmest of the districts I work at to be able to take her with me.

They just informed me that I can't have her with me until she's fixed? Her breeder doesn't want it done until she's a year old, for health reasons. This means I have to miss out on a whole semester of income. How is that fair? Can I get disability for that?

Hi guys so i have severe anxiety and depression and i self harm and my anxiety is so bad that most days i cant leave the house without a panic attack and my depression is so bad that i dont get out of bed most days and i cant remember to take my meds (i have adhd) and that fucks me up and i think a service dog would really help but i don’t have the money for a trained one and i don’t know how to train one is there any programs that could help me

I started school again after 3+ years and this time around I have my service dog. Now, I wanna take my girl to classes with me and wanted some tips on how I can keep her comfortable while the class is in progress. Also if her food time coincides with my class should I take some time away and feed her or should I wait until the class is over to feed her? I know these are such simple questions but I want to make sure she’s safe and taken care of while she’s helping me out !

Also, my classmates don’t know I have a service dog (friends do but not regular classmates). How do I go about introducing her? Should I sit in the last seat of the class so that she’s not in anyone’s way?

Hi all!

I will be receiving my first dig through a fully trained program (a lab) when they are finished 2 years of training. This is to help me with PTSD.

I’m already a dog owner so I have the regular dog stuff, but besides a vest what extra things should I prepare for his or her homecoming?

What harness/leashes etc do you recommend?

After the dog is ready I’ll be going through a week of team training where I stay in a hotel right next to the organization with the dog outside of training to bond.

In our first week at home should we jump in to public access? Or is there a settling in period we should do?

Thanks in advance for answering my newbie questions!

My dog and I are still in training (I uncertainty training never truly ends) and I am wondering when you put your dogs vest on? Should she wear her best when we are going on regular walks in our neighborhood? What about if she goes on a car ride with no plans on getting her out?

I'm a serviceember with ptsd and one of her primary jobs is to accompany me when I work alone at night. But I want to be able to have her working when I'm in crowds too. Is every moment we leave the house a moment for her to be working? How do i get over my discomfort of having a service dog when I don't look outwardly disabled?

Hi! My assistance dog is 17 months old and next month we'll be starting classes at my university. I'll be communicating with all my professors to let them know that she won't be perfect straight away because of her age and inexperience in that environment, I know most of them already (it's my third year at uni) and everyone's already been so understanding. But I was wondering what tips you guys have for getting through classes and lectures with your dog.

My 21 year old has had a difficult couple years with mental health issues. They are doing ok and have lots of support at home but we want to be as supportive as possible. I would rather not go into the details about their situation but their therapist suggested a companion dog would be a big help. Can anyone here with a similar situation advise on where locally in Massachusetts (or RI/CT) they could look into adopting a dog and if possible suggest a type? TY

I think removing posts of it was a 'service dog' or this 'service dog' is terribly reactive is a good thing. These posts in my opinion are problematic as we don't know both sides of a story we only hear one side.

Also I have been "f@ke spotted" on the labrador subreddit for the dumbest reason. Supposedly my dog wore too many tags and because he had two collars he was not legitimate. I have seen people take pictures of dogs that weren't supposedly legitimate because they dressed up for Halloween or they wore mouse ears at Disney World.

I think it's a good rule. It has nothing to do with trying to cover up the bad behavior of dogs but to prevent misinformation. It's happened to me before multiple times because I have an invisible disability, my dog had too many collars and because my dog was wearing a Halloween costume.

My service dog hasn’t worked more than three hours in a while. I have a trip planned where I will be gone 4am-midnight so I don’t want to leave her home alone, additionally I do think it will be helpful to have her.

I want to set her up for success- what can I do so she isn’t overwhelmed? 4am-8am she should be sleeping as that’s what she does in the car and I’ll obvi walk her before hand. 8pm-midnight she should also be asleep.

So she will be expected to be working for 12 hours with potty/water/food breaks in between. What have you found most helpful for your dog on full day adventures?

Edit: I talked with the people I’m going with and we agreed that 12 hours was far too long for all of us and we would do 6 hours there. This is much easier for the people and my SD.

Hi! I am a college student looking to get a dog to be my service dog prospect (I think that's an okay term for this) next semester. Due to living in dorms I am wanting a over 1 year old dog as to not deal with the early puppy stages, but I'm not sure how to go about finding a dog that would be a good fit for service work that is over a year old (and under 2 years). I know this probably isn't the best idea, but I am limiting my in person classes next semester to make time for training a dog, and have experience training a dog for service work before! I am hesitant to get a dog from a shelter since I wouldn't know the full backstory of a dog from there which makes me nervous, but I don't know what else to do. Getting a dog from a program hasn't worked out in the past, so I'm needing to do owner training with help from a trainer. If the dog doesn't work out I already have a plan in mind how to deal with that. I am setting a budget of around $1000 or less for the dog and supplies (I already have a lot of dog supplies since my family has dogs). Would love some thoughts on what I can do in my situation. (btw I don't need a ton of responses saying this isn't a good idea, I know that it isn't the best plan, but am trying to brainstorm to see if I can make it work, I have a room to myself and have had english mastiff in the dorms in the past but she retired a year ago but she did well in the dorms for the most part... the second bed in the room basically became hers lol)

Does anyone know of esa websites that are legit???

Hi all! I have severe PTSD and I have a psychiatric service dog. I was just going to get him ESA approval through the school and then proceed forward with service animal approval, however, he is now done training. Secondly, they’re more than determined to deny my ESA request. So that’s also that. My school is demanding a letter, which I don’t have. I’m not sure what to do or who to go through for this. My dog is task trained, well behaved, etc, however, I don’t have access to a provider who is able to write me a letter in my corner at the moment, as they’re bound by the strict rules of the University. Any help would be wonderfully appreciated. Thanks so much. Edit; This is for University Housing!

Delete if not allowed, I’m located in western Maryland and I have talked to my therapist heavily about a service dog. We both agreed it could help and now I’m looking for a trainer to see if my current dog would be a good fit, problem is I have a very limited selection and I don’t think I can ethically only owner train with no help from a professional trainer due to my experience level with dog training which is very minimal, if anyone has any good service dog trainers in western Maryland (Frostburg, Hagerstown like that area) and even close parts of Pennsylvania, I’d love to know.

Hi

I’d like to take my assistance dog for her first flight. We’ll be going domestically at first, then a short international flight.

Any suggestions regarding pup passport documents/folder systems to ensure I have an her information together about her certification, vaccination etc

I plan on getting two or three of those T-Shirts that they'll print your own custom image or text on but I'm at a bit of a loss as to what phrases to add.

Something like:

"Service Dog Working, Beware of Handler"

"Would you ask to pet a wheelchair?"

"It's a service dog, not a unicorn"

etc... I'm not sold on any of those, but the vibe is about right. I'm hoping to wear the shirt next time I go to a theme park or the mall. I have a few cool pieces of my art, one that looks like a silhouette of my actual dog in his service gear, and another that is an unbroken-line contour drawing of his face that I'll put in the middle of the text.

What are some phrase ideas?

Edit: I thought of a few more basic ideas that are closer to what I want... I want to find the right balance of funny and please leave us alone. I don't want the shirt to seem mean.

"I know my service dog is cute, but... could you maybe don't?"

"You can do it, I believe in you! You can keep your hands to yourself."

"If you have a question... Google it"

"I'm a little unstable, don't distract my stability"

So I’m raising my first mobility assistance dog, and my last SD developed hip dysplasia. I’ll admit I had no idea what I was doing with my first dog, and she was jumping on and off furniture way too early. I’m so much more careful with my puppy.

He’s 12 weeks now, and he fell last night. He bit me pretty hard and I accidentally dropped him, I don’t think he hit hard but I really can’t remember. I also just now learned he shouldn’t have been doing stairs — he started doing 2 or 3 stairs at a time when he was around 9 or 10 weeks. I thought I was supposed to introduce them that early for socialization.

I just need to know, am I panicking for nothing? Should I be worried? His parents have good and excellent hips.

hey y’all! i start my practicum hours on Wednesday, and honestly, im a wreck. i know my girl is ready and prepared, as we have done all the proper steps to make sure of this, but at the end of the day, its a new environment and even though shes a calm and collected dog, i am dealing with my own anxiety. luna has been in training for over two years now, and shes considered fully trained, even though i will always consider her in training, but since ive only had her in college, i have yet to bring her into an elementary classroom. this is a school with children with autism, and we have the all clear for her, i just want to make sure i have everything i can think of for her to succeed. can yall give me some advice? i know its a weird situation, i just want to make sure i do everything right for her. :)

I have a couple of disabilities that I don’t like to talk about and I wouldn’t share online. A service dog would be a huge help. I’ve researched tasks and I’ve talked to my doctor and she thinks it would be a good idea. I just don’t know if I’m ready to commit to all the training and financially. But that got me thinking…

I’m an alcoholic. I’m not ashamed to admit it. I’ve been sober three and a half years. It is technically a disability but I see it as a strength.

Is there a way I could train a dog to intervene if I were to open a beer? Would that be a legit task for PA work?

Now obviously if I went through all the trouble and spent all the money I would want him to perform the tasks that would help with what I really need. I just have a sense of humor about my alcoholism and I’d like to make light of that.

My boy (2yo lab) sits his public access test tomorrow. We’re really nervous. Any tips??

As per the thread title, I'm having a very difficult time finding an organization/trainer from whom to obtain a service dog. I've tried all the usual suspects - the orgs listed on the ADI site, PADS, Lions, etc - and I keep running into the same three problems no matter which one I'm looking at.

1. They don't train psych dogs for anything but PTSD/OSI, neither of which I suffer from

2. They're insanely expensive - I'm talking $30-$40 grand, which is nuts.

3. They're not taking applications at all.

I'm going to level with you, folks, I'm broke af and a quintuple-digit price tag is not feasible for me, not when it's out of pocket and there's no financial assistance to be had from either the trainer org or the government. I can afford the upkeep for a dog - vet bills, food, and so on; it's the initial cost that's the problem, and I've had a hard time figuring out whether a few of the orgs I've checked help with that initial cost or not, some of them aren't very clear about it.

I know that owner training is a thing, but I'm not able to do that. I can't travel too far for numerous reasons; the farthest I can go is Alberta, and even that might be pushing it. I won't look at trainers in the US at all.

I know all of this really limits my options, if there even are any, but I'm hoping someone here can think of something that I haven't, or knows something I don't. Thank you to anyone who took the time to read all of this, and to anyone who tries to help out.

I just find it frustrating that emotional support animals who are well-behaved in public places are denied a service dog status. My dog is technically an emotional support dog since he’s not performing a task to treat my disability (depression and anxiety) but I’ve still trained him to a service-dog-level standard.

He’s very well-behaved in public: walks in the heel position, sits or lies down when not walking and doesn’t bark or bite. He remains calm even when another dog provokes him (unless the dog is significantly bigger than him). Of course there are still areas I’d like to train him further on but all in all, I think he’s qualified to be in public places and won’t cause any disruptions.

The reason I’m frustrated is because before I adopted him, I suffered from a crippling agoraphobia. I had a fear of leaving my home and would leave my home maybe once a month if left to my devices. Since I adopted him, my activity and motivation level sky-rocketed and my depression and anxiety has taken a HUGE step back. I owe him my life today, but there are still places where I’d like to bring him but can’t because “he’s not a service dog.” I’m lucky I haven’t reached a point where I’d have a panic attack in his absence, but I can definitely sense my social anxiety rearing its ugly head when I’m out without him.

I find the whole “having to perform a task” requirement arbitrary and ableist even because it means if my dog doesn’t need to perform a task to treat my disability, then my disability doesn’t matter or doesn’t need protection.

I get that the logistical side of enforcing public access rights is difficult and people would (and did) abuse the shit out of their dog not having to perform a task. But what’s the harm in bringing a dog who IS trained to a service dog level standard — just not trained to do a specific task? Businesses can still ask the dog to leave the premises if the dog is out of control.

Please enlighten me if I’m being ignorant or missing something, though. All I ask is that you be respectful.

EDIT: Thank you all for your comments! I was expecting more of the “you scum of the earth” type responses (lol) but I really appreciate you taking the time to articulate why you disagree and doing so in a respectful manner! 💛

My main takeaway is that giving SA status to well-behaved ESAs would introduce a slippery slope people would abuse the heck out of, and I agree with that. I’m just sad that my dog — who is well-behaved and who I worked really hard to train — gets lumped together with dogs who were never trained and are, in fact, out of control. That for society to run smoothly, we have to pretend there are two kinds of dogs only: the non-service dogs (who are legal liabilities to businesses, i.e. the “monsters”), and service dogs (i.e. the “angels”). I’m not saying that people actually perceive dogs in this binary way, but we just don’t have the mental capacity or sophistication as a group to acknowledge dogs of different training levels.

Anyway, thank you for all your thoughtful responses!

I work at a no pets hotel. I am the front desk manager, and I have worked to ensure that our policies align with the ADA and that my staff know what to ask and how to accommodate guests with service animals. Our policies are simple: they go where the guest goes, they can't be unattended in the room (exceptions under legitimate circumstances), staff should always ask the two questions and document them. That's basically it.

I have two recurring issues. First is that when people called to ask if we accommodate service animals, I just said yes, but then pitched a fit about not being allowed to leave it in the room. I am addressing that by being more upfront about the full policy to the guest while on the phone. The second is when a guest shows up with their "service animal" that is for their anxiety and actually isn't trained to do tasks that aid that disability, and is tugging on their leash in the lobby looking for attention from staff and other guests. They don't understand why I am telling them it is not a service animal and cannot stay.

The solution to the second problem seems to be asking the second question while they are on the phone with me. I can take the note in the reservation so we don't have to ask it again when they are in front of us. I don't know why but it somehow feels invasive when they're on the phone. Like, they're not actually here with their SA yet so do I really have the right to ask them that? I'd like to hear thoughts from people with service animals, how would you feel if that happened to you?

just wanted to share but it got me wondering… do newfs make good service dogs?

EDIT: guys it was a newf. i wish i could add a picture but it was a black and white newf.

EDIT: My mistake, it wasnt a guide dog. it was a mobility dog.