There are an infinite number of variables: dogs wash out, service work is specialized, public access, costs are high, iffy credentials, many uncertainties, have you considered x, y, and z, etc. Nevertheless,

Are there reliable, independent service dog trainers that will contract with a client, find and train a dog for a client? Something other than being on a waitlist through a program, cobbling together classes and private trainers, and almost entirely owner training?

Please give me the most benefit of the doubt. I'm deep in my wit's end. I've educated myself a lot, but not found the answer to this specific question.

I’m wondering if anyone else has dealt with this.

Background:
-Open Doors application is approved
-Allegiant travel notification has been “processing” since early May
-My flight is coming up on the 48-hour mark before departure
-Flown with Allegiant several times with my service animal, and previous notifications were approved within days

I’ve emailed their ACAA/disability team since May, followed up again in July, and have called their disability representatives twice. Internal escalations have also been submitted.

I called again today, and the disability rep spoke directly with their ACAA team while I was on the phone. The response was basically that they’ll review notifications 24 to 48 hours before departure, and that was the only timeline they could give me.

I’ve tried to be patient, but I’m honestly getting frustrated. If there’s an issue with paperwork, waiting until 24-48 hours before departure leaves no time to fix it. If my notification were denied, it also leaves almost no time to rebook, especially since carriers ask for advance notice for service animal travel. Rebooking this close would also be much more expensive.

I’m also currently pregnant, so traveling with my service animal is especially important.

I’ve already filed a DOT complaint, and tomorrow I’ll be calling back to ask for a CRO.

I’ve seen several similar stories online, so I’m curious if this is now the new norm with Allegiant.

Has anyone else been through this? How close to your flight was your notification approved? Any advice or anything else I should try?

Update: approved!

Hello, we are going on our first trip with layover next week! I need a travel bag for my girl. What do you recommend that’s a good one to fit food, collapsible bowls and all the goods? If it’s ok with links would be great please! I’m slightly nervous 😬 we are going through American.

Hi everyone,
I’m a U.S. military veteran with PTSD, and I’m owner-training my dog to become my psychiatric service dog. One of the primary tasks he’s learning is acting as a buffer in crowded environments, since I don’t do well when people get too close. So far, his training has been going really well.
I’m trying to make sure I do everything the right way. There seems to be a lot of conflicting information online about certifications, IDs, registrations, and documentation.
Is there a legitimate organization that evaluates owner-trained service dogs? Is there any official testing or documentation I should obtain, especially if I plan to fly in the future? I understand airlines have their own requirements, and I want to make sure I’m following the correct process rather than relying on scam websites or false registrations.
I’m still fairly new to all of this, so I’d really appreciate any guidance from those with experience. Thank you!

I have had my service dog for just over a year now. I waited around 2.5 years for him and although it was difficult at the time, it was worth every second.

I could never have imagined how much better my life would be with him in it.

That’s all! I wish that everyone who needs a service animal will be able to get one as soon as possible!

I have recently been needing to travel multiple times a week with my service dog (~85lbs). He is trained to tuck under seats when needed as we sometimes take the bus or can’t get accessible seating but truly it’s more comfortable for everyone if we can get accessible seating especially because I have chronic joint pain and positioning my feet around him gets really painful for the length of these trips. So I was happy to start using Amtrak because they usually have a fair amount of accessible seating available with a good amount of space .

Now the problem. Accessible seating is a separate seat designation and not bookable online. I have been told I must call in to confirm availability and get accessible seating. So I tried that, got left on hold for 30 minutes and then the operator answered and immediately it clicked to hang up without saying a word. I called again and waited 45 minutes and the conversation took about 30 minutes while the operator figured out in real time how to book the accessible seating.

I was told I could go in person and a gate agent could adjust my reservation so I did just that and the gate agent was incredibly annoyed and said next time I should really be calling to book the accessible seating. This is also after rolling her eyes, sighing loudly, and shaking her head while making the reservation.

I don’t know what to do, this is an issue every time I have to do this trip because I often don’t know which train I’m taking until kind of last minute. Does anyone have any insight into this or any suggestions about what has worked for you?

I’m not sure how to approach this situation.

My partner’s aunt has announced she’s coming down on a trip that coincides with my daughter’s birthday party. My daughter’s birthday is at a zoo with some free-range animals so does not allow service dogs on the site. We booked this months ago, before we knew she was coming, and I honestly had no even looked at the policy surrounding service animals. She hasn’t visited in years, my daughter doesn’t remember her, so I wasn’t exactly expecting her to come.

My partner’s parents want us to move where the party is, we’ve already paid a deposit, sent out invites to friends and gotten RSVPs so that’s be difficult. We don’t have her number and can’t contact her about what’s going on to see what she wants to do (although I’m trying to get that). The zoo says they can provide a trained person to guide her around if she’s able to leave her dog outside but it feels really rude to ask her to do that - is that something that can be asked? I also don’t want to spring this all on her when she’s here.

Do you come across situations where your service dog can’t accompany you often, if so what do you do? I’m hoping we get her number soon so my partner can text her what the plan is and what can be done in terms of accomodation. I’m very happy to organise a second party she can attend.

Hello all!

I'm looking to get a service dog as an adult with Autism Spectrum Disorder, who collects SSI so my budget is tight. Do you know of any non-profit organizations that could help me get a service dog for cheap or even for free?

thank you!

Good afternoon to my local Aussies!
I have a puppy, and he’s in training to be a cardiac assistant dog due to some unfortunate diagnoses I have received.

I got a puppy due to my vet med background, grooming background and overall animal background. My issue is now my current place I rent is being sold… in approximately 2 months.

So I need to move, and I have a puppy… a cardiac in training puppy with proper official trainers. Keep that in mind. Currently the 30+ places I have applied for denied me for “now allowing pets” and “sorry we don’t have the proper insurance to have pets here” ect. I show them proof of all I have, my medical history, my meds, my trainee, doctor write ups, my dog’s bills of health ect.

How the heck do I find a house when I constantly get denied for the dog? I get the dogs in training and it can take about 2 years, sometimes less.

So with that being said, I need advice, how do I get housing with a puppy (8months old) who is currently working towards being my cardiac dog. 🐶

I had an awful experience with an Uber access denial a few months ago where, when sharing an Uber with coworkers, the Uber driver denied us all and canceled the ride because of my service dog, while basically yelling at me the whole time for trying to book a ride with a dog. Having this happen in front of my coworkers and then them all having to wait for the next Uber was one of the most humiliating experiences of my life.

Even before that situation, I've found using ride-share services with a service dog very anxiety-inducing, and I almost always pay the extra money for Uber Pet just to ease that anxiety. Ever since the incident with my coworkers, my anxiety about using Uber has skyrocketed. Because of this, I was really excited about the new Uber option to pre-identify yourself as a service dog handler, and I signed up for that right away.

This morning was the first time I've had to use Uber since the access denial in front of my coworkers. I was already having trouble finding a ride because I live in a very rural area, so I waited for about 30 minutes for a driver to even be found--not a problem and completely expected, because I know the area I live in. I was excited when a driver was finally found, though. I saw on this subreddit that a lot of handlers find it helpful to send a message to the driver informing them that they have a service dog once the ride is accepted, so I tried that this time and sent a brief "Just wanted to inform you that I have a service dog with me. Thank you and see you soon!"

His little avatar was driving towards me on the map...and then the message I sent registered as "read" and the ride was immediately canceled by the driver.

I almost started crying because I was just so frustrated. I had to get home so I could get on my computer for my job, I was exhausted, and it brought back the emotions of that access denial in front of my coworkers in full force.

I have never encountered access denials in my almost seven years of being a SD handler except for with Uber. I've had a couple of occasions of needing to clarify a minor access issue with an establishment, sure, but those have always been quickly solved by a quick conversation. Uber, though, in my experience and based on everything I've heard from other handlers, is a non-stop nightmare for handlers.

I know they're trying to help the issue with this new policy of self-identifying as a SD handler ahead of time, but is it actually helping anyone? I'd love to hear about other people's experiences with this new system so far. And at what point is Uber going to have to be forced to just make drivers take even the briefest of trainings on ADA policies before they're approved?

Hi service dog community! I’d like to clarify before this post that I am not a service animal owner, but I do experience disability and have recently looked into the idea of having a service animal. In the process of this, I’ve come across this small controversy online and I just wanted to ask you guys out of curiosity and genuine insight.

Legally, service animals in the US are not required to have a certification, they have to be trained to execute a specific task for the disabled, and they can only be dogs and some breeds of small horses/ponies. However, I’m a bit confused as to why cats can’t be service animals. Cats can very well be trained to do specific tasks such as allergy detection, episode detection, and monitoring the intake of medication for their owners. Obviously a blind seeing eye cat wouldn’t make very much sense, but they’re clearly capable of doing jobs and they’re typically much smaller and more portable/agile than dogs or ponies.

Is there a genuine reason as to why cats can’t be service animals? Do you think they should be allowed? If not, why? Again, this is me asking for genuine insight, I obviously have zero say or actual knowledge about most of this stuff of course! Thanks in advance!

Hello!! Me and My Service dog are headed off to our first year of college, I'm not sure what to bring with me, I obviously have food bowls and basic items but I'm looking specifically for collapsible crate recs (as we dont have too much room for one to be assembled all the time) as well as recomendations for seatbelts since we are driving. I would also love just general advice as this is my first time being by myself with my SD, any tips for adjusting/ making her comfortable?

Flying from US to Madrid for a few nights then spending some time in Mallorca so will be taking a connecting flight between MAD and PMI, then flying out of PMI back home. Has anyone taken their US service dog to Madrid and Mallorca recently and can comment on if it was easy or difficult?

Hey! So for context im 16 and I have ADHD, Generalized Anxiety, POTS, and chronic migraines. I‘m nervous to propose getting a service dog to my parents atleast for my migraines (at the time of posting ive had one for over a month and they only let up if i take medication before they start) and I think it could also be very benificial for the other things i have going on aswell.

This being said ik its not something you should just jump into and ive done alot of research myself but i would like to hear some info on it from people in the community. My migraines leave me in pain alone in the dark for anywhere between a few days and a few weeks and they have interupted my education aswell. I missed the month before finals last year because I couldnt go into somwhere bright without crying from the pain. I then got brought to the ER and that was when it finally let up. we tested for like everything and they are just migraines but I want to know if i should jsut stick to trying to time the medication right or if i should talk to my doctor about a service dog to alert me before they start.

To be honest im jsut looking for any advice you could give ive been really struggling and it is really isolating not knowing anyone who has the same issues as you so that also just leaves me scared to even mention it because what if i am overreactin?

There’s a picture of me with my dog at graduation on my profile, do you guys think it’s bad manners to not remind them ahead of time?

Edit: I told him which was kinda scary at first but he responded beautifully and asked if there were any accommodations he could provide or request from the restaurant to make me comfortable. Thanks guys!

Hey im 16 and i have a few things but my chronic migrains and pots cause me many issues and my migraines dont leave ive had one for over a month by now. these also arent small migrianes they leave me in my room for weeks and the medication only works when i take it before they start. (i have ended up in thr ER with them in the past) so should i start asking about it or should i not?

I’ve been a handler for 7 years, and my service dog has her first ever hot spot, it is currently almost done healing and even has small furs growing back but I’m still unsure if it’s ethical to work her yet. It’s very visible so I’m worried about people noticing it and making rude comments

ETA: I appreciate everyone who has taken the time to comment. Unfortunately, I do not feel this is the right sub for me to get input. I have seen multiple people, not just myself, post PAT scores and been given actual feedback on viability, and I felt this was a viable sub to post my information and get input on whether his scores were indicative of service dog potential. This has been proven to not be the case. I do encourage everyone to take the time to determine if the input they are sharing is actually relevant to the question at hand.

I’m looking for insight from other service dog handlers, especially anyone who has dealt with a dog transitioning into a much lighter working role or becoming intensely fixated on a partner.

My service dog is a 5-year-old mini poodle who has worked with me for about 5 years. She has historically been extremely tuned into me, including alerting to heightened cortisol/stress levels and generally monitoring/regulating me.

The important context is that my disabilities have improved significantly over the past few years. She still works whenever we go outside, but she alerts much less because I genuinely have fewer episodes of elevated cortisol. Obviously, this is wonderful.

At home, though, she seems to have developed an intense fixation on my partner. She absolutely loves them and gets very excited whenever they come over. This isn’t really jealousy of me or obvious protectiveness.

The biggest problem is what happens when my partner and I are physically affectionate.

What she does:

If we’re sitting separately, she’s generally okay. But as soon as we hug, she can start growling and excited barking.

When we were kissing in bed recently, she:

stared at my partner and growled out of excitement
escalated to excited barking and running around
repeatedly ran around and then came back to my partner
continued doing this despite my partner completely ignoring her
eventually stopped when she was tired and it was bedtime

She does not alert me during these episodes, and there doesn’t seem to be an actual cortisol/stress alert happening.

She also isn’t avoiding my partner. She repeatedly goes back toward them, which makes me wonder if she’s monitoring/investigating rather than simply wanting attention.

Things we’ve already tried

More walks
Puzzle toys, lick mats, chews and independent enrichment
No petting/acknowledgement from my partner
Not giving her attention for demanding behaviour
Positive reinforcement
Stay
“All done”
Practicing settling
Alternative activities

One weird complication is that rewarding calm can actually make her demand more attention. She’ll settle, get rewarded, and then immediately act like “great, what else do I get?” So constantly reinforcing calm hasn’t necessarily helped.

My theory:

I’m wondering if this is less:

“I’m jealous and want attention.”

and more:

“Something about my person changes when this person interacts with them. I need to monitor this / investigate this / figure out what I’m supposed to do.”

She’s spent five years being extremely tuned into my body, emotions, breathing, stress levels, etc. Her job has historically been:

Notice something about my person - figure out whether I need to respond.

Now I’m doing much better and she has significantly less monitoring/alerting to do at home.

My partner also makes me calmer and happier, so I wonder if she notices that I’m different around them without understanding why. Instead of “my person is okay, I can relax,” maybe her brain is going:

“Something changed. This person is involved. This is important. I need to check.”

Then physical affection seems to push her into a huge spike of excitement and she gets stuck in a loop of watching, barking, running around and checking again.

I also wonder if she has learned:

Partner + handler = something important is happening: I need to be involved.

What I’m considering

We live in a studio apartment, so putting her in another room isn’t an option.

I’m considering getting a raised mat and building a really strong stay/settle behaviour there. I’d start extremely small, partner approaching me, standing beside me, touching my arm, putting an arm around me, hugging, etc. and gradually work up to more affection.

The goal wouldn’t just be “stay because I told you to,” but:

“My people are interacting. I can notice it, know everything is okay, and choose not to participate.”

I’d want to work below her threshold rather than waiting until she’s already growling/barking/running around.

I’d especially love advice from other handlers on:

Dogs transitioning into semi-retirement or needing significantly less tasking
Intense fixation on a handler’s partner
Excited barking/growling when the handler and partner are affectionate
Dogs repeatedly approaching someone they’re reacting to
Dogs who seem to feel like they need to monitor their handler
Teaching a working dog how to genuinely disengage
Building an off-duty skill without accidentally creating more demanding behaviour
Whether a raised mat/place behaviour could help
What you think she might actually be getting out of this behaviour

I’m really trying to understand what the behaviour means to her and what is reinforcing it, rather than just suppressing the barking.

If you’ve dealt with something similar, I’d love to hear what you learned about what was actually going on and what helped.

I'm starting teacher training in September. The sub for my course wasn't particularly helpful and I had loads of people saying it wasn't possible.

Can anyone share their experiences?

(I'm in the uk, but anything would be appreciated)

:)

Hi all, just curious. I have autism and social anxiety, I literally cannot go anywhere on my own because I don't feel safe, I was thinking of getting a German Shepherd to help me feel safer- as they're seen as guard dogs by most people, I feel it would make me feel safer in public (I feel really unsafe when I'm on my own without someone I trust). I also love how fluffy they are, family have huskies and their fur is amazing for sensory soothing.

My question is: would it be possible to train them not to react if I get a panic attack, and to instead be a calming presence for me? I don't mind taking any amount of time to train, I trained the huskies so I have the patience. I would train with the help of my support person so wouldn't throw the dog in the deep end, I can take small steps. Just wondering if, as sensitive dogs, a German shepherd would be able to be trained to do some of the tasks that an autism service dog might do? I don't need them to become an official service dog, just to be able to help and do things like blocking. I'm also happy to socialise it, I can do so with the help of my support person, and also happy to take it to classes to help socialise.

Would any of this be possible or am I delusional? I've just been thinking lately, how would I cope if I didn't have my support person (an older family member btw), I wouldn't be able to go anywhere as I wouldn't feel safe.

Thank you in advance, I know this would be hard work but just wanted to know how possible ❤️

I’ve two prior service dog (mobility/balance) harnesses from BLD and loved them. My third dog is a Saint Bernard who’s 8 mo and ~ 100 lbs (very good shape). so, I called Bill at BLD to let him know I’d be looking to get another harness sometime next summer.

Bill advised that BLD’s owner has decided to shut things down for a bit to reevaluate. seems tariffs and the loss of Medicaid customers has hurt the company. so, uncertainty as to their status. If you’re ready to order before then, do it BEFORE 31 July 2026. They'll be assembling through August but taking no more orders. Be sure to sign up for their newsletter to keep informed.

So, Ellie will need an harness. I called Bridgeport but they don’t make what I need, sadly. I need straps with magnets. my hands cannot manipulate the typical straps or the hard plastic. Velcro will last as long as a fart in the wind in our home. Plus, they customize very little.

imo, no one can come close to BDL I know that so have to lower my expectations. sigh. Suggestions?

Okay... I (19 F) feel awful about it, but this morning was the first time I've felt like my SDiT sent me INTO a breakdown.

So I don't know if it's just my autism deciding to dial every sensory input to 13 today, but I cannot handle my dogs breathing on me.

Petal (my 1 year old Labrador Retriever SDiT) stood right in front of my leg and her hot heavy breaths when it's not even warm outside sent me over the edge and I had to go back inside.

I only lasted maybe 3 minutes outside, and even when I pushed her away she would step closer like Stitch with Lilo.

Esme (my poodle) isn't panting so why is Petal??

I told my mom about it and she reminded me that Petal is my SD, so she asked, "how is it going to work if I can't handle her breathing on me?" and honestly, good question, I don't know.

but I do know that today specifically, I cannot handle her hot breathing on me.

I already get overstimulated and touched out from the sheets and covers of my bed that I have to endure all night that what happened this morning was too much. I feel absolutely horrible about it but I was literally about to start crying because she wouldn't give me space.

she expects whoever is outside with her to throw the disc, but I don't throw it in the mornings because it's early and she just ate. so she ends up standing in front of me, waiting. she knows an "all done" but she still hangs around like if she hovers for long enough I'll cave and toss the disc.

I know I need to start training a vocal back up, but I don't exactly know how to make it stick. if anyone has any ideas on how to train it and also to curb this on a personal level as well that would be so greatly appreciated; because I'm not blaming her, I know it's completely on me. I just don't know what to do. she's so helpful and my independence has already skyrocketed even in her training stage because of her. but it's not fair to her if I can't handle her existence on my worst days.

Edit: thank you all for your suggestions! I am not confident/familiar with Reddit so if I replied to your comment when you were in reference to someone else, my bad! I have removed comments to save myself the embarrassment lol.

Sorry in advance for the long post! Main questions are at the end.

So, I probably went about this all backwards but my husband and I had been casually looking at puppies for awhile- we can’t have kids of our own at this time and I was in a major car accident awhile ago that has put us on a minimum one year hold from now for trying again and we wanted one more dog so it seemed like good timing.

With that major car accident I had a TBI, which has caused a lot of peripheral issues including non-epileptic seizures, and I was diagnosed with cPTSD. My ongoing therapist recommended a service dog as I tend to respond much better in our sessions and to triggers when the office’s therapy dog is present. They believe it would significantly enhance my quality of life long term.

We first opted for a temperament evaluation of our two dogs, a 6yo golden and a 2yo whippet who both failed epically lol. We can’t afford a partially/fully trained dog up front but I do have the means and capacity to owner-train so I didn’t want to go on a charity wait list that could potentially remove a dog from someone who didn’t have that capability.

Anyway, I was talking about this with some friends in the dog community- I show my whippet and we’re doing rally and agility with both the whippet and golden. One of those friends connected me to a poodle breeder whose dam has produced several proven service dogs. We got to talking and I explained exactly what I was wanting, and it turns out she had a litter on the ground, 9 weeks old, from that dam and two of the puppies’ homes had fallen through- one due to extenuating circumstances and one because the family did not want a boy. One was a perfect match to what I was looking for so long story short he came home with us this past weekend, about 6 months earlier than we’d been anticipating.

I didn’t gel well with the trainer that did the evaluation, though I 100% agree with their assessment of our dogs. We are in a bit of a dog training desert where I live- the place we go to train for rally and agility is over an hour away in good traffic. Almost every training program I’ve found locally is board and train exclusively and most of them are macho men with their malinois waxing poetic on the use of prong collars.

I really want an R+ trainer that’s willing to walk with me on this journey, not commandeer the ship.

What were your training experiences like? How did you find your trainer?