Psychiatric Service Dog - 3 Week Class
Class Total Cost: $425*
(Deposit of $25 is required to reserve your spot in class)
3 Week Class (One Hour Classes)
Psychiatric Service Dogs help people with depression, anxiety, PTSD, social phobias, and mild OCD behaviors. Dogs in this class are trained to perform at least one task to alleviate these problems.
Any breed of dog can be a Psychiatric Service Dog. If your dog has been trained to have impeccable manners and is of sound temperament, your dog can be a Service Dog. If in my judgment your dog is of unsound temperament I cannot accept you into the Service Dog class.
The three-week class is spent teaching skills your dog must do to qualify as a Service Dog, not obedience training. Dogs must already have impeccable public manners and reliable temperament for enrollment for Service Dog Certification. Your handling skills must be excellent before enrolling in this class.
Your dog learns
Under
Follow
Center
Right and Left positions
Back Up
Curl Up
How to get on and off a plane
Disability Skill
How to go through TSA screening
No scavenging on planes or outdoors
Navigating hotels
Dogs must have completed at least the Family Pet Level Two and the Advanced Class (with possible repeats) before possible admission to the Service Dog Class. If your dog has trained somewhere else this is still true. There are no exceptions to these prerequisites. I only certify dogs and handlers I know to be well-trained because I trained them.
You may need to repeat Family Pet Level Two or Advanced Off Leash class to ensure successful completion of this class.
Your graduation includes a Service Dog card from Companion Dogs, a Companion Dogs collar tag, and Service Dog Test 'Paperwork.'
Service Dogs are allowed in all public places and fly free of charge in the cabin of planes. Service Dogs are exempt from apartment pet fees and pet-friendly hotel fees. Emotional Service Dogs or Therapy Dogs do not enjoy the above.
Note: To stay within the International Assistance Dogs requirements, dogs must be a minimum of eighteen months to be certified. This ensures your dog is emotionally mature. This is not a Medical Service Dog training program (Such as for diabetes alert dogs).
Yes, you can include in medical expenses the costs of buying, training, and maintaining a service animal to assist a person with psychiatric disabilities, check out this article. In general, you may deduct the cost of owning a Service Dog from your taxes. This includes any costs, such as food, grooming, and veterinary care, incurred in maintaining the health and vitality of your Service Dog so that it may perform its duties.
Payment Terms: A $25 non-refundable deposit is required to reserve your spot in class, the balance will be due on the first day of class. Balance for class - $400 for Check or $390 for Cash. (Total for class is $425 for Check and $415 for Cash)
Class Testimonials
Sue,
Grizzly did great on his first flight Salt Lake City!
From TSA security, boarding the flight, and staying calm during the entire flight, he seemed like a pro.
Thanks for all your help and for making Grizzly an even better dog !
Tom
This is an email I received and was able to provide a response for my former student.
“Hi, this message is for Sue Myles. My name is Jimmy and I am calling from the Open Doors organization that processes all Department of Transportation Service Dog Verifications. I had a Handler by the name of Carolyn Springwell list you as the Service Dog trainer for herself and Benson., I need you to verify that Benson has completed Service Dog Training before Carolyn can fly with him. Please return my call at 800-865-9133. Thank you and have a wonderful day.”
Charlie
“Hi Sue,
Hope all is well with you! I am writing to brag about Charlie and her wonderful training you provided!!
We went on our East Coast trip to Providence last week and she was the perfect traveling companion. She met the pilot, got her wings😀
Going through security her “Stay” as I walked through first was absolute perfection!!! At one airport we did have to take off her harness and leash and she made me cry with joy as she obeyed. Through the airport she was focused on my side inside the bubble. On the plane she laid at my feet for the total 7 hour journey.
Hope you enjoy these pictures and feel proud of one of your top students😀. PS visiting Dunkin Donuts in New England is a must!! She loved her first Dunkin pup cup!!
My best to you!”
- Fondly Patricia & Charlie xoxo
Rala
Dear Sue,
“Rala and I had our dream come true today. We went into the Ranger Station at El Morro and introduced ourselves. The ranger was delighted we had come in before using the trails and let them know that Rala is a Service Dog. We are in!”
“Hi Sue!
Wanted to say a big thank you for all the help these last 5 months! Without your guidance and humor we wouldn’t have been able to feel confident to bring Sona with us. She did great, just slept at our feet the entire time on the plane.
Thank you again!”
- Agrima
Sona
Ruby
“Dear Sue,
Cienna and I cannot thank you enough for training our little Ruby to be the best service dog we can ever imagine.
She was flawless in the airport, on the airplane and throughout all the hotels and restaurants that we have frequented. She is perfect on a leash. And responds to all the commands that you taught us. Even when people gawk at Ruby, she maintains her composure and stays close to us. I never thought it would be this easy to travel with Ruby. It’s your training that enabled us to do this and it has really made our lives so much better.
We cannot thank you enough!! You are truly the best !!”
- David and Cienna
Pebbles
“Hi Sue!
How are you?
We got into FL late last night. Pebbles and I had a lovely trip.
2 planes, 1 airport train, 2 escalators (I carried her on the 2nd one because she wasn’t fond of the first one).
She took a little time to get settled into the tight quarters of the passenger seat foot locker (on each flight). She wasn’t fond of it (being cramped) and tried to back out of the seat but I had some cat food on hand, which saved the day.
We were complimented very often after each flight by how well Pebbles behaved on the flight. Folks walked up after and said it, almost like a teacher’s grade after a test.
Babies cried and an emotional support dog whined and wimpered all flight but my Pebby (your Pippy L-S) was silent, sleeping or a calm observer.
Now we are here visiting my mom and she is impressed with how well-behaved Pebbles is compared to in April.
She does you proud. Grateful for your patience, comedy and guidance this year.
Kind regards,”
- Ana
Fiadh
“Hi Sue,
Everyone aays hello from here!
Fiadh was excellent on the flight. She was great thru the airport and slept at my feet for the entire flight (over 10 hours). Attached is a photo. Thank you very much for all of the training to get her to this level. She is having so much fun here now with all of the space.
Hope all is well and keep in touch!”
- James
Dear Sue,
I hope you’re doing well! Thank you for the adorable Christmas card! I also want to thank you for a wonderful training experience and for enabling me to bring Milo on my recent trip to visit my family for the holidays! We flew from Orange County to Eugene Oregon with a layover in San Francisco and it couldn’t have gone more smoothly! :)
After we finished our service dog certification, I started using the Halti again, and conducted rigorous training exercises for the next several weeks leading up to our flight. I took Milo to places such as Starbucks to practice extended down-stays under the table in a public setting, I took him to target and the grocery store, and practiced all the things you taught us. I also took him to John Wayne a few days before our flight so we could walk about the check-in area to familiarize him with it. I got so many comments on his good behavior and not once was questioned about his anything related to his service dog status.
He did an outstanding job in all areas. Security was a breeze. He did an excellent job at “disappearing”. In fact, while de-planing after the first leg of our trip, the woman sitting in the seat behind me stood up and saw Milo and said “oh wow, I didn’t realize we had a cute little travel companion in our section”. On one of the legs of the trip we got delayed on the runway for over an hour, and I was even able to get up and go use the restroom and he remained seated and didn’t move while I was gone.
Here’s a couple pictures of him on the plane!
He was the life of the party this weekend and my family absolutely adores him, and his presence wouldn’t have been possible without you. Thank you again for everything! We’ll likely be back for the Emergency Come when Called and CGC classes.
Best regards, Rob and Milo
Milo
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