I am trying to get a service dog for myself. I have a good chance of getting one too but I am having a hard time selecting a trainer and I figured I would ask for your input. I have alot on my plate and I am trying to get back into the workforce so I can get a paycheck again. So I am looking at disability until the dog is trained. I am stuck in a house that I cannot have a puppy in for fear of upsetting the "evil ones" in the house. So any dog I get would have to at the very least be house trained. There is always a bonding time for all dogs to bond to their owners and also the same thing happens with service dogs. A service dog needs to have a very strong bond with their handler to make sure that the dog can sense and understand everything about the handler. My problem is time basically. I am having trouble choosing a trainer because of the time it would take to get the dog trained perfectly. I will call them trainer 1 and trainer 2 .
Trainer#1 Has never trained a service dog before and is charging me much less money to train the dog. She has however trained numerous therapy dogs and obedience champions. She says that she can train the dog in a month or two and that getting the public access test done is a waste of money. She has never been ADA accredited and neither has her partner. She will otherwise let me basically pick the dog and be very much involved in the training.
My problem with trainer 1 is she hasn't done this before and she doesn't seem to know what she is doing. But I think If she can get the basic obedience training and service dog task things trained I might be able to train the dog further so I could take the test myself to make sure that the dog is covered under the ADA and passed it's public access test.
Trainer#2 She has trained 6 service dogs in her 37 years of dog training. She is trying to kinda force me into buying a puppy. A golden doodle which I don't even like the idea of. She has trained service dogs before and taken them through the public access test and everything. But she costs almost 4 times more than the other trainer. And wants me to take this puppy home with me for 4 months before she even thinks about training the dog. Which I can't do.
My problem with trainer 2 is that she seems to be forcing me into a dog before even getting to know me at all. I understand the cost is also higher but she has done it before. But basically I am looking at almost a year before the dog is fully trained. plus all the costs of traveling to see her while the dog is in training. Plus she wants to move in with me for a few days when I first get the dog back from training. I am not comfortable with that at all.
That is basically what I am facing. If anyone has some advice I would be grateful for it.
Trainer#1 Has never trained a service dog before and is charging me much less money to train the dog. She has however trained numerous therapy dogs and obedience champions. She says that she can train the dog in a month or two and that getting the public access test done is a waste of money. She has never been ADA accredited and neither has her partner. She will otherwise let me basically pick the dog and be very much involved in the training.
My problem with trainer 1 is she hasn't done this before and she doesn't seem to know what she is doing. But I think If she can get the basic obedience training and service dog task things trained I might be able to train the dog further so I could take the test myself to make sure that the dog is covered under the ADA and passed it's public access test.
Trainer#2 She has trained 6 service dogs in her 37 years of dog training. She is trying to kinda force me into buying a puppy. A golden doodle which I don't even like the idea of. She has trained service dogs before and taken them through the public access test and everything. But she costs almost 4 times more than the other trainer. And wants me to take this puppy home with me for 4 months before she even thinks about training the dog. Which I can't do.
My problem with trainer 2 is that she seems to be forcing me into a dog before even getting to know me at all. I understand the cost is also higher but she has done it before. But basically I am looking at almost a year before the dog is fully trained. plus all the costs of traveling to see her while the dog is in training. Plus she wants to move in with me for a few days when I first get the dog back from training. I am not comfortable with that at all.
That is basically what I am facing. If anyone has some advice I would be grateful for it.
