F.A.Q.

Q: How long does it take to train a service dog?

Training your own service dog takes time. Lots of time. Getting into our program takes time. Finding an appropriate dog takes time. Attending classes takes time. But most of all, you will spend time working with your service dog in training.

So how much time does it take to train your own service dog? A lot of time!

In fact, we believe that training a service dog is a lifetime commitment.  Your dog is always being trained. Either for the behavior you want or the behavior you don’t want. The purpose of our program is to teach you to train the behavior you want.

Q: How long is your waiting list?

Due to the fact that we work with owner-trained dogs our waiting list can vary greatly. Currently, classes are full and our waiting list is approximately six to twelve months.

Q: Do all the dogs who go through your program graduate, with full public access rights?

First and foremost, it is the person with a disability who is afforded the accommodation of being accompanied by a service animal in public locations. A service dog is allowed to accompany a person with a disability in places of public accommodation, as long as the service dog’s behavior is appropriate.

Approximately, 80% of the dogs who pass their initial assessment and probationary period will continue through to the end of the program. We estimate that about 20% of the people who make it through the application process drop out of class, due to the rigorous requirements our program places on their time. Additionally, approximately 10% of the dogs who go through our program graduate as skilled companions. This means they do not have the skill to acquire public access, but perform tasks that help mitigate their person’s disability in a home environment.

Q: Do you train seizure alert dogs?

At this time, we do not believe that alerting to a seizure is a trainable task. We do believe that some dogs naturally develop the ability to alert to seizures. If a dog does begin to develop a natural seizure alert, the staff at Domino Service Dogs can guide the dog’s handler in recognizing and reinforcing the alert.

Q: Do you train dogs to detect allergens?

Domino Service Dogs does not train dogs to detect allergens, diabetes or perform nose work of any kind.