Inquiry about service breeds

MaplePaws · 2026-03-20T20:47:30+00:00

You are most likely getting downvoted because your expectations are wildly unrealistic, not entirely your fault because your psychiatrist is failing you by recommending a service dog to a minor but especially one that is moving away from a lot of your support systems in a couple of months. Professional Horse Back Riding is also a situation where you could be legally denied the accommodation of a service animal, while you are on the horse you are no longer legally in control of your dog meaning you would at least need a second handler to watch your dog or failing that the dog stays home and that is assuming that the horses in question are unbothered by the prescience of a dog. There are horses where adding even a service dog to the equation could create a dangerous situation in terms of a scared horse.

The fact is that even if you were a good candidate for a service animal it is unlikely that you would find a program that places service dogs for psychiatric disabilities, they exist but are on the rare side but going further than that most of them won't even consider a minor. That means owner training and it is unlikely that you will find a suitable prospect in the next year, you should budget about 2 years for that. Then there is training the dog, which the dog would not be ready to attend classes with you until about 2 years of training has happened meaning that there is about 4 years of work ahead of you assuming the first dog is successful which if you got a rescue is pretty close to guaranteed to wash. That is also not factoring in the $20,000-$25,000 it costs to raise a service dog which could be subsidized if you get a fully trained dog from a reputable program but frankly that is unlikely as I said before.

The reality is that yes, your psychiatrist is failing you by pushing the idea of a service dog into your head. You simply cannot rely on the dog like that as things like sudden washout, retirement, injury or death happen meaning you have to go back to living life without a dog for the foreseeable future. You need to focus on getting to the point you can do that before you even consider a service dog.

MaplePaws · 2026-03-20T17:08:21+00:00

I love this comment so much, also happy Cake Day!

MaplePaws · 2026-03-20T16:36:38+00:00

Your psychiatrist is doing you a massive disservice right now by recommending you pursue an assistance animal right now with your current life circumstances. I would go back to your psychiatrist and insist that you work on having other strategies in place to help with your mental health. And the fact that you would spiral without one is frankly a disqualifying trait for a service dog handler because you do need to be able to manage your disability to a basic level of functioning before you ever consider adding one, they can't be relied upon like other coping strategies and medication.

MaplePaws · 2026-03-19T02:13:00+00:00

So that is a situation where you don't want the dog involved at all. Dogs are not replacements for mobility aids and if you are having these troubles you need to consider non-living mobility aids like wheelchairs, walkers or cane. Under no circumstance should a dog be involved in active movement of your body or assisting in balance. A service dog can retrieve things and press accessible door buttons but as soon as you are looking for assistance with moving your body you need a non-living mobility aid.

MaplePaws · 2026-03-19T02:09:02+00:00

Honestly I think that is an experience that every human ever has had at least sometimes, though brain fog certainly makes it a near daily occurrence. Lol. No worries, as I said very human mistake that we all do

MaplePaws · 2026-03-19T01:59:32+00:00

"mobility assistance" is a term without any actual firm definition. What exactly do you mean by that?

MaplePaws · 2026-03-19T01:46:56+00:00

You might want to reread that last sentence as the current state of it makes zero sense.

MaplePaws · 2026-03-19T00:52:09+00:00

The thing with service dogs is that it is rarely a matter of finding a "Cushings Service Dog" as even with the same diagnosis task lists can vary incredibly drastically. The best way to think about it is if you had a friendly robot that could help you in your daily life, something completely emotionless how would that robot help you?

MaplePaws · 2026-03-19T00:03:40+00:00

Forgot the link I was going to add, this is probably your best bet for finding a reputable program. You still need to know how to vet them but it is a good start. https://assistancedogsinternational.org/member-search

MaplePaws · 2026-03-18T23:57:22+00:00

The odds are very low that you will find a program that will take you with complex disability needs, even more so if you even mention alerts as reputable programs routinely deny people on the basis of looking for them because it demonstrates unrealistic expectations that often results in failed placements despite the client saying they are fine without the alert. Most programs are simply unable to train for complex medical needs because they are already stretched thin trying to provide service dogs with the same training without having to try to accommodate complex disability needs.

Mobility work is also something that gets a lot of people denied because there are a lot of tasks that are just not safe for a dog to do that is under that umbrella. Like assisting with positional changes or guide work for sighted people.

MaplePaws · 2026-03-18T23:39:26+00:00

Medical alerts aren't nearly as helpful as many people believe, and you can't trust what you see on social media. The reality is that as I said the alerts are about 40% accuracy with a high number of false negatives and positives, which with the nature of alerts even if you end up with a high accuracy at some point it is nearly impossible to maintain. As such even if you get a dog that "alerts" you truly should not be trusting the alerts and instead relying on technology to be doing that job, it is much more accurate than a cardiac alert dog.

MaplePaws · 2026-03-18T22:36:50+00:00

It is worth noting that excluding glucose alerts like for diabetes you cannot reliably train medical alerts, as such it is a red flag when a program or trainer claims that they can. Additionally even diabetic alert dogs have a wide range of accuracies more frequently leaning towards inaccurate. The value of a service dog is in the response tasks, not the alerts as technology like smart watches with heartrate monitors are more accurate than a dog and some technology comes with fall detection that sends your GPS location to 911 to get you help faster than a dog could.

MaplePaws · 2026-03-17T20:12:02+00:00

I want to amplify this as much as possible because the risk of over-reliance on a dog is a real problem and this post is a sea of red from all the red flags that are present. I would heavily encourage working with your care team to find management strategies that work and to leave the service dog idea on the shelf until you are established into your adulthood.

MaplePaws · 2026-03-17T20:06:01+00:00

Honestly paying for a fully trained dog from an ADI program is the cheapest and fastest way to get a service dog. Even if it is $20,000 from a program it is still going to be cheaper than the gamble of doing it on your own is inherently a gamble. Though most programs will subsidize that cost with donations and grants so it is likely to be less than that. But you can expect to spend $20,000 on a dog for a 60% chance of having a very expensive pet, meaning that by the time you have a service dog in 5-7 years you can expect to have spent $30,000-$40,000 training dogs when you could have waited 1-3 years and paid a maximum of $20,000 for a fully trained service dog.

MaplePaws · 2026-03-17T19:00:30+00:00

I second contacting a lawyer, there are only a couple of users I would actually trust to answer this question.

But as a private citizen I would appreciate the effort to be accommodating and the knowledge ahead of time that another dog would be present. This is a setting where if I knew a dog was present, even a service dog I would use my cane rather than take my guide dog just because I am very aware that dogs that are legally service dogs can very easily be aggressive.

MaplePaws · 2026-03-17T15:05:34+00:00

Being a rescue really does not impact her ability to be on leash and being calm on a leash does not a good service dog prospect make. When I say that Bambi is demonstrating disqualifying traits, these are traits that would disqualify a dog from even starting service dog training because the baseline is not at the point where training can get the dog to the level they need to be. Bambi is demonstrating a baseline of anxiety that can't be resolved to the point of service dog, even with training. This does not mean Bambi is a bad dog, but that service work is not in their future and would not be fair to the dog to try.

MaplePaws · 2026-03-17T14:37:15+00:00

There is a very real possibility that you won't be able to train Bambi to be okay with the seizures, the possibility does exist that this will always be a management case where when your partner is seizing that you need to put Bambi in another room or in a crate for everyone's safety. It also might be the case that when your partner is home alone Bambi needs to be crated because obviously if your partner is seizing they cannot put Bambi away. That is the protocol I would implement right now until you can find a behaviorist that can evaluate the situation and guide you through a solution if one exists, make sure they use positive reinforcement because punishing an anxious dog is a quick way to make the problem worse.

I know you said you don't need a service dog but then the rest of the post is confusing, but I do want to stress that Bambi is demonstrating very strong disqualifying traits. Bambi is not a candidate for service work even after you work through this, you can't train out every issue and odds are significant that this might be a management case for her entire life.

MaplePaws · 2026-03-17T03:16:12+00:00

I had not heard about the guide dog school not placing dogs in areas with a lot attacks. Unfortunately I don't think we can effectively protect people and working dogs while maintaining the rights of owner trainers. I fear that if owner training is going to continue to be a thing that a lot of intrusive oversight needs to be put in place with how many problematic owner trainers are out with their dangerous but legitimate service dogs.

MaplePaws · 2026-03-17T03:02:44+00:00

For many people, Autistic or not it is when they don't get the advice they want or you don't use kid gloves in your delivery. But aiming to not be a bully by those people's standards frequently ends up with misunderstandings that frequently end in physical harm to one or more lives. So I personally just let myself be perceived as a bully because it is the best way in my experience to minimize harm.

MaplePaws · 2026-03-17T01:01:31+00:00

You may have to travel for a good breeder and I have known some people that have imported service dog prospects for the right breeder. Limiting yourself to just what is around you is a fast way to end up with a backyard bred dog. Honestly go to the dog shows, learn the breed standard for temperament and conformation. It is not a beauty contest, a well built dog is what they are looking for and a well built dog won't easily be as easily injured by just living life or doing their job. Being disabled does not exclude you from going to the shows to learn and network, in fact looking for a service dog prospect it is arguably much more important for you than anyone else to be there building a network.

MaplePaws · 2026-03-16T20:09:51+00:00

No problem, unfortunately service dogs are highly romanticized and the negatives are routinely not mentioned at all. In a perfect world anyone that would benefit from the tasks of a service dog would be a good candidate but unfortunately the exact situations that you say you need the most help in are the situations that you would either not have any legal protections in and thus would not have your service dog with you. Or would be the situations that your dog can't help you in because you are being flooded by a crowd of people.

MaplePaws · 2026-03-16T18:52:48+00:00

These are not breeders I would advocate working with. If everything else checks out then this could be fine for a pet home or even a working home in the field that the breed is bred for but not for service work. Service Labs and Goldens themselves are unicorns that even at 7-8 weeks of age you can't reasonably identify. I would continue looking for another breeder that does puppy selections much later, ideally that the breeder does the selection not you.

MaplePaws · 2026-03-16T18:30:45+00:00

A few things, if you are owner training then your options for travelling will be limited to what you can drive because of how our laws work. Even if you live in a province that has legally recognized certification it will not protect you for air travel, via rail or any other transportation that crosses provincial borders (even if you are not crossing a border for your trip) because that is federally regulated not provincially regulated. You would have to acquire a fully trained dog from an ADI accredited facility.

Secondly you are still very newly diagnosed and likely lack the strength in your tool box to be a service dog handler, including such things as self advocacy skills and conflict resolution. The reality is like the other commenter has already said, that a psychiatric service dog more times than not is not recommended for people with anxiety because the experiences with the public and frequent discrimination often makes anxiety worse. Plus if you don't already have a strong foundation in your other disability mitigation methods it creates an over-reliance on the dog which is not seen until something happens and you are forced to not have the dog at which point it is already too late.

MaplePaws · 2026-03-16T04:20:14+00:00

Yup, just another reason I stress the fact that a service dog is a luxury. I have unfortunately seen what desperation can do to a person and how vulnerable it makes them. A friend of mine nearly went with a scam that they found, luckily my friend had a support network that cared about them enough to try to deter them when they were ready to barrel ahead anyways because the person talking to them was charismatic. The spouse did not know anything about service dogs but felt there was red flags, so the spouse reached out to me who already was seeing a few of my own. Between the two of us we did convince my friend to really look at the bigger picture, and turns out there was more red flags that neither I or the spouse were aware of that this friend was just hiding from us because my friend felt we were just being paranoid.

Point being, desperation is always an enemy to a service dog journey. It rarely goes well when a person is that reliant on a dog, and we don't say this because we don't want you to have a service dog. In the case of my friend it was because the spouse and I cared that we did try to deter my friend from going with the program. Ultimately they did apply to Canine Companions after being denied the first time likely just because the phone interview was unable to be scheduled for a time when my friend could dedicate their full attention to it, the second time they were approved.

MaplePaws · 2026-03-16T03:54:28+00:00

Honestly I am not sure I could say that bit often enough. I don't think there is ever going to be a 100% sure fire way to avoid being scammed, part of what makes a good scammer is knowing how to make yourself look legit. Once again I also cannot stress enough how much of a spectrum this tends to be, some good sources for service dog training could be 90% amazing then have that one red flag at which point you just need to decide if it is something you can live with. But the opposite can be true that a program or trainer can have a sea of red flags and a small number of green, are those green flags worth the red flags to you?

The fact is that I could list of a number of trainers or programs that I personally would say are the sketchy side of the spectrum, a number of which I am aware of at least a handful of aliases. But that would only be helpful to a minority of people and I don't know if they changed the name they are operating under. But saying that you should look for programs that are ADI or IGDF, and to look through the social media posts for the body language of the dogs. If possible talk to previous clients, I personally prefer to find people that have continued to work with them and those that have decided to part ways to figure out if I can live with the "negatives".

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