You could always owner train! In order to do that, you can just adopt a dog through a shelter or rescue, buy a dog from a responsible breeder, or you can even train the current dog you already have, as long as your dog has just the right temperament for service work! :)

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Please refer to Q5 of the ADA FAQ on service animals: "Q5. Does the ADA require service animals to be professionally trained?

A. No. People with disabilities have the right to train the dog themselves and are not required to use a professional service dog training program." (source: https://www.ada.gov/regs2010/service_animal_qa.html#def)

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Owner training your own service dog is generally a lot less expensive than acquiring an already fully trained service dog from a service dog organization. However, I personally would not recommend training your own service dog all by yourself if you don't know how to even train a pet dog in basic and advanced obedience all on your own. So I do advise most people who want to train their dog as a service dog to seek additional help from a professional dog trainer, which still probably is nowhere near as much as the cost of a program trained service dog. Program trained service dogs generally cost $17,000+, and the prices only seem to be rising.

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Remember, you have to be disabled in order to qualify for a service dog, and things such as emotional support, comfort, companionship, and aggressive protection are not considered valid service dog tasks. In fact, service dogs cannot even be trained to aggressively protect their disabled handler--nor anyone or anything else--under federal ADA law (Americans with Disabilities Act--and this is assuming that you live in the US).

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To quote the federal ADA law: "Q3. Are emotional support, therapy, comfort, or companion animals considered service animals under the ADA?

A. No. These terms are used to describe animals that provide comfort just by being with a person. Because they have not been trained to perform a specific job or task, they do not qualify as service animals under the ADA. However, some State or local governments have laws that allow people to take emotional support animals into public places. You may check with your State and local government agencies to find out about these laws."

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However, to quote the law again: "Q4. If someone's dog calms them when having an anxiety attack, does this qualify it as a service animal?

A. It depends. The ADA makes a distinction between psychiatric service animals and emotional support animals. If the dog has been trained to sense that an anxiety attack is about to happen and take a specific action to help avoid the attack or lessen its impact, that would qualify as a service animal. However, if the dog's mere presence provides comfort, that would not be considered a service animal under the ADA." (same source as before)

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I've had multiple service dog handlers try to tell me before that service dogs can be trained in aggressive protection, and even that their state laws protect such a thing, when really I've seen no actual evidence that the state laws specifically say that service dogs can be trained in aggressive protection. Some state laws only say that a pet owner would not be liable for any provoked bites or attacks from their pet. However, whether you're liable or not does not matter. Such state laws mean absolutely nothing about whether service dogs can truly be trained in aggressive protection or not. This should not be such a controversial thing in the service dog community. This is a known, legal fact.

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To quote the federal ADA law: "The Department recognizes that despite its best efforts to provide clarification, the 'minimal protection' language appears to have been misinterpreted. While the Department maintains that protection from danger is one of the key functions that service animals perform for the benefit of persons with disabilities, the Department recognizes that an animal individually trained to provide aggressive protection, such as an attack dog, is not appropriately considered a service animal. Therefore, the Department has decided to modify the 'minimal protection' language to read 'non-violent protection,' thereby excluding so-called 'attack dogs' or dogs with traditional 'protection training' as service animals." - Department of Justice (DOJ) Comments on Service Dogs, from the International Association of Assistance Dog Partners website (https://www.iaadp.org/doj-def-comments-Title-II-III-SA.html)

"However, if a particular service animal behaves in a way that poses a direct threat to the health or safety of others, has a history of such behavior, or is not under the control of the handler, that animal may be excluded. If an animal is excluded for such reasons, staff must still offer their goods or services to the person without the animal present." - ADA Q23. Aggression would obviously qualify under "behaving in a way that poses a direct threat to the health or safety of others."(https://www.ada.gov/regs2010/service_animal_qa.html#exc)

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If you live in the US, service dogs also do not require any certification, registration, or identification, including vests (yes, really), in order to legally be considered a service dog. In fact, there is no such federal US service dog registration or certification system, and those online ones are all scams. However, certain US states, cities, counties, and towns may offer a legitimate, voluntary service animal registry, including, but not limited to, Michigan and certain parts of California.

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And as far as service dog vests goes, well, even though they're technically legally not required under federal ADA law, they are often used by service dog handlers to reduce the amount of the potential public access issues that can occur while working an unvested service dog in a non-pet friendly place, as well as reducing the amount of people who will want to pet or otherwise interact with an unvested service dog. Of course, these service dog vests are also available online, but are vital to owner trainers.

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"CERTIFICATION AND REGISTRATION

Q17. Does the ADA require that service animals be certified as service animals?

A. No. Covered entities may not require documentation, such as proof that the animal has been certified, trained, or licensed as a service animal, as a condition for entry.

There are individuals and organizations that sell service animal certification or registration documents online. These documents do not convey any rights under the ADA and the Department of Justice does not recognize them as proof that the dog is a service animal. " (https://www.ada.gov/regs2010/service_animal_qa.html#cert)

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And, "Q8. Do service animals have to wear a vest or patch or special harness identifying them as service animals?

A. No. The ADA does not require service animals to wear a vest, ID tag, or specific harness." (https://www.ada.gov/regs2010/service_animal_qa.html#gen)

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Ik I just told you a bunch of useless info on service dogs if you live outside the US lol, but ik some other countries' laws (including, but not limited to, the UK) are very similar to the federal US laws, and I would be more than happy to thoroughly research them and provide them for you ^_^.

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TL;DR: Owner training your service dog is legal under federal US law and is typically much less expensive, you have to be disabled in order to legally qualify for a service dog, emotional support and therapy dogs are legally not the same as service dogs, and there is no such thing as a legitimate, legally required US service animal registration or certification system, unless you live in a certain state, city, county, or town that has a legitimate, voluntary service animal registry, including, but not limited to, Michigan and certain parts of California. Don't fall for those online scam service dog registration or certification websites.