Final payment is due two weeks before the transfer starts. The transfer will be 12-16 months from now depending on the dog, and what tasks we are training.
Here is a breakdown of what the transfer looks like.
Everyday we will meet 10am-6pm.
Day 1: Introduction: The first few hours of the transfer will go over basic commands, how to interact with your dog and the day-to-day managing of the dog (training collars, potty schedule, etc.). This will be our chance to collect final payment, if final payment hasn't already been made. Once the introduction is complete it will be time to start working with the dogs. We normally take a lunch break between 1-3pm and then we will begin on some basic obedience commands.
Day 2: Basic Obedience: Today will be going over the basics; sit, down, come, stay and heel. We may introduce some Service tasks if there is time and we may take a field trip.
Day 3: Review: of the basic obedience and Service commands. Today we will review all the things we worked on yesterday and focus more on the Service Task. There will be a field trip today. There is a chance the dog may stay overnight with you, but this may change.
Day 4: Review: of more Service Tasks and field trips. This day will most likely be spent on a field trip for most of the day. This should also be a sleepover night.
Day 5: Final review and Graduation! Dogs will be all dressed in their caps and receive their diplomas (service dog certificate). The service dog team will give a short speech and there will be a chance for photos.
**This schedule can vary depending on each handler
As much as we would love to give weekly updates, it is not something that we can do. At any time, we have anywhere from 30-40 service dogs in training and are unable to give weekly updates to every client. We send as many photos as we can during the training process, and post very frequently on our social media. The best way to see current photos/videos of your dog are on our Instagram @servicedogs_ddg or our Facebook page. If you'd like more photos, just ask! We will get them to you as soon as we can. We know the waiting process can feel like forever, so if you would like a training update on your dog, please email us with a date and time that works best for you so we can get something scheduled. Please note there are not any major updates weekly, or even monthly, it is best to wait a minimum of 8 weeks before reaching out for another training update.
Yes. Once you are matched, please start the auto-ship for your service dogs food. If you have chosen to keep your service dog on the food we provide here, an additional $80/month is added to the final invoice.
Please click the link below to be brought to a PDF of supplies we recommend purchasing before the arrival of your service dog.
Of course! If your service dog in training is still with a puppy raiser, we will give the care package to them. We're happy to send you photos of your dog with the gifts from their care package.
Please note: Only send hard toys, as soft toys with squeakers can be a choking hazard. We recommend Nylabone or Kong chew toys. See our supplies list for a full list of toys/treats we recommend.
Yes, you are welcome to come out and visit your future service dog once you have officially been matched. Please note, that while your puppy is still with a puppy raiser, we may not be able to easily accommodate visits since we are on the puppy raisers schedule. During this period. we ask that you schedule your visits at least 2 weeks ahead of time.
The initial visit to meet your match is free, you are welcome to stay and visit for as little or as long as you’d like.
Any visit after the first visit is billed at $150 per visit, for a maximum of 2 hours per day. These fees will be added to the final invoice. This is to not to take away from important training time. In addition to this, it is very easy to unintentionally “undo” training or teach your service dog bad habits during visits since the handler has not yet gone through the transfer process and does not yet know how to properly handle the service dog. Therefore, multiple visits often extend the training timeline.
During visits, the handler may not give the service dog any sort of training command/task. This time is solely to start the bonding process with your match, not to have them work for you.
During a visit, you get to hang out with your service dog in our front yard for as long as you'd like. You cannot leave DDG property with your service dog in training.
Visits are not required. We have many out of state clients who do not actually meet their service dog until graduation.
Handler's are not allowed to visit their dog within 30 days of their graduation date.