• Under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), certification or any type of paperwork is not required for service dogs or their handlers. 

However, many organizations such as Atlas offer certifications and many handlers chose this route as a confirmation and validation of their hard work. 

Atlas certification means that Atlas has confirmed through testing, training, and documentation that: 

• The dog and handler can work safely and appropriately in public places 
• The client meets the requirements of the American with Disabilities Act 
• The dog and handler have been trained to work effectively as a team and the dog has specially trained skills that directly mitigate limitations of the client’s disability 
• The dog is healthy and able to do the work 
• The dog is being treated well, and all the dog’s needs are met (including food, health, exercise, and companionship) 
• The dog and handler team are trained to recognized international standards 
• The client uses only positive, non-aversive training methods in compliance with Atlas’ Training Policy 

The total cost of the program is $900 and broken down as follows:

Intake fee: $25

Assessment fee: $100

Training fee (9 months):$650

Public Access Test fee: $125

An annual recertification Public Access Test is required and costs $75. For clients who complete their training before 9 months, their first recertification fee will be waived.

After the first two re-certification PATs, teams only have to do a recertification PAT (and pay the PAT fee) every other year.

If clients need additional months of training beyond 9 months, they will be charged $75/additional month.

Once you have submitted your online application along with your CGC certificate (which must have been passed within one year of the time you are applying), we will contact you and send you a more detailed application to fill out. This is also where we will require additional documentation from you. We will need:

• A Medical or Mental Health Report Form
• A completed veterinary health form from your veterinarian along with up to date vaccination records 
• Videos demonstrating how your dog walks on leash, reacts to other dogs, and reacts to body handling

No, we do not provide fully trained dogs. We work with people who already have a dog and help them train their dog to become a service dog.

If you are in need of an already trained service dog, please visit https://assistancedogsinternational.org/resources/member-search/

Most teams complete their training in nine months, though some may need a little more time, while others may be ready for certification sooner. No one may complete the program in less than six months. This is a requirement of Assistance Dogs International.

We can support people with a wide range of disabilities. We train dogs to perform tasks relating to:

• Mobility assistance
• Psychiatric assistance 
• Hearing alert 
• Medical responses (includes but not limited to seizure, POTS, cardiac, migraine)
• Autism assistance (both adults and children)
• Diabetes alert

• Allergen alert dogs
• Guide dogs
  • We can support individuals with some vision loss who are training their dog for other types of tasks.
• Outside of diabetes, we do not train scent based medical alerts. If your dog is naturally alerting to your condition, we will help reinforce and shape that alert. Otherwise, we will focus on medical response tasks and look at how your dog can help you during/after an episode.

Atlas is committed to using positive reinforcement, non aversive, and scientifically backed training methods. We believe in ethical treatment of both dogs and people, and ask the same of our clients. Any client signing up for our program will be asked to commit to using positive training methods. Use of force, fear, or intimidation on any dog or person will not be accepted.

We do not allow the use of e-collars, vibration collars, chain martingales, bark/spray collars, choke chains, or slip leads (except in the case of emergency). This includes when the dog is not “working”.

If you currently use any of the above tools with your dog, we will ask that your dog be off these tools for at least three months before we can consider you for the program. We highly recommend working with a positive reinforcement trainer while you are transitioning methods.

You have a few options! 

For hands-on support, we strongly recommend our Atlas Certified Trainers. But you may work with any private or group trainer of your choice, or you may work on your own without a trainer. We highly encourage you to look for a trainer or resources that use force-free methods. 

Another good option is our Teams Set in Motion course.

Take a look at our resources page for more options.

There are a lot of factors that go into selecting a service dog candidate. Atlas does not help in the selection of service dog candidates. We do however offer a course that may be beneficial to those who are in the process of searching for their ideal candidate. Learn about Atlas’ Service Dog Selection course.

We also strongly recommend consulting with a qualified trainer, such as an Atlas Certified Trainer who can help with breeder recommendations, evaluating puppies or shelter dogs, and talking through options with you.

Yes! As of September 2025, Atlas Assistance Dogs is accredited by Assistance Dogs International (ADI). Only those teams that are certified by Atlas Assistance Dogs’ Client Certification Program are ADI certified teams.

No, even if you already have a trained service dog, we cannot just have you go through testing and certify you as an Atlas team. If you wish to receive Atlas certification, you will have to go apply, be accepted, and go through our client certification program for a minimum of six months before being able to pass our Public Access Test. 

Even teams that come to us with advanced training still benefit from the additional support that our training program provides.