This course covers dog body language in relation to service dogs as well as the physical, psychological, and emotional requirements of service dogs. We discuss various sources for finding a suitable service dog as well as the necessary temperament, health, and red flags to look for during an evaluation. It explains breeds and sizes and how they impact the dog’s ability to perform specific tasks.
This course highly benefits trainers who are helping their clients select a potential service dog candidate. It is also of great benefit for an owner-trainer to use in choosing a dog for themselves.
How You Will Learn
Atlas’ Service Dog Selection is an online, self-paced course. To ensure this is the best fit for your learning style, please make sure you understand the following about the course structure and what will be required of you.
- Learn through a mix of written material, hand-outs, worksheets, and videos, all hosted on our online learning platform.
- You will be asked to complete short quizzes along the way to ensure you understand the material.
- You will be asked to submit one video assignment where you are working with a puppy or adult dog that is unfamiliar to you. You will get individualized and valuable feedback!
- You will have the opportunity to discuss your tests and assignments with Atlas faculty as well as retake tests as needed.
- You will be in charge of your own time management and are responsible for going through the course.
The Details
- Cost: $295
- Timeline: You will have access to the course for SIX months. With advanced notice, you may make arrangements with Atlas if you believe you will need additional time to complete the course due to extenuating circumstances.
- CEUs: This course qualifies for 5 continuing education units with CCPDT.
- Who is it for: This course is geared towards experienced dog trainers as well as individuals in the process of looking for a service dog candidate.
* This course is not intended to replace the skills of a trainer assessing a dog for you as a client. Please consider also working w/ a professional trainer to assess a dog.
Once you’ve selected a suitable candidate, you can begin the process to Train Your Dog for service work.
If you need professional help, you can Find a Trainer experienced in service dog training.
FAQs
We give you six months access to the course. It is entirely self-paced, so depending on how much time you spend on it each week, you could complete it in far less time. Regardless of how fast you complete it, you will have access for six months.
$295 for six months access.
If you have not completed the course within six months and wish to continue, we do offer a two month extension for $50 to give you additional time. If you do not wish to continue beyond the six months, you will lose access to the course.
Great! Please visit our Trainer Certification page for information about the program and its requirements. Having completed this course first will give you a discount on the Academy.
Maybe. This is a self-paced, online course. You will get plenty of feedback on the assignments you submit and opportunities to talk to instructors. The assignments you submit are meant to help you apply the course material with the dog(s) you are working with. But you will not be watching live demos or have instructors coaching you live as you work with a dog. Please consider your learning style before signing up.
This course is not geared for the novice dog handler. While you do not need to be a professional dog trainer, to be successful in this course, participants will need/should have a basic understanding of positive training methods, how to use a marker, how to deliver reinforcement and how to set up a training session.
This course covers the physical, psychological, and emotional requirements of service dogs. It evaluates various sources for finding a suitable service dog. It discusses temperament, health, and red flags to look for during an evaluation.
This course gives you tools to use to assess a dog’s potential suitability for service work but does not cover everything you need to know to understand the many nuances of dog behavior. All who take this course and use the assessments within it assume all liability and responsibility for themselves and other dogs and humans involved.
Atlas Assistance Dogs believes in using positive reinforcement, non aversive, and scientifically backed training methods. We do not endorse the use of pain, fear, intimidation, or force when working with dogs (or people). Any student signing up for our course will be asked to commit to using positive training methods.