The SPCA Service Dog Training / Placement Program:
How does it work? Our program works with dogs that have been relinquished to the shelter either as strays or no longer wanted by their owners. These dogs are tested by our trainer in many different areas, but mainly their temperament and their ability to focus, to determine whether or not they have the "right stuff" to become a Service Dog.
Client Placed / SPCA Owned Service Dogs
When you get a Service Dog from the SPCA,
we retain actual ownership of the dog.
What's that? How's that work? We want the experience of owning a Service Dog to be the most rewarding you've ever had. We want to make it as easy and inexpensive for you as we possibly can. Why? Because each of us in the program is physically handicapped in one way or another ourselves. Each of us has our own working Service Dogs so we understand the daily hardships that they can cause, from being stopped, and even sometimes harassed, as we enter a store by an employee not up to date on ADA laws, or being stopped in the store as we try to do our shopping by well-intentioned shoppers just wanting to know about us and our dogs, to being ostracized in places like Dr's offices, restaurants, theatres, and such. Many non-handicapped people simply do not understand the job these dogs do. They only see a dog in their store. We also know first hand, the extra expense of providing veterinary services and insurance for these dogs that we probably would not bother with for our other pets, simply because of the level of importance these dogs have in our daily lives. We understand that the daily care of these dogs in the way of personal attention required, training reinforcement, grooming, etc, is not something that can be taken for granted as it is so often with other pets. When you put everything together, owning a Service Dog is much more complicated than owning a pet. Because we not only train Service Dogs, but we also use them everyday in our own lives, we are experienced in every aspect of training, working with, living with, and caring for these incredible dogs. The joys as well as the hardships, the pride in our dog combined with the embarassment felt when we are asked to explain our disablities, are things that have become a part of our own personalities just as it will for you. Because of this, we can offer our expertise to you, to make the adjustments, and your life, as easy for you as possible. Being physically handicapped is hard enough without adding the burdens of being physically responsibile for another life too. Being physically handicapped on a fixed budjet is complicated in itself without adding on the high cost of upkeep needed for a Service Dog.
We are beginning to see that many other national organizations also retain ownership of the dog. They simply hide it in their advertisements behind fancy words. Most of them retain the right to the dog should the owner die. Yet very few of them offer to truly assist the owner during the lifetime of the dog with benefits that not only care for the dog, but also can save the owner thousands of dollars. We choose to just be up-front with the fact that we retain ownership of the dog.
By retaining ownership of the dog, we serve two purposes, one for you, & one for us:
1) We can provide a dog for you at a fraction of the cost of the nationwide Service Dog Training organizations. In fact, our dogs range between $1,000 to $5,000 with the total price being dependant only on the number and types of specific tasks you need the dog to do for you. based on this, the price is almost always different from one dog to the next, but it is never based on the dog's age, or breed, or your personal income. That is compared to prices found online of $14,000 up to $20,000 and even more... Along with providing you a fully certified Service Dog at a price you can afford. The goal of our Service Dog Training / Placement program is to see that anyone who truly need one of these incredible life changing companions, be able to get one, regardless of their age, ability to work, or income. We understand that nearly every handicapped person is forced to live on a very meager SSI income. There is no room in that type of income to be able to afford the outrageous cost of a service dog even if the person were able to save for years and years. However, I said that our cost is not based on your personal income and I meant just that. You are not penalized or charged more because you can work, or have an income whether yours personally or combined with other household family members, that would allow you to pay more. Another thing that bothers us about the national training organizations is the fact that new owners are only allowed to get to know their new dog for approximately 1 - 2 months before being left alone with it in their own environment. We feel this is wrong both for the person and for the dog. With our program, you are never left alone with your dog. We are there to assist you throughout the entire lifetime of the dog. In addition, our
package includes benefits for you that can save you thousands of dollars during your dog's lifetime. Money that you would be spending on the high cost of veterinary care, pet insurance, and additional training if and when needed, can instead be spent on the many other things and life's problems where it is needed. And,
2) Each of our dogs are very special to us. No matter how happy or wary we may feel about placing them into the home of any individual, we are always concerned for their welfare after they have left us. We have an extensive amount of time and effort, not to mention a personal bond with every dog we train to become Service Dogs. As such, we want to remain a part of that dog's life. If, for instance, you should die before the dog, if someone in your family would like to keep him, we would actually prefer to let him go ahead and retire with the family he has known for years and that loves him. But, if no one in your family actually wanted him, as happens all to often, where would he go? To a shelter to be placed up for adoption? Or euthanized? Or just given away to someone else, who after they decide they don't really want him either, is dumped along side a country back road to suffer and starve? The sad fact is that this can be the reality for many Service Dogs who have given their own life in support of another's. We do not want to ever see things like that happen to one of ours. In anything other than an extreme circumstance, we would never take the dog away from you just because we still own it. That truly is not the purpose behind us retaining ownership. We just want to know that our dog is okay, forever. And, to that end, we are willing to pay a
great deal of your expenses in having the dog with you.