Service Dog Training
By coaching owners to train their dogs to be Service Dogs, Indian Trail Dog Training LLC significantly cuts costs for individuals in need of a service animal. These trained dogs can provide assistance in various settings, whether that be within your home or out in the world with you, making daily tasks more manageable and improving overall quality of life.
Despite the many organizations online offering to register your dog as a Service Dog. Please keep in mind that is not only immoral and unethical to register a dog that isn't trained as a Service Dog as defined by the American Disabilities Act, it is ILLEGAL. You can voluntarily register your dog as a legitimate service animal with the NC Department of Health and Human Services, IF you so choose but it is not mandatory. This not only helps protect the rights of those who truly rely on service animals, but also ensures that your dog is properly trained for their role. We will not train a dog to become a Service Dog without proper diagnosis and need for task remediation.
Because it takes a certain temperament in a dog, not all dogs are qualified to be service dogs.
According to the Americans with Disabilities Act
"Service animals are defined as dogs that are individually trained to do work or perform tasks for people with disabilities. Examples of such work or tasks include guiding people who are blind, alerting people who are deaf, pulling a wheelchair, alerting and protecting a person who is having a seizure, reminding a person with mental illness to take prescribed medications, calming a person with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) during an anxiety attack, or performing other duties. Service animals are working animals, not pets. The work or task a dog has been trained to provide must be directly related to the person’s disability. Dogs whose sole function is to provide comfort or emotional support do not qualify as service animals under the ADA”
According to the NC General Assembly
168-4.2. May be accompanied by service animal. Every person with a disability has the right to be accompanied by a service animal trained to assist the person with his or her specific disability in any of the places listed in G.S. 168-3, and has the right to keep the service animal on any premises the person leases, rents, or uses. The person qualifies for these rights upon the showing of a tag, issued by the Department of Health and Human Services, under G.S. 168-4.3, stamped "NORTH CAROLINA SERVICE ANIMAL PERMANENT REGISTRATION" and stamped with a registration number, or upon a showing that the animal is being trained or has been trained as a service animal. The service animal may accompany a person in any of the places listed in G.S. 168-3.
The NC Department of Health and Human services
ADA limits the definition of Service Animals to dogs and miniature horses. Therapy dogs, emotional support dogs and companion dogs are not Service Animals and are not afforded the same privileges in public places. For more information, see the ADA’s list of Frequently Asked Questions here. See below for additional information and forms related to service animals in North Carolina.
Service Animal Registration Information Registering a service animal or a service animal in training is voluntary; registration is not required. The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) states, “A public entity may ask if the animal is required because of a disability and what work or task the animal has been trained to perform. A public entity shall not require documentation, such as proof that the animal has been certified, trained, or licensed as a service animal.” If you want to register, please fill out the first page and sign both pages. Please have the trainer fill out and sign the second page. If you trained a service animal yourself instead of working with a trainer, please provide a letter signed by a witness to verify what work or tasks the animal has been trained to perform. If your application is complete, DVRS will send you a registration tag for the animal’s collar and an identification card you can carry in a wallet.
In order to be considered for our service dog program please schedule an initial consultation. If you aren't local to Indian Trail NC we are happy to meet with you via zoom.