Frequently Asked Questions

With 14 years experience, there is very little that our trainer hasn't seen and worked through. She has worked with hundreds of dogs teaching how to overcome common problems such as house breaking, leash walking, jumping, and counter surfing. She has also worked through barking and reactivity, fears and phobias, separation stress, and resource guarding. We are ready to take on any challenge with the exception of extreme and dangerous aggression. For these we are willing of offer support along with the help of a qualified veterinary behaviorist. Her specialty of the last 11 years has been assisting clients to train their own service dogs. She has helped trained over 50 dogs with service skills to ADI-level standards for hearing alert, diabetes alert, narcolepsy response, mobility, anxiety and PTSD, along with many unique skills developed for individual clients needs. If you have any doubts about if we can help you please don't hesitate to reach out and ask.

Each training experience is fully customizable. Pet Training is $95 per lesson. Service Dog Training is $120 per lesson. Boarding and Training working on skills at home is $925 per week. Boarding and Training with outings is $1150 per week. We offer lessons at your home, at our home/training area, in a public place or virtually. An additional travel charge of 70 cents per mile will be added if you would like us to travel beyond 10 miles for a lesson or picking up and dropping off your dog for boarding and training.

Your dog will stay in our home with our own personal dogs. They will have play time 4-5 times a day in a secure, private fenced yard and get one-on-one attention every day. They can hang out with our trainer and watch them go about their every day routines as your dog might do if they were in your own home. Crates will be used at night for safety reasons, but they will always be near our own dogs so they will never be alone. There is multi-door/gate system any time they are put on or off of a leash so the chances of accidental escape are extremely minimal.

We do not have the structure in place at this time but we are willing to offer a group rate if you have multiple dogs that you would like to have attend class at the same time.

With nearly 15 years high level training experience (including working with people with disabilities) we can break down your dogs individual issues and create a training plan that fits into your lifestyle and limitations and allows you to understand why your dog behaves in certain ways and effectively change those behaviors.

Service Dog Training can be as minimal or extensive and any other education you might acquire. With our program you are paying for the trainer's time. One way that can be done is through individual lessons in which you then go home and practice on your own. These can be spaced out as much as you need depending on your budget and skill level. Another way would be through Boarding & Training where your trainer will focus on specific goals appropriate to your dog's age and training history. These stays with your trainer can be done on a long term basis or through several shorter stays as you get your dog back and practice the skills they have learned. A great option is a combination of both lessons and Boarding & Training so that your trainer can best support you through your training journey. As service dogs are not typically finished with training until after 1-2 years, the total cost usually runs from a minimum of $3,000 to beyond $30,000, depending on the type and frequency of training. Through these options, we can be very flexible with your budget, and the more work that you are able to put in on your own, the lower the cost will be. Younger dogs and puppies will likely cost more as they will need go through more lessons as they mature into an adult with the appropriate level of self control.

The time it takes to train a service dog is a minimum of 6 months if you are starting with an older dog that has already had great socialization and training, but it typically takes 1-2 years depending on the starting age and temperament of the dog. Any behavioral hurdles that have to be dealt with during training can add months or years to the training time. Also more complex disability skills can add on time to training as well. This is why it is important to start training with a healthy dog who has an exceptional temperament.

Our trainer has experience training service dogs tasks for many different needs such as: -alerting for medical events like anxiety, disassociation, repetitive behaviors, low blood glucose, sounds, alarms, narcolepsy, etc. -going to get help, or pushing a medical emergency button when requested or in the event of a medical event. -various retrieval skills to assist with laundry, household tasks, work related tasks, shopping, cleaning up, etc. -various forms of light and deep pressure therapy. -various other mobility tasks to help with lights, doors, balance, forward momentum, etc. -creating space or buffers in public, particularly while in crowded places. -helping to find places like home, an exit, a car, a place to sit down, etc. -helping to wake up from nightmares or for deep sleep. -various hearing impairment related tasks. AND SO MUCH MORE! Feel free to reach out and we may be able to design a task to custom fit your needs.

Not every dog has the right temperament, trainability and capability to be a service dog. There is a reason that the number one most frequent breeds seen as service dogs are Labrador Retrievers and Golden Retrievers. They have been bred to do a job that allows them to work long hours, problem solve and serve their handlers with a resilient demeanor that makes them safe to be around strangers, children and the public. There are, however, many cases of individual dogs of other breeds going on to be amazing service dogs and we have worked with these as well. Each dog should be evaluated individually by a professional before being considered a good fit for service dog training.

Yes! Keep in mind that finding a service dog prospect is ALWAYS a gamble. We must start with a consultation to figure out what breed or type of dog will fit your needs and lifestyle and then narrow that down to available dogs. Once a dog is selected there is always the possibility that behavioral or health issues can crop up later on that might prohibit the dog from finishing training. We will do our best to stack the odds of success in your favor.

The first step will be to contact us so we can gather some more information from you and set up a consultation so we can get to know each other and formulate a plan that will give you the best chance of success. You can either: -Email us at info@dogrutraining.com -Fill out our Contact Form -(If you do not have a dog yet) Fill out our Dog Selection Assistance form on our Forms page. -(If you have a dog) Fill out our Service Dog Training Form on our Forms page.