Service Dogs

Service dogs perform specific tasks to assist their partners with physical disabilities, such as turning lights on and off, opening doors, and retrieving items. However, they also provide psychological and social benefits to their partners, who often experience increased confidence due to the additional social interaction and independence as a result of their service dog. One of PawPADs’ focuses is training these service dogs for people with physical disabilities.

Over an approximately two year period, our young service dogs in-training pass high standards of health, behavior, obedience and skill training in order to become a PawPADs working service dog.

>Jump To Our Basic Service Dog Placement Criteria<

In order to achieve the highest rate of success for clients and assistance dogs, PawPADs has established the following criteria for applicant acceptance:

PawPADs does not train Autism support dogs, Emotional Support Dogs (ESD) or Psychiatric Service Dogs (PSD) to work specifically with psychological or emotional challenges (bipolar, anxiety, PTSD, panic attacks, depression, etc). Absent an accompanying physical disability, it is not our focus.
We ask most recipients to contribute $3,500 toward their service dog.
PawPADs offers scholarships allowing us to place Service Dogs with qualified veterans with service connected physical disabilities up to the amount of the full placement fee.
We place our dogs with those living within 200 miles of Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN. Those living within 250 miles of Minneapolis/St. Paul may be considered on a case-by-case basis.
Children under 12 years of age may be considered on a case-by-case basis. We occasionally do third party handler placements, with a parent or legal guardian being the primary handler and caretaker for the dog, who will perform tasks to assist the child.
You must be able to meet the emotional, physical, and financial needs of the service dog and must offer a stable home environment. This includes providing the dog with appropriate exercise and grooming.
You must be mature enough and possess sufficient cognitive functioning to actively participate in the training and learning process required during team training.
You must also be capable of managing the dog once you are living together.
Your medical situation should allow you to work with the dog for several years.
You must be actively pursuing the goal of independent living and seek to improve the quality of life through the partnership with a service dog.
You must be able to attend a two-week Partner Training Camp (PTC), to receive proper instruction on how to care for and work with your dog. (You will be responsible for living expenses – travel, accommodation, food, etc. during this time).
You must complete an intensive certification process, which includes a written final, an oral exam, and multiple dog handling tests.
Following service dog placement, you must complete monthly written evaluations on your dog’s behavior and as needed, participate in training lessons and evaluations given in your home. After 1 year, your partnership will be re-evaluated and, if appropriate, full ownership will be transferred to you.