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Service Dog Training Cost- All You Need To Know To Plan Everything
If you are planning to get a service dog and wondering what will be service dog training cost, you have come to the right place. All of us are fond of puppies, who wouldn’t love these cuddly, cute, and amazing creatures? They are meant to be man’s greatest friend. The idea of having our cute pet become a certified service dog is entirely new and different to us.
While the end results of turning your dog into a service dog can be worth the efforts you make, you cannot expect it to be smooth as service dog training cost requires both money and time.
There are three ways you can get training for your service dog. These are:
- Training your own dog at home. This will require a lot of time and patience.
- Hire a reputable trainer. It will require you to spend a lot of money but the time will be less.
- Attend training courses present near your house.
We are about to outline all the expenses involved along with related information that you need to know for service dog training cost. Let’s get started smoothly.
Service Dog Training Cost- Steps And Expenses
1. Where To Begin?
Once you have made your mind for deciding on service dog training cost, you should have a puppy with you. If you are already planning for purchasing a cute puppy, make sure you either buy it from shelters where dogs are kept or from reputed breeders. When you are buying a puppy from reputed and respected breeders it can even cost you up to 1000 dollars. Before purchasing, do your research, ask others and visit 2 to 4 breeders and compare the cost and breed.
The trip you are planning to buy a puppy and fuel involved in traveling also includes in the expenses because you will have to stop at many breeders before you decide. In case you have a high budget and hire a speaking dog trainer to assist you to choose the best puppy from the breeders. You can also get cabs at an hourly rate.
It is highly important to note that NOT all the dogs belonging to some breed are qualified to be used as service dogs. Service dog training costs will also differ. The dog you prefer should have an allergy-free coat. The key to choosing the most favorable and amazing breed for your service dog training cost is choosing a puppy that is mentally and physically fit and stronger than other breeds. It should be able to fit in with your lifestyle and make changes accordingly.
In addition to service dog training costs or acquiring a puppy from breeders, other costs are also there that you should always keep in mind while proceeding with purchasing your beloved service dog. You need to spend money on their regular maintenance like food, grooming, vaccines, neuter, spay, etc.
If you are thinking about how much grooming your pup may cost, you can expect a professional groomer for your dog to take anywhere between 50 dollars to 60 dollars. This cost is not something you need to spend daily, so do not worry. You will need to go for professional groomers every 2 months. You need to feed good quality food for them to stay fit and free of any diseases. You can expect nearly 40 dollars per month on the food you are about to feed them depending upon the quality.
Depending upon the vet. you have chosen, you can expect the cost of vaccination nearly 400 dollars. Other costs are highly depending on your pup, if your dog gets hurt or faces any issue internally, you need to check the doctor as soon as you can to know the costs and prepare a cure.
Other expenses are optional. These expenses include toys, dishes, crate, flea, leash, or tick treatment. Note that a crate can cost over 100 dollars. These costs vary depending upon the area you live also sometimes.
If you have a puppy already or you have bought one, let’s see what to do next.
2. What To Do After You Get Home A Puppy To Train?
Service dog training cost depends upon various factors. Service dogs will require a lot of intensive training along with socialization from the outset. If you wish to achieve the level of training required to become an owner of the service dog, it is highly mandatory that your puppy spends nearly a month or more in training as a trained student or board.
The cost or expenses of board and train where your puppy will spend one month or more with trainers that will help in training the dog is 2500 dollars. If you think one month cannot give you the expected results you want, service dog training cost for 2 months can be expected as 4000 dollars with a little discount for 2 months.
If you are wondering what service dog training cost includes, you should know that this training includes all the expenses they take for teaching a lot of things like socialization, potty training, manner cues like sit, stay, down, etc. This also includes setting up a foundation for your puppy.
After the puppy sets for its home over there, it will have to be present in many group classes with the trainers. These 6-week group glasses for your pup will cost anywhere between 100 dollars to 150 dollars. It is highly recommended that your little pup should attend at least five 6 week series. This will enable them to reach and learn a level of obedience that is required specifically to become a service dog.
Other than group classes, training sessions inside the home, and private day training field trips are necessary for learning service related to any private behavior that can also prepare the puppy for their socialization and public access certification or training. Purchasing a time package rather than spending money on an hourly basis on their classes can be the most cost-effective way to manage and deal with private lessons.
It has been observed that most of the owners who bring their pups for service dog training cost estimation purchases 9 hours of a package that might cost them somewhat 500 dollars each. One day of training will cost is 150 dollars per day. Your trainers will also give you time to meet the puppy and arrange a meeting for you and your pup once a week. This is an additional thing, most trainers do not cost anything for it.
3. What Happens After training Of Your Puppy?
Once your dog has finished the training of becoming a service dog and received a canine good citizen certification along with a public access certification from a reputed animal registry they will be called again every month for maintenance training on regular basis.
Each month you can expect the trainers to give 1 hour or 3 hours to your dog for maintenance training. Although these things are highly dependent upon the needs of the individual and their home, you can still expect the trainers to call you once.
Your dog has gone through lots of intense training to achieve the level of obedience they have now. After the intense training periods finish, you are required to register their names with the service animal registry. You will also have to purchase a service dog vest for your dog so that you can be easily recognized by other members of this community who have registered for the same.
4. Can The Cost or Expenses Shake Out?
All in all, you can expect the service dog training cost to vary from nearly 7000 dollars to 20,000 dollars. This cost varies because in the small packages your dog will be able to learn very basic things which we mentioned above, however, in larger packages depending upon which one you are choosing, the things trainers teach will also vary and will be of higher levels.
As an example, you can consider the service dog training cost to be even up to 30000 dollars if they are guided for blind runs. These costs are highly dependent upon what the owner chooses their dogs to learn. You will be given packages and somethings will be mentioned before proceeding.
You can expect the service dog training cost to be somewhat near 10000 dollars with all the pieces of training along with public access and certification involved. Sometimes during the training sessions, you will also require to take prescriptions from the physicians after checkups from the vets have been completed. This is because the trainers will ask for prescriptions if your dog is fit for performing certain tasks or not.
If you are thinking about how much time will it take for me to bring a dog and then for service dog training cost, you cal expect it to be anywhere near 1 year. This highly depends upon the dogs and their training. Even after their training has been completed once, ongoing maintenance will be required which is nothing new. After completing all the training involved, the cost will only of their maintenance and grooming, you can relax and enjoy your service dog.
Service dogs play a vital role in their owner’s life. People having any physical or mental disability can benefit a lot if they have service dogs to look after them. They will easily alert you to unexpected signs of danger and can even guide you in performing several tasks which are often difficult without any help.
Your dog is fit for service training or not will depend upon its breed, temperament, age, trainability, etc.
Pros And Cons Of Service Dog Training
There are always positives and negatives associated with many things that we see. Let’s see are pros and cons of applying for service dog training.
Pros
- Save a lot of energy and time to train your dog for service by yourself.
- Having a trainer to train is easy and the process involved is slightly faster than you expect.
- Help you access a member of a community where all the dogs are trained for service.
- The dog will be able to guide you in a lot of procedures you couldn’t have done without their help.
Cons
- The cost is quite high as t ranges from nearly 10000 dollars to 50000 dollars sometimes. However, if you want your dog for emotional support and comfort or to alert you to dangerous signs if you have seizures or diabetics, the cost will be lower because in such situations your dog will not require high or intense training sessions.
- You will again have to spend a lot of time familiarizing yourself with your dog once you bring them home after they have completed their training sessions. However, an adult dog who has gone through so much training will not be difficult to deal with as they are more likely to be obedient and cooperative.
- As we have already mentioned, not all dog breeds are eligible to be applied for service dog training, so you cannot bring your favourite breed home. You have to check if the breed is eligible to be trained or not.
- You cannot accompany your pet for the time they are in training.
This was all about training your service dog that you should know including service dog training cost and expenses that are involved. After welcoming your service dog to their home, do not forget to try out these amazing dog cake recipes to welcome them with joy and happiness.
