Train And Certificate Your Service Dog

Service Dog International (SDI) does not directly provide, train, certify or register individual assistance dogs or assistance dog teams, as that is the function of our member organizations. SDI certification is only available to assistance dog partnered teams that were trained by our accredited member programs. 
Assistance Dogs is a generic term for a guide, hearing, or service dog specifically trained to do three or more tasks to mitigate the effects of an individual’s disability. The presence of a dog for protection, personal defense, or comfort does not qualify that dog as an assistance dog.  

Who qualifies for a Service Dog?

A person can qualify for a Service Dog Certification if they have a disability that requires the assistance of a Service Dog. The disability can be physical (such as blindness, mobility impairment, seizures, diabetes, etc.) or a mental or emotional disability that requires a Psychiatric Service Dog. A Service Dog must be individually trained to do work or perform tasks for a person with a disability. People who suffer from mental or emotional disabilities can also have an Emotional Support Animal, which do not need special training and have more limited rights than Service Dogs.

Guide Dog

A dog that guides individuals who are blind or visually impaired. The presence of a dog for protection, personal defense, or comfort does not qualify that dog as a guide dog.

  • Guide Dogs help their users to travel around independently and safely, giving their users more independence, freedom and confidence.
  • Guide Dogs make navigating streets much less stressful by assisting their users to find locations, avoid obstacles and stop at curbs.
  • Guide Dogs make it easier for the person who is blind or vision impaired to use public transport, navigate shopping centers and buildings, find doors, seats and pedestrian crossing buttons.
  • Guide Dogs provide companionship and promote social inclusion.

Hearing Dog

A dog that alerts individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing to specific sounds. The presence of a dog for protection, personal defense, or comfort does not qualify that dog as a hearing dog.

  • Hearing Dogs assist deaf and hard of hearing individuals by alerting them to a variety of household sounds such as a door knock or doorbell, alarm clock, oven buzzer, telephone, baby crying, name call or smoke alarm.
  • Hearing Dogs are trained to make physical contact and lead their deaf partners to the source of the sound.
  • Hearing Dogs are generally mixed breeds acquired from animal shelters and are small to medium in size. Prior to formal audio response training, the puppies/dogs are raised and socialized by volunteer puppy raisers.
  • Hearing Dogs are identified by leash and/or vest.

Service Dog

A dog that works for individuals with disabilities other than blindness or deafness. Service dogs are trained to perform a wide variety of tasks including but not limited to; pulling a wheelchair, bracing, retrieving, alerting to a medical crisis, and providing assistance in a medical crisis.

  • Service Dogs are professionally trained dogs that help mitigate many different types of disabilities.
  • Service Dogs can be trained to work with people who have power or manual wheelchairs, have balance issues, have various types of autism, need seizure alert or response, need to be alerted to other medical issues like low blood sugar, or have psychiatric disabilities. 
  • Service Dogs can help by retrieving dropped objects that are out of their person’s reach, by pulling wheelchairs, opening and closing doors, turning light switches off and on, barking to indicate that help is needed, finding another person and leading the person to the handler, assisting ambulatory person to walk by providing balance and counterbalance, providing deep pressure, and many other individual tasks as needed by a person with a disability.