We are very familiar with this question. It makes great sense to have your personal dog that you have a connection with, to be your service dog.
If it makes sense, why does Core DTS decline more of these requests than they approve?
And why are they losing the battle in this particular market share area?
Walk with us as we take a closer look at this. (Figuratively speaking…)
We see so many dogs wearing service dog vests these days. They’re in the malls. Stores. Restaurants. Airports. They are everywhere. And people who have a service dog, should have a service related need that was approved by a doctor.
That’s how it works. It’s the law. And while some people say they will simply get a doctor to sign off on allowing them to have a service dog. We try hard not to laugh inside as we refer them back to the basic requirements that allow for the need of getting a service dog approved. The law!
Also, a doctor spends the majority of his young adulthood going to school for this profession. They invest thousands of dollars in loans, grants, and/or personal money to achieve this. A doctor is not going to throw all of that away because a person believes it’s that easy.
So here is what happens a lot. A person has a genuine need for a service dog. They get approved by the doctor to have one. And the training outfit they go to sees the opportunity of making a few extra dollars by signing their dog off as a service animal instead of holding a line of accountability. If their dog doesn’t fit the bill, they should not be a service dog.
This is why you see service dogs in vests wanting to roam in any direction 
except the one their human is going in. Or you see a dog in a service vest get aggressive towards someone walking by. Just because they were walking by. Or you see a dog in a service vest trying to jump all over passing strangers. These aren’t service dogs. They are pets in a service dog vest.
Our military and law enforcement receive extensive training. Doctors, lawyers, teachers, and other professions receive extensive education learning. Why is a service dog that is performing a greater function than being a personal pet not held to a higher standard?
Here at Core DTS, we believe service dogs are working dogs that are held to a higher standard and we are very upfront about that during our consultation process. We believe in this so strongly that we are perfectly ok with you going to a competing outfit or a national outfit and spending more money there, just to spite us, because we told you no. We know that a few of our competitors along with national outfits have higher standards and will share similar expectations. Probably not our training results.
We also know some lower outfits will say yes to certifying your dog with no training to make a quick buck. It’s these type of outfits that are creating larger problems for people who do rely on their service dogs.
An example of this are the airlines and the new restrictions they are imposing for 2019. All those people who found a way to cheat the system screwed it up for everyone else. I’m sure more changes will come over time too. Hopefully better regulations as the service dog industry evolves.
Does this mean that we are always right? No. Not always.
We understand many people want their personal dog as a service dog or emotional therapy dog. We also understand how much work is involved in the process of getting them there. We make those decisions based off the dogs characteristics we see during training and the follow through the dog owner shows us when they complete their entry level package. A dog owner who puts in the extra work to get their dog to a respectable and reliable training point and they didn’t get their dog trained through us, we still smile!
We smile because we know we came across a human who is truly invested in their dog and not expecting someone else to do all the behavioral change stuff which includes the daily work accountability that is needed for a service dog.
Many local Humane Societies have solid programs in place to identify rescues as service dog candidates if your dog doesn’t fit the bill. We do want to certify your personal dog as a service animal. If your dog doesn’t meet our baseline to not have human aggression, dog aggression, and food aggression we will get them trained up real good. Good enough where most people mistake our end product for law enforcement dogs or service dogs. Then you can take your dog to some nearby outfit that will probably be more than happy to certify our work with their credentials for a minimal cost. We just won’t do it if it your dog doesn’t meet our standards.
Service dogs provide a real purpose.
Help us be the change for a better service dog community!
