We will certify service dogs for: Mobility, Psychiatric, Sensory Development/Tactile Pressure, and Medical Alerts (with individual consideration).

A great deal of this filtration is accomplished through your prerequisites. To qualify to enter a paws4people training cohort, your dog must have earned a Canine Good Citizen and passed the CGC Urban test with a credentialed evaluator. To prevent any conflicts of interest, we do not work directly with nor refer directly to any of these trainers/evaluators.

If your dog has earned these credentials, then your dog might be a candidate to be accepted to a paws4people training co-hort.  Your dog will be evaluated by a paws4people trainer during a day-long in-person assessment in your home and community as a final step in earning an invitation to a training co-hort.

Once you are invited to a training cohort, you will receive your training dates. New cohorts begin each quarter. An example* of a typical training model might be:

1. December – In-person assessment at your home/community.
2. January – A-Block, one week in Wilmington at our campus.
3. February – B-Block, three weeks in Wilmington at our campus.
4. March – C-Block, custom task training for your dog, they board-and-train with us in Wilmington for 2 weeks in March.
5. March – May – Black vest, conditional certification trial period, your dog is home with you wearing our provisional vest and completing your weekly homework and check-ins for 60 days.
6. May – D-Block, return to our campus in Wilmington for 3 days of final assessments to earn your red vest.
7. August – E-Block, return to our campus in Wilmington for 3 days of post-certification assessment.
8. Ongoing – aftercare and follow-up check-ins and requirements for the entirety of the dog’s career.
9. Recertification – The team must re-certify annually in-person. Testing dates are available for scheduling on many different dates and locations throughout the country during the fourth quarter of each year.

*All training plans are subject to change based on the needs of the team as well as the decisions of paws4people. All teams will be required to have a minimum of a 6-month relationship with paws4people to be eligible for certification.

We have a positive reinforcement-based training style and follow LIMA principles in all areas of training and care.

Yes. Any sessions of our training cohorts are customized based on each client’s needs, interests, and goals. Other sessions are general sessions done as a whole group.

Additionally, if we determine that you and your dog need assistance in training your 3+ disability task cues, we will offer a module to provide that for you, at an additional expense.

It is very important to understand that not all dogs are appropriate for this work. If at any point, either the client or paws4people determine that certification is not feasible, the conditional client & dog will be dismissed from the program. 

No refunds will be given.

There is absolutely no guarantee of receiving certification. Doing so would be unrealistic and disingenuous.

All tuition and fees for our training program are discussed in detail on the initial Discovery Call, in addition to being provided in writing during the application process.

If a team becomes certified by paws4people, you will receive a Service Dog uniform, a physical ID card, as well as an Assistance Dogs International Digital ID. Both sets of ID cards are good for one calendar year and will expire on December 31st, unless the annual recertification test has been successfully completed. You will also have the option to opt-in to paws4people’s group health insurance policy for your dog as an additional benefit.