Service Dogs… Service Fees

This week I outreached directly to the Animal Foundation, a major non-profit, animal shelter in Southern Nevada via tweet to learn more about their  Service Dog Project. 

I was honestly quite shocked that I received a response in under 24 hours with the organization connecting me to their preferred vendor to help train rescue/adoptable animals in their shelter as service animals. See the thread below.

 

Immediately I went to the Smartypaws.com website and started exploring the services available. I was very surprised that these services/information did not come up in my original searches.

To my slight disappointment, there was a clear and highly detailed outline of their Service Fees  but I was however thoroughly impressed by SmartyPaws and their Class Schedule

It’s clear that this company provides a multitude of services that can benefit the disabled population in Southern Nevada. Prices of $300 for a six week session for a Service Dog Certification and $150 for a Therapy Dog Certification is fairly reasonable considering the nature of the work that they do and the major benefit that will be provided to the client once their dog is trained.

This is not unlike other known agencies in the area such as Michael’s Angel Paws or The K-9 Handler who also charge similar fees for this service.

After this exchange I feel pleased to have located a recommended agency in the community at a reasonable cost to train animals to become service/emotional support/therapy dogs with a clear cut schedule and how to access their services. This was a critical aspect of my exploration.

However, it is becoming quite apparent that most things in life aren’t free, including service dogs.