Who We Serve

We specially train service dogs and facility dogs to assist children with disabilities.

SERVICE DOGS

Good Dog! Service Canines provides service dogs to families of children with autism and related disabilities including but not limited to Down syndrome, Angelman syndrome, Fragile X, Apraxia, and ADHD.*

Our dogs are specially trained to perform tasks that help mitigate the effects of these disabilities and support each child’s unique needs. These tasks may include deep pressure for emotional regulation, tactile input, behavior interruption or redirection, focus and grounding assistance, and serving as a bridge to social connection and communication.

Each Good Dog is placed as part of a three-member team: the child, a parent or caregiver who lives with the child and serves as the primary handler, and the service dog. This triad model ensures lasting support, trust, and success for the entire family.

FACILITY DOGS

Facility dogs are placed with professionals such as teachers, principals, and therapists who work in facilities serving children with autism and related disabilities. The handler is a professional who utilizes the highly trained dog to help children with autism and developmental disabilities meet their goals during therapy sessions or school days. Learn more or apply for a Facility dog here.

ASSISTANCE DOG PLACEMENTS

ELIGIBILITY

SERVICE DOG ELIGIBILITY

Please read the following information before scheduling a Free Chat:

We believe that each family should be considered individually. Just as our kids are one-of-a-kind, so is each family's situation. In order to ensure successful teams, we have the following eligibility requirements for a Good Dog! Service dog:

The child* must:

Have a diagnosis of autism or related disability that can be supported by trained service dog tasks. These tasks may include applying or receiving deep pressure, interrupting or redirecting behavior, assisting with focus and grounding, and serving as a bridge to social interaction and communication. Learn more about the benefits of these tasks here.
Be six years of age or older at the time of the dog’s placement in the home.
Live with the parent/caregiver who will be the primary dog handler.

The parent/caregiver must:

Live with the child and be willing to be the primary handler. The child may become the primary handler at a later point, if all parties agree that this is possible. In most cases the parent/caregiver will remain the handler.
Be willing to attend a 5-day Team Training in Southern California and pay for travel and accommodation costs. The child does not attend this training, only the parent/caregiver who will be the main handler of the dog. Once the parent/caregiver and dog return home, it is up to the parent/caregiver to transfer the knowledge to the child and any other handlers at their pace and learning style.
Be 18 years of age or older
Be willing to complete all pre-requisite learning, pass required evaluations, and participate in the on-going training and graduate support program.
Have access to the internet with a webcam (or smart phone).

*The term “child” refers to a person with a disability of any age who is not going to be handling the dog independently and/or who may be able to handle the dog independently in the future. "Child" must live at home with a parent or live with a caregiver committed to the dog's care or supervision of care. We do not have an age limit for our service dog recipients paired with an adult handler.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ON ELIGIBILITY

We do not specialize in safety. If safety is your primary goal, Good Dog! may not be the best fit for your family. We invite you to sign up to attend our free online Infurmation Hour, where we discuss the pros and cons of service dogs for safety and other common goals
We do not place dogs in households where any individual in the household may inadvertently physically or emotionally harm the dog through dysregulation or other behaviors.
It is important that the parent/caregiver handler is prepared to be an effective leader for the dog and can adhere to our guidelines to successfully transition the dog into the family. As a result, changes to the home environment after acceptance onto the wait list, such as the birth of new children, the addition of new pets, or a move, may delay the placement of the service dog in your home.
Families who reapply for a successor dog after their dog has retired will have priority over new applicants on the wait list.

While Good Dog! has established eligibility criteria for the type of service dogs we provide, we do not discriminate against any applicant based on race/ethnicity, creed, gender, religion, marital status, age, nationality, physical or mental disability, medical condition, sexual orientation, citizenship status, military service status or any other consideration as indicated by federal, state or local laws.

Service dogs types outside our placement scope:

Emotional support animals (While our dogs do provide emotional support, our dogs are highly trained service dogs and we do not place dogs exclusively as emotional support animals)
Owner-trained service dogs for individuals who have a dog they would like assistance in training as a service dog
Seizure alert or response dogs
Hearing dogs
Guide dogs for blind or visually impaired
PTSD service dogs
Diabetic alert dogs
Allergen detection dogs

Assistance Dogs International has a list of accredited organizations that offer these valuable services.
If you are unsure or have a question about whether we place service dogs that would suit your child’s needs, please sign up for a Free Online Infurmation Hour

A TEAM OF

THREE

Please note that at this time we are NOT able to service independent individuals.

Currently our program is designed for a team of three: parent-child-dog. (Over time it may be possible for the child to become the main handler, but there must be a parent present to oversee this process.)