Service Dog Training Lecture Series – Selecting and Training Service Dogs for Mental Illness
– Part I

This webinar on selecting and training service dogs for mental illness will review the definitions and laws relevant to Service Dogs and Emotional Support Dogs. All definitions will use federal regulations including the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) 1990, Titles II and III of the Americans With Disabilities Amendments Act (ADAA), 2008, commonly called the ADA for Public Access; the Fair Housing Act (FHA) for housing; and the Air Carriers Access Act (ACAA) for airlines.

The lecture will offer an overview of the most salient temperament qualities of successful service dogs for people with PTSD, anxiety, depression and other mental illnesses; offer suggestions about how and where to locate canine candidates; and who should evaluate and train puppies and older dogs under consideration to become service dogs. We will also discuss how dog breeds influence choices of canine candidates.

The lecture will address how to prevent and how to handle Public Access Challenges when they occur; the outcry for mandatory service dog certification; and why the presenters agree that such proposed certification requirements would not benefit the service dog community.

The lecture will include information about mental health symptoms potentially mitigated by trained service dogs, and some caveats about situations in which service dogs may be a liability.

Speakers: Cissy Stamm and Barbara Handelman, M.Ed., LCMHC, CDBC

Available as a recording for purchase below.

Learning Objectives:

Participants will become familiar with the following:

• First and foremost, service dogs for people diagnosed with a disabling mental illness, are just that – service dogs – as defined by the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA).
  • Service dogs for people with mental illness require no other descriptive designation.
  • Attaching a mental health description to the service dog’s job title increases the risk of stigma being attached to a person with a mental illness.
• Liability risks for physicians and therapists prescribing or writing letters in support of working dogs for mentally ill patients.
• Which physical and temperament qualities are most important in dogs working with a person with a mental health disability?
  • Who should select the service dog candidate?
    • Where might the best candidates be found? Shelters, breeders or service dog training programs.
  • Who should train the dog
    • Owner trainers
    • Private professional trainers
    • Program trained dogs
  • The differences between a service dog and an emotional support dog.
    • Which laws determine the degree and type of public access in each category.
  • How to prevent and diffuse public access challenges
  • Disabling mental health symptoms potentially mitigated by trained service dogs.

Cost: $25.00 USD

CEU’s Available:
2 IAABC CEU’s
2 CCPDT CEU’s
2 ABCDT-L2 CEU’s
2 NADOI CEU’s
2 PPAB/PPG

****Due to the nature of these webinars being recorded live, at the speakers home or office, there will/may be some technical issues that can not be helped or edited without losing important portions of the lecture.