Premier Program · Fully trained, start to placement
A finished partner, raised for your life.
We help you find the right puppy or older dog, then train it to your lifestyle, personality, and needs — with you involved along the way. What comes home is a working partner you already know.
The fully guided path
You shouldn’t have to become a dog trainer to get a service dog.
Premier is for families without the bandwidth to train — a new diagnosis, a demanding job, a household already stretched thin. We take on the years of work, and hand you a dog that’s ready for the life you actually live.
“We don’t just train the dog — we train the handler.”
How we build your dog
Four stages, about 12 to 14 months — with you in it.
Find the right dog
If we have a pre-trained dog in our program that’s a match, great. If not, we help you source a puppy or a suitable older dog, chosen for the temperament your disability and your household need.
Train on a monthly rate
12–14 months with a young puppy, less with an older dog — up to 1,200+ hours of care, socialization, and training.
You stay involved
Training sessions, overnights, and visits along the way, so the bond builds the whole time.
Bootcamp transition
An optional add-on most families choose: we finish the handoff with you in your home, school, or work.
Trained for you, and with you
You stay part of it the whole way.
How often you train together depends on how close you are to us in Phoenix, how easily you can travel, and whether you’d like us to come to you. Locally, we like monthly training sessions, overnights, or weekend trips. Out of state, we strongly suggest quarterly visits — so you keep the bond, keep the workability, and see the progress your dog is making.
We work with where your dog is, not where a calendar says it should be. Some dogs learn faster than others, and every dog still moves through the normal stages of development — the same way kids turn into teenagers before they turn into young adults.
What it takes
Less of your time. Not none of it.
Premier minimizes your time investment during training, but it doesn’t remove it. Plan on roughly 100–150 hours of your own time, plus six to nine months of daily practice after your dog comes home before things truly click. In-Home Interview required.
If we don’t have a pre-trained dog available, you’ll purchase the puppy or dog and cover its veterinary care, food, and pet insurance, on top of the monthly training rate. The bootcamp, aftercare placement support, and public access testing are separate. The longer the training term, the more cost-effective the monthly rate — and we only take on a limited number of dogs at a time, so every client gets the care and focus they deserve. A $46,000 to $50,000 base is a good starting range for the training itself.
The handoff, done right
A bootcamp built around how involved you’ve been.
The bootcamp transition is an optional add-on, and most families choose it. A finished dog is only half of a working team — you’re the other half. This is where the partnership actually becomes yours, in your home, your school or workplace, and the real places you go.
Short transition
For handlers who’ve been highly involved through training. We work with you in your own home, school, or work to finalize the handoff.
Most families choose
Our traditional 40-hour bootcamp. We prepare you for daily life together and get you ready to take the Public Access Test.
Extended
For more complex needs, overseas placements, or anyone who can only work a few hours a day because of their schedule or disability.
We don’t disappear after placement.
We follow up with check-in calls through the first month or two to make sure everything’s going well. After that, you can keep the online program and coaching support going through our Mentorship Program, for as long as you want it.
Public access certification
Working in public means clearing the bar for it.
Before any team works in public, the dog has to prove it’s safe and unobtrusive out in the world. That standard is the Public Access Test (PAT), built on recognized industry criteria — a calm, controlled team that’s welcome anywhere.
- Calm, controlled loading and unloading from a vehicle.
- A clean heel through a busy store — no pulling, no sniffing.
- Ignoring dropped food, friendly strangers, and other dogs.
- Settling quietly under a table or at your side.
- Recovering from a dropped leash without a fuss.
We prepare your dog to this standard during training, and our 10-day bootcamp gets you ready to take the Public Access Test together.
Under the ADA there’s no legal certification required to have a service dog — but the PAT is the real-world bar we train every team to clear, because it’s what safe, confident public work actually looks like.
There isn’t a best program
There’s a best one for you.
Premier sits at the fully-guided end of the spectrum. If you want a professional base but plan to finish the training yourself, look at Foundations. If you want to train your own from day one, that’s the Service Dog School.
Compare the Paths
Tap a program to compare.
- Who finds the dog
- We help you find one — or match you with a pre-trained dog already in our program when we have one.
- Who does the training
- We fully train the dog from start to placement. Add bootcamps and support periods afterward if you like.
- Public-access work
- Fully trained by us before placement across the common environments a working team faces. We can't prepare for every situation, but we give the dog a strong base to adapt from.
- Your time investment
- ~100–150 hrs of study, training meetings, and the optional bootcamp/PAT at placement — plus daily practice (30–45 min) after.
- Average timeline
- Typically 12–14 months with a young puppy, less with an older dog.
- Where it happens
- Our home, facility, and the real world. Ideally your dog visits your home at stages (1–4 nights) to build the bond; then, if you add the bootcamp, we come to you for one-on-one work in your home, work, and therapeutic settings.
- Cost range
- Varies — a $46,000 to $50,000 base for the training, plus the dog, its vet care and food, and any bootcamp or add-ons. By consultation and proposal.
- Best for
- Families without the bandwidth or experience to train, who value a customized approach, hands-on assistance, and individualized support.
| Compare the Paths | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Who finds the dog | We help you find one — or match you with a pre-trained dog already in our program when we have one. | We help you find one — a puppy or an older candidate from our breeder network and ISDA partners, temperament-, drive-, and health-tested. | We help you find one — a puppy, an older candidate, a dog you already have, or one from a rescue. |
| Who does the training | We fully train the dog from start to placement. Add bootcamps and support periods afterward if you like. | We build the foundation and basic skills up to the point your budget and experience are comfortable transitioning the dog to you. Private lessons, board-and-train, and bootcamps available à la carte. | Total do-it-yourself — you do the sourcing, training, and care with our curriculum and Mentorship support. À la carte options like private workshop weekends, bootcamps, and public-access testing are available. |
| Public-access work | Fully trained by us before placement across the common environments a working team faces. We can't prepare for every situation, but we give the dog a strong base to adapt from. | We start it — basic environmental exposure and generalizing the base skills to everyday situations, enough to get you started safely and confidently; you expand it in the Service Dog School. | You do all the training and environmental exposure, step by step, with our modules and guidance. |
| Your time investment | ~100–150 hrs of study, training meetings, and the optional bootcamp/PAT at placement — plus daily practice (30–45 min) after. | ~365–500 hrs. | 800–1,500+ hrs — 60–90 minutes a day for 12–18 months. |
| Average timeline | Typically 12–14 months with a young puppy, less with an older dog. | 4–6 months of foundation, then 8–10 months for your finishing. | Your pace — typically 12–18 months, depending on the effort you put in. |
| Where it happens | Our home, facility, and the real world. Ideally your dog visits your home at stages (1–4 nights) to build the bond; then, if you add the bootcamp, we come to you for one-on-one work in your home, work, and therapeutic settings. | Same as Premier, minus the bootcamp — though the transition itself happens in your own home. | Your own home and real public settings wherever you go. The program and support are online unless you add services. |
| Cost range | Varies — a $46,000 to $50,000 base for the training, plus the dog, its vet care and food, and any bootcamp or add-ons. By consultation and proposal. | From $14,000, plus the puppy, travel, vet, and food costs. By consultation. | $699 + tax. Mentorship ($189/mo or $1,800/yr) and à la carte options are add-ons. |
| Best for | Families without the bandwidth or experience to train, who value a customized approach, hands-on assistance, and individualized support. | Hands-on families on a budget who want a professional training base and the support to carry it across the finish line. | Self-directed trainers on a tighter budget, or those with dog-training experience who like learning new skills. |
Let’s talk about the right dog for your family.
A free 20-minute consultation with a real coach — no pressure, no sales pitch, no obligation. We’d rather educate you than sell you.