Service Dog Program Update: What is Transition Training?

By Carolyn Peters and Margery Squier

We have a trained service dog for mobility disabilities or PTSD… now what?

The interviews of individuals who have applied for a service dog begin when the volunteer trainer and program manager agree that the service dog in training is ready (after 18 – 24 months) for their forever partner. We are committed to making a successful match, performing Zoom then in-person interviews plus home and work visits. We require that all household members know and support the pending match. If the team still supports the match, the applicant is asked to complete a full application, including letters of recommendation. If, after all of these, both the potential partner and volunteer trainer are ready to move forward, a transition training plan is set in motion.

Basically, we require at least 60 hours of transition training for the team. Training starts in our training center and moves to the individual’s home, workplace, and public settings. It includes the skills that are specialized so that the dog can assist its forever partner. This is an organic timeline that can typically range between three and six months. Once the partner and dog have completed their team training, they must pass the Public Access Test (PACT) and skills test. The dog moves in with their partner, and we bid farewell? … Not a chance!

We require weekly, then monthly, reports from the partner, a six-month new skill test, and then another PACT at one year. We require our partners to submit annual reports, vet updates, and a follow-up PACT every two years. We can have multiple dogs ready to transition simultaneously or spread out throughout the year. Whew. Thank you, volunteer service dog trainers!

This summer, two of the brothers were ready! Both Mac, trained by Margery Squier, and Sundance, trained by Carol Davis, are now in transition training. We will update you on their progress later this year. In the meantime, enjoy a photo of Mac, Sundance, Whiskey and Wilson taken when they were on a training session in San Diego’s iconic Balboa Park!