Personalized Service Dog Training

Ravens Ridge trainer has 35 years experience in dog training in a variety of disciplines. Both performance and confirmation, CKC (Canadian Kennel Club) lifetime member and preservation breeder.  We provide positive reinforcement training for service dogs, autism support, hearing alert, medical alert, and mobility assistance dogs. Programs are tailored for owner-trainers and include weekly private lessons, public access skills, and disability-specific task training. 

Service animals in Canada can be owner trained, trained with the support of a trainer, trained by a service dog trainer, be supplied by a non-profit program, or bought from a for-profit program.

There is no national/federal standard/certification for service animals in Canada.

Each province/territory has their own service animal laws (or lack thereof).

Three provinces (BC, Alberta, Nova Scotia) offer voluntary certification after the team passes a public access test.

A doctor’s note stating the need for a service animal to mitigate a disability is a requirement in most provinces/territories.

A service animal needs to be trained with tasks (except in Ontario, where no tasks are required).

Emotional support animals are not protected by law in Canada and do not carry the same qualifications and are classified seperately.

Commercial transportation/carriers such as airlines, trains and buses, which follow Canadian Transportation Agency (CTA) regulations, may require written proof of training (for example a service dog ID, certificate from a service dog organization, or letter of training confirmation from a professional service dog trainer). This can provide barriers to owner trained dogs without professional service dog trainer’s guidance as well as to service dogs in training. Legally airlines do not have to accept service dogs in training, but are required to permit service dogs that have completed training requirements as per provincial guidelines.