SDTI Monthly Newsletter
June 2026 Edition
Get future newsletters in your RSS reader From Service Dog Owner-Trainers to Their Teams: The Resources You've Been Looking For
Whether you're training your own service dog or helping someone who is — this month's content is built for you. Real resources, honest guidance, no fluff. Something for everyone this month — free for owner-trainers, and a deeper dive for professionals in the Library.
Featured Resource This Month
🎓 June Special: SDTI Multimedia Library 100 days for C$15
Try our comprehensive service dog training library for just C$15 for 100 days (less than 15¢/day!)
— then continue at the regular rate of C$11/month (~US$8).
Access everything 24/7 at your own pace, including:
300+ training videos — how-to, theory, and principles
Live monthly Q&A on Zoom (sessions recorded and stored)
Video discussion forum — unedited training videos posted for community learning
Articles, webinars & research covering health, equipment, public access, tasking, and more
Perfect for owners, trainers, and anyone supporting a service dog team. New content added regularly — and your membership helps keep this site ad-free.
Mini Quiz Challenge
When it comes to grooming costs for your service dog, which of the following is true?
A) Grooming is considered a personal pet expense and no discounts or assistance programs exist for service dog handlers.
B) Only certified service dogs from accredited programs qualify for grooming discounts.
C) You must provide official documentation proving your dog is a service animal before any groomer is required to offer a discount.
D) Some groomers offer discounts for service dogs if you ask directly — it is rarely advertised but commonly available for working dogs.
Did You Know?
That all service dog expenses — including food, grooming, veterinary care, and training — qualify as medical deductions under IRS Publication 502. In Canada, the same costs may be claimed under the Medical Expense Tax Credit or the newly expanded Disability Supports Deduction. Keep every receipt from day one.
That Coaches who support owner-trained service dog teams play a unique and vital role that goes beyond teaching training skills. Helping clients understand their legal rights, navigate certification options, locate financial assistance for dog care costs, and prepare documentation for air travel and housing are all part of what makes a great owner-trainer coach — and what sets specialized service dog coaching apart from general dog training.
Featured Resources
Free Blog Post: Can My Emotional Support Dog Become a Service Dog for Housing? What US Renters Need to Know in 2026
If you have an emotional support dog and you rent your home, the legal landscape shifted significantly on May 22, 2026 — and this post breaks down exactly what that means for you and your dog. The short version: HUD has stopped pursuing housing complaints for untrained ESAs, but if your dog performs trained tasks that mitigate your disability, your housing protections are still very much intact — even if your dog never sets foot outside your front door. This post walks you through what actually changed and what didn’t, why home-only service dog work is fully legitimate, how to tell the difference between a natural behavior and a trained task, and how to honestly assess whether your dog is a good candidate for this transition. It also covers how to approach your landlord, what an accommodation letter should say, and how to handle the impostor syndrome that almost every handler with an invisible disability experiences at some point. If you’re feeling uncertain about where you stand right now, this is the post to read first.
👉 Read the full post in the library.
Free Blog Post: Resources for Owner-Trainers: Everything You Need to Train Your Own Service Dog
Owner-training a service dog is absolutely achievable — but knowing where to turn for support makes all the difference. This resource guide brings everything together in one place, so you’re not spending hours tracking down information that should be easy to find.
Inside, you’ll find a breakdown of your legal rights as an owner-trainer in both the US and Canada, a clear-eyed look at certification options that actually carry weight (including the exciting new ADI-accredited pathway through Atlas Assistance Dogs), and honest guidance on what to watch out for — including the fake registries that are often the first thing people find online.
We also cover the practical and financial side of dog ownership that doesn’t get talked about enough: where to find help with food, vet bills, grooming, and transportation, how to access service dog discounts that are rarely advertised, and what you need to know about tax deductions in both countries.
Whether you’re just starting out or well into your training journey, this guide has something for you.
Paid Blog Post: Resources for Trainers Supporting Owner-Trained Service Dog Teams
If you work with clients who are owner-training service dogs — or you’re thinking about expanding into that space — this resource guide is for you.
We’ve pulled together everything you need in one place: how to navigate the legal landscape in both the US and Canada, which certification pathways are actually worth guiding your clients toward (and which to avoid), and how to help clients access financial support for vet care, food, grooming, and transportation when the costs of dog ownership become a barrier.
We also cover the practical stuff that often gets overlooked — finding training spaces, locating training helpers, and why keeping a training log matters more than most people realize.
Whether you’re new to this work or deepening an existing specialty, this guide will help you show up as a more informed, more connected member of your client’s support team.
👉 Subscript to our Library to read the full resource guide.
Video: Train a Anxiety Alert for Service Dogs - Interrupt Self-Harm #PTSD Task
Learn how to teach an anxiety alert task by training an alert behavior, adding a verbal cue, and then linking it to an anxiety-related behavior. This video demonstrates shaping, cue transfer, and proofing so your dog can reliably alert you in a variety of situations and environments.
Training Tips
Start Your Training Log on Day One
Don’t wait until you feel like you’re making progress to start documenting. Notes from the earliest sessions — including struggles and setbacks — paint the full picture of your dog’s development and are valuable supporting evidence if your access rights are ever questioned. Date every entry and note location, duration, and what you worked on.
Volunteer Helpers Do Not Need Dog Training Experience
When recruiting a training assistant through a volunteer platform or neighborhood group, don’t screen for dog knowledge. What you need is someone willing to follow simple instructions — walk past you in a store, knock on a door, or sit nearby and ignore the dog. Neutral, non-reactive humans are exactly what public access training calls for.
Find a Training Yard Through Your Neighborhood Social Media
If you live in an apartment or condo without yard access, finding a safe fenced space to train doesn’t have to be expensive or complicated. Post a friendly request on the Nextdoor app or a local neighborhood Facebook Group explaining that you are training a service dog and are looking to borrow a fenced yard occasionally. Most people are happy to help when they understand what you are working toward, and you may even gain a built-in training helper in the process.
Events This Month
FREE QA Chat
Topic: Research Success rate in Owner-Trained Service Dogs
Date: Saturday, June 13, 2026
Time: 1:00 PM PDT (Pacific/Vancouver) | (UTC-7)
Your Local Time: Click here to see this in your time zone
Join us for a hands on sharing of what research we have found and can find while we are in the Zoom session. Bring your questions, share your experiences. Meet the community!
The QA Chat will be recorded and added to the library so if you cannot attend, it will be available. At just CA$11 per month (~US$8.10), it’s a great way to support us. Sign up for a day, get access for the month. Cancel anytime!