Frequently asked questions

To be considered, you must have a documented disability that a trained dog can meaningfully assist with through specific task work — for example mobility support, balance and retrieval, medical alert, or psychiatric tasks for PTSD and anxiety. We ask every applicant to complete our application so we can understand the daily challenges you face, your living situation, your household and other pets, and the level of physical and financial ability you have to care for a dog long term. From there our team follows up with a conversation and, when appropriate, an in-person evaluation. Not every applicant is approved, and that is by design: placing a highly trained dog into a home where the match is not right helps no one. We look for a genuine, task-based need, a stable and safe home for the dog, and a person who is ready to work as a team with their dog every day.

Nothing. Every service dog placed by The American Service Dog Foundation is provided completely free of charge to the recipient. Professionally trained service dogs typically cost $20,000 to $50,000 to produce, and most families simply cannot absorb that. Donations and community fundraising cover the full cost of temperament testing, veterinary care, months of professional training with our training partners, equipment, and the handler instruction that happens before and after placement. What remains the recipient's responsibility is ordinary dog ownership: food, routine veterinary care, and the daily practice that keeps a working dog sharp. We help recipients plan for those costs before placement day so there are no surprises.

Our dogs are individually trained for the person they will serve, so the task list looks different in every placement. We regularly train dogs for mobility and balance support, retrieving dropped or out-of-reach items, opening doors and pressing accessibility buttons, and bracing and counterbalance work for people who use wheelchairs, walkers, or canes. We also place psychiatric service dogs for veterans and civilians living with PTSD, panic disorder, and severe anxiety, with tasks such as deep pressure therapy, grounding during an episode, interrupting nightmares or repetitive behaviors, and creating physical space in crowded environments. Under the Americans with Disabilities Act, it is that individually trained task work — not a vest, an ID card, or an online registry — that makes a dog a service dog, and that is exactly what our training focuses on.

Dogs enter our program along two paths. The first is Ohio animal shelters and rescue partners, who alert us when a dog stands out: calm under pressure, motivated by food or toys, curious about people, and unbothered by noise, wheelchairs, and busy environments. Giving a shelter dog a purpose and a person is a double impact — a dog is saved and a life is changed. The second path is owner-donated dogs. Sometimes a person already has a dog with the right temperament, and when that dog passes our evaluations we train it and donate the training. Every candidate dog, no matter the source, is temperament-tested and health-screened by professionals before we commit. Dogs who are not suited to service work are never pushed forward; they are supported into loving pet homes.

Every placement is different, so we avoid promising a fixed timeline. In general, a dog moves through candidate evaluation, a full veterinary work-up, foundation obedience and public-access manners, and then months of task-specific training built around the future handler's disability. That work is done by professional trainers and is followed by handler instruction, where the recipient learns to cue, reinforce, and care for their dog as a team. Depending on the dog, the complexity of the tasks, and the recipient's situation, that process commonly spans many months. Some recipients are matched with a dog already progressing through our program; others have a personal dog evaluated and trained. We move forward only when the dog is genuinely ready and the match is right.

The fastest way is through our secure online donation page, where you can give one time or set up a monthly gift. Monthly giving is the single most valuable support we receive because training runs for months and predictable income lets us commit to a dog with confidence. You can choose a suggested amount or enter your own, and every tier is tied to a concrete part of the process — veterinary care, equipment, a block of professional training hours, or a share of a full placement. We also welcome employer matching gifts, which can double your impact at no additional cost to you; check with your employer's giving program and list The American Service Dog Foundation as the recipient. If you would prefer to give by check, sponsor a dog, or discuss a larger gift, contact us directly and we will help.

Yes. The American Service Dog Foundation is a registered 501(c)(3) tax-exempt nonprofit organization, EIN 86-2962306. Donations are tax-deductible to the fullest extent allowed by law, and you will receive an emailed receipt for your records immediately after your gift is processed. Monthly donors receive a receipt for each contribution. Online donations are processed through a PCI-compliant payment processor, so your card details never touch our servers. If you need a year-end giving summary, an acknowledgment letter for a matching-gift program, or documentation for a donor-advised fund or foundation grant, email us at info@theamericanservicedogfoundation.org and we will send it.

Volunteers make this program possible. We need puppy raisers and foster homes who can give a dog in training a stable place to live, practice house manners, and get safe exposure to everyday life — sidewalks, stores, traffic, and crowds. We also need help at fundraising events like our annual Howl-o-ween Paws for a Cause 5K, plus support with photography, social media, grant research, and community outreach across Central Ohio. Fostering does not require prior training experience; our team provides guidance, and training itself is handled by professionals. If you would like to help, reach out through our contact page and tell us a little about your household, your schedule, and the kind of help you would enjoy, and we will find a fit.

We are based in Columbus, Ohio, and our shelter partnerships, trainers, and volunteers are concentrated in Central Ohio, so the majority of our placements are with Ohio residents. Proximity matters: handler instruction, follow-up sessions, and ongoing support work best when we can be in the room. If you live outside Ohio, you are welcome to apply — we review every application — but please understand that travel and follow-up logistics factor into whether a match is workable. If we are not the right organization for your situation, we will tell you honestly and point you toward reputable programs closer to home.

We love sharing this work, but dogs in active training need consistency and limited distraction, so we do not host drop-in visits. The best way to meet our team and see dogs in public-access practice is at community events and fundraisers, which we announce on our Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn pages and in our email newsletter. Sponsors, corporate partners, and prospective foster families can arrange time with our team directly — contact us and we will set something up.