Putnam Service Dogs provides free Service Dogs and follow-up support to people with physical
disabilities other than blindness for residents of the United States. We don’t provide PTSD or Emotional Support dogs. Currently, the wait for our Service Dogs is 1-2 years. We need volunteer puppy raisers and fosterers to produce more Service Dogs! Please apply (Located in Applications on Home Page) and ask your friends also. Thanks!
We foster the nurturing bond between humans and dogs, and treat dogs humanely and
respectfully during their raising and training. We expect our recipients, their families, friends, caregivers, etc. to treat our Service Dogs as they would any treasured friend. A lot has gone into creating our Service Dogs. Graduated Service Dogs are a rare, precious gift as not many dogs have the necessary temperament and intelligence.
During our application process, your training period with your dog and our follow-up support, we will ensure the safety and humane treatment of our Service Dogs. Our Service Dogs remain our dogs, even when placed with their recipients. We will be asking you to submit information for us to ensure a Service Dog is appropriate for you, and to assist us in our matching process. We will also be asking you to complete the educational material we send you/read the book(s) and complete the short quizzes in our curriculum, to assist you in better understanding, and handling your future Service Dog. Our Service dogs cost over $25,000 to raise and train, and many hours have been devoted to the socializing and training of the dog. By seeing you fulfill the requirements we ask of you, we will see you’re motivated to be the best friend/handler you can for this very special dog.
We will take our Service Dog back at any sign of neglect or cruelty. We will not allow our Service Dogs to pull wheelchairs, or function as a brace. If you use a wheelchair, or do so while living with our Service Dog, if you can’t propel the wheelchair yourself, we expect you will get a power wheelchair. We expect you will use some method other than our dog to assist you as a brace. These activities can harm our dogs.
We give you the huge gift of one of our Service Dogs and follow-up support services, and we expect you to treat this very special dog with reverence, and knowledge.
Our Service Dogs are individually trained to be matched Mobility Service Dog with their recipient. Their skills can include retrieving dropped items, pushing elevator and automatic door button, tugging open doors and drawers and closing them, turning lights on and off, getting help, assisting in dressing, alerting to sounds – ringing phone, knock on door, etc. They’re not trained to assist people with autism, perform guide work for the blind, to be seizure alert dogs, to respond aggressively or provide personal protection, or to assist with the management of mental illness as a primary condition.
We will begin graduating Service Dogs in 2018. Each dog will be individually trained to perform
tasks to assist a recipient on our waiting list. Please complete the following application so help
us assess your needs. All * must be completed for the form to submit. Applying does not guarantee you will receive a dog.