Certified Emotional Support Dog Training

Session 1 - The Definition Of Emotional Support Dogs

Emotional support animals (ESA) provide comfort and assistance to individuals with disabilities. Unlike service animals, emotional support animals do not require special training. ESAs received individual training in basic obedience to ensure they behave properly in public. The Emotional Support Dog Training Course provides a guide to training an emotional support dog to qualify and behave properly in public settings and comes with an ESA Certificate. This introductory chapter covers the following topics:

-The definition of an Emotional Support Animal

-Afforded rights to ESA users

-How to get an ESA letter

-ESA-related federal laws

Session 2 - Understand Your Dog

Different dog types have different abilities and different limitations. The tasks your future emotional support dog is going to learn and take should also build on his own abilities and limitations. Prior to applying training, you must consider the age of the dog. A young puppy and an old dog demand different types of treatment in teaching. This lesson will cover the following topics: 

-Which group does your future emotional support dog belong to? 

-Common dog postures, facial expression and sound 

-Dog communication (Tone, Emotion, Attitude, and Movement) 

-Our most important skill: Consistency. 

-Training examples

Session 3 - How A Dog Learns

This lesson on learning theory for emotional support dog training will cover the different types of behavior and learning, including how dogs perceive "safe" and "unsafe" situations. Understanding these concepts will help trainers develop consistent, effective teaching strategies that incorporate kindness and communication. Learning types will also be discussed, shedding light on why different training styles may work even if they are unkind. This lesson will cover the following topics:

-How A Dog Learns

-Stimulus Control (Primary and Secondary Stimuli)

-Inductive and Conducive Training

-Reinforcement and Punishment

-Why is reinforcement important?

-Praising and Rewards

-Required equipment

Session 4 - General Care For Your Dog

The lesson discusses the importance of vaccinating Emotional Support Dogs and providing routine veterinary care for their general health. It provides information on the difference between "core" and "non-core" vaccines and how to determine which vaccines are necessary based on a dog's lifestyle. The lesson also covers the importance of routine veterinary care for puppies and adult dogs, including physical examinations, parasite tests, and blood work. In addition, it advises dog owners on proper feeding.

Session 5  - Bond With Your Emotional Support Dogs

While love is the reason a dog snuggles up to his handler at the end of the day, their bond is what keeps them from taking off out the front door without a second glance. The bond you share with a dog is a big part of why they trust you. A strong bond is your ticket to stress-free adventures together. This lesson will cover the following topics:

-Giving your dog a massage

-Playing with your ESA

-Training an ESA

-How should you pick up mini and small dogs?

-How should you pick up mid-sized and large dogs?

Session 6 - Basic Obedience Training

This lesson offers tips on training Emotional Support Dogs, focusing on the first five skills that all dogs should learn regardless of their specialty. The lesson explains the importance of teaching a dog its name and suggests a simple exercise to achieve this. Additionally, it emphasizes the significance of tether training, which helps the dog learn to settle down quietly and focus on itself for long periods. The lesson then provides advice on teaching the “sit” command and emphasizes the importance of repetition and persistence in dog training. The lesson concludes with an emphasis on positive reinforcement and patience while training Emotional Support Dogs.

Session 7 - Eliminate Bad Behaviors

The lesson provides tips to control dog barking. It highlights the various types of barking and how they can be addressed, such as evaluating the situation, defining and training an alternative behavior, removing the reinforcement for unwanted barking, managing the environment, and teaching the dog to stop barking. The lesson suggests that dogs' barking behavior is not always a problem, as barking is a way for dogs to communicate their needs, but excessive barking can be addressed through rewarding and praising techniques. The lesson includes tips on how to deal with dogs jumping on people, digging in your back yard and urine marking.

Session 8 - Emotional Training

This lesson explains how to train your dog to recognize and respond to your anxiety, depression, and other psychiatric issues. The two methods explained by the expert trainers are: 1) Association with Anxiety and 2) Alerting to Dissociative States. The first method trains your dog to recognize your symptoms and alert you to the fact that you are having an anxiety attack or other issues. To do this, you must teach your dog a specific behavior, reward it, and train them to offer it during episodes. The second method helps you train your dog to detect dissociative states and to interrupt negative behaviors associated with them. To achieve this, you must train your dog to recognize the symptoms of your dissociation and provide a task or sensory input to interrupt negative behaviors. Overall, this lesson provides practical guidance on how to train your dog to use nose nudging, give you kisses and jump on your bed to disrupt your emotional overload.

Session 9 - Behavior In A Public Setting

This lesson discusses the importance of socializing dogs and how it is best done. Socialization is done by exposing dogs to various people, objects, and environments to create positive experiences. Socialization is important for puppies to feel comfortable around humans, buildings, noises, sights, and smells. The best time to socialize a dog is from 3 weeks to 18 weeks of age when it is easier for them to accept new experiences. The wider the variety of experiences, the better a dog's chances of adapting well to different conditions. The lesson also focuses on acclimating dogs to moving objects, which are sensitive topics that can provoke reactive behavior. The lesson ends by detailing how to distract train dogs with moving objects and positively socialize them to respond to commands, among other techniques.

Session 10 - Final

This lesson provides tips for training your Emotional Support Dog to do tricks, including giving a high five, shaking paws, and playing dead. Each trick is broken down into simple steps and involves positive reinforcement techniques such as treats and praise. Our tutors emphasize the importance of patience and consistency in training your dog. Additionally, the lesson briefly discusses the benefits of emotional support dogs for people struggling with anxiety or depression. Overall, this is a training guide for dog owners looking to improve their relationship with their furry friends and have fun in the process.

Assessment Method

At the end of each training session, our tutor team will conduct an online evaluation of your training progress. You will be asked to complete a quiz and submit photos and videos of your dog performing specific tasks and exhibiting proper public behaviors. This method of continual assessment ensures that your personal trainer can consistently monitor your training progress, provide you with assistance throughout the course, and prepare you for final certification and public testing.

What's Included

All study materials

⊛ 10 lessons

⊛ 10 videos

⊛ 10 exams

⊛ 9hrs time to complete

⊛ Certificate upon completion

Study and Training Guide

Full Tutor and Admin support

The course fee includes the printable service dog certificate. The digital copy will be sent within 24 hours upon successful course completion.

On successful completion of this emotional support dog training course, you will

be in possession of a very well-behaved emotional dog and your dog partner will be certified as an Emotional Support Dog with all the training records and a registered Emotional Support Dog ID by SERVICEDOG TRAINING SCHOOL INTERNATIONAL.

To view a sample of the award, please click here.

What Does It Mean To Be Certified?

It means your dog has been trained to perform the work or tasks as an emotional support dog.

There is no requirement in registering an ESD under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Registration, though, helps in dealing with airlines and landlords. There is also a custom-animal handler ID card or certificate for this purpose. Even though not required, some building owners and their staff are trained to ask for this card or certificate.

Please note that:

ESAs legally must be prescribed by a licensed mental health professional like a therapist, psychologist, or psychiatrist.

Since January 11, 2021, The U.S. DOT (U.S. Department of Transportation Air Transportation) changed the rules governing service animals on planes. Airlines would no longer be required to accept emotional support animals. So far, United, American, and Delta Join Alaska have already been banning Emotional Support Animals. Now, when traveling with a support dog or a therapy animal, standard pet-related regulations and restrictions will apply.

Your emotional support animal does not have automatic access to every place a service dog may go. It is best to ask establishments such as restaurants, shops, or malls whether they are allowed, or an exception can be made, but you can think about transforming your emotional support dog to psychiatric service dog, for more details please see the Certified Intensive Psychiatric Service Dog Training Course.