Service Dog Trainer Mentorship – Spaces Available

Sharon Wachsler is opening her online service dog mentorship program to experienced dog pros. Learn from a credentialed, R+ professional who has been owner-training service dogs since 1998.

Being a service dog trainer can be complex… and rewarding! 

Are you a working dog pro who wants increased clarity about which service dog cases are right for you? Do you want to increase your confidence in training tasks and public access?

The At Your Service Dog Trainer mentorship will help you…

• Graduate fully trained service dog teams
• Structure your business for joy, resiliency, and financial sustainability
• Avoid frustration and unproductive effort with inappropriate cases
• Give your clients the gift of a safer, healthier, better life, while training humanely

Working with an expert in owner-training service dogs, join a small, supportive cohort of like-minded trainers who want to see you excel. Learn how to

• Communicate well with clients — even when facing complex, challenging, and emotionally charged topics
• Select the right clients for you and your business
• Train common tasks quickly and efficiently
• Guide clients to find and select the right dog

How Does the Mentorship Work?

The mentorship consists of group learning and discussion, recommended reading and viewing, feedback on your training and business questions, observation of client appointments (classes, lessons, and consultations), and access to all of At Your Service Dog Training’s written and video material. The cost is $200 per month.

Because each mentee is a busy person who is already working as a pro trainer and has a unique set of experiences, goals, and interests, the mentorship includes a great deal of choice and individualization. We recognize that not every trainer can (or should!) try to make use of every available piece of material. It would take you too long, and it would be a waste of time to repeat material that you’re already fluent in.

Instead, we make a great deal of material available to all mentees, then provide individual guidance on which material each mentee should focus on, as well as providing group learning opportunities that coach on many aspects of a single topic.

The program consists of:

• Weekly meetings with your mentor and fellow trainer-mentees. Each meeting focuses on a module relevant to your cohort. Modules typically span several weeks of material. Module topics have included alert task training, service dog laws, pre-adoption consultations, intake forms and paperwork, assessing and selecting candidate dogs, how to communicate effectively about difficult clients, marketing, client screening, shaping, improving instruction and coaching, rate setting, and more. Material may be hands-on (training a dog in the meeting for feedback and support, reviewing and discussing a mentee’s submitted dog training video, role plays of discussions with clients, or presentation with Q&A).
• Access to dozens of recordings each month of recent lessons, classes, and consultations with service dog clients. Each recording is tagged with the names of the trainers who are most likely to benefit from watching that particular recording.
• Drop-in office hours several times a month. Ask questions about anything to do with dog training, service dogs, or your business. Mentees often like to bring their current cases to office hours to get help when they’re stumped, get help with the business side of service dog training, or follow up with additional questions from meetings or observed lessons.
• One-on-one meetings with your mentor to go over your individual goals. Because the program is small and meetings are participatory, your mentor will really get to know you. She’ll learn your current strengths, interests, challenges, and goals. Because you don’t have time to watch every lesson recording or video, read every tip sheet or service dog book, or do every training assignment, your mentor will recommend an area of focus for the next couple of months that will help you move forward with what matters the most to you in your career and learning journey.
• Access to all the materials and inner workings of a long-term, successful service dog business — our Client Portal with hundreds of training tip sheets and videos; membership in our private client discussion groups; discounts on all classes and consultations; free access to webinars on pre-adoption consulting, client communication, service dog laws and terms, service dog training 101, conditioned cues for service dog tasks, operant and classical conditioning in service dog training.
• Access to mentorship-only material. A curricula of background dog trainer material is available on multiple modules, including reading, viewing, written and practice homework. Topics include learning theory, ethology and dog body language, instructing and client communication, and the relationship between dogs and their guardians. Depending on your interests and experience, you may choose to follow any or none of these modules, based on what makes sense for you and your professional development.

This is a great time to join our mentorship cohort if…

• You have graduated from a service dog trainer course, but you want guidance and community as you enter the field and take clients.
• You are considering entering the field of service dog training, but you’re not sure if it’s the right fit for you and your business.
• You are working with service dog clients now, but you have a lot of questions.
• You have a passion for service dog training and tried working with service dog clients in the past, but it did not go well.

We are At Your Service. Let an expert help you, your business, your clients, and their dogs succeed.

I’ve gained a deeper understanding of dog behavior and the ins and outs on how to approach client questions and solve dog behavior problems. The mentorship is both easy-going and jam-packed, which allows me to truly go at my own pace. I like the organization of the materials and the opportunity to connect with Sharon and other mentees. Even though we are doing it via Zoom, it feels like we are all in class together. There’s a lot of support, exploration, fun, and insight. – Dasha Morrison

FAQs

How many trainers are in the mentorship program?

The cohorts are typically limited to five trainers. Keeping it small provides several important benefits:

• Mentee trainers enjoy a lot of individual attention from their mentor
• Material can be tailored to the needs and current learning objectives of those in the group
• Mentees get to know each other well, creating a small, close-knit, and supportive group

The mentorship has been full since June 2025. New applicants have been added to a waitlist. However, we want to enable more trainers to get started sooner. As of August 2025, we are now taking applications to start a second cohort in September 2025. Contact us to apply for the new cohort!

What is included in the cost? How does payment work?

The mentorship is $200 per month. It is a membership program, so as long as you’re involved, you have access to everything in the program — meetings, office hours, all of our homework sheets and videos, recordings of lessons and consultations, etc.

Typically, we set up automatic credit card billing, once a month. When the trainer is ready to leave the program, or if they will be on vacation for a month, we can suspend billing until they return. On occasion, trainers have requested to have payments divided into twice a month. Just let us know. We will do our best to accommodate you.

Is there financial aid?

The Dasha Morrison scholarship is available for a trainer from an underrepresented minority community. Dasha was a member of the mentorship program from June 2021 until her untimely death in February of 2023. The scholarship is named in her honor. Contact us to apply.

Is there a set curriculum?

There is no set curriculum for all mentees. Each trainer enters with different experience, knowledge, and areas for growth. The mentorship is designed to move each trainer forward on their personal path. There is an enormous amount of material available, but nobody has time to do everything. The mentorship prefers to maximize efficiency by having each mentee focus on areas most relevant to their career development.

Is the mentorship online or in-person?

The mentorship is designed for online participation. Most trainers participate entirely online, as the meetings are held on Zoom and most of the lessons and classes are online (and recorded). However, we sometimes have in-person meetings or events, and if you are in or able to travel to Massachusetts, you are also welcome to participate in person, too.

How long does it take to complete the program?

How long you will benefit from participating in the mentorship will depend on your goals and starting point. 

The mentorship is geared toward flexibility, enabling you to focus on the areas that matter most to you. Some trainers spend two years in the mentorship, come to all the meetings, but not do any of the reading or written homework. Others complete all the written and practical assignments in six months and are launching or modifying their businesses immediately after. Because everybody has their own starting point, how long they need to stay in the mentorship to feel ready to “go it alone” will vary.

With these caveats, how long should you plan to stay in the mentorship to be able to leave with the confidence to work with a range of service dog clients, with a business that is emotionally and financially sustainable?

• If you’re relatively new to pet training (1-2 years as a pro trainer)n, with o experience with service dog training, budget 10-14 months.
• If you have several years’ experience in pet dog training, but are new to service dog training (just a handful of service dog cases, or none), plan for 8-12 months.
• If you have some service dog training background, but are looking for additional support and guidance, plan for 3-6 months.

Is this program different from the mentorship course described on your website?

The structure of the course is the same. But we currently have a cohort of experienced pro trainers who are interested in developing their service dog expertise, so current openings are limited to those who are already working professionally as dog trainers and have a specific interest in service dog training.

How can I apply?

• Fill out our application. (Contact us; we’ll email it to you.)
• Fill out a contract (mentorship agreement — or if you have questions about the agreement, discuss it with your mentor when you meet for the interview).
• Set up a time to meet to get answers to all your questions about the mentorship.

Who else is in the mentorship?

The other trainers typically include both newer trainers (a year or two in the field) as well as those who have been training for over twenty years. Some already have service dog experience, others do not. What all the trainers have in common is that they are already working as R+ pet trainers, and they have a passion for working with disabled people or their families to train their own service dog. I always find that my mentees are amazingly kind, intelligent, and creative people with a thirst for knowledge! This is a video of one of my mentee’s experience with the mentorship.

Is there more information about the mentorship? 

Read about the mentoring I’ve done in the past with aspiring and working pet trainers. See Palestina’s video about her experience in the mentorship.

Space is limited. Ready to bring more joy and confidence to service dog training? Contact us to meet your mentor.

“When I interned with Sharon, I was able to observe the layers of knowledge and skills she brought to both human and canine client. She helped people to clarify their expectations of their dog and then helped them to create attainable goals which sustained and then enriched their relationship with the dog they lived with. I learned so much about training, of course — but also about teaching people! She leaves room for people to decide what training they do or don’t want to accept without judging them. Sharon’s dedication to evidence-based, positive training, coupled with her understanding of the canine/human relationship has without a doubt enhanced the quality of life for both many, many times.”  – Lucy Leete