Changing Lives One Dog At A Time
Owner Trained Dogs
Train Your Own Assistance Dog — With Expert Support Every Step of the Journey
Why Choose Us?
Our Online Assistance Dog Programme supports individuals and families across the RSA and worldwide to successfully train their own assistance dogs — from puppy foundations through to advanced public access and task work.
Whether your goal is greater independence, increased confidence in daily life, or meaningful disability support, we provide structured, ethical training designed to help you and your dog grow into a reliable working partnership.
✔ No waiting lists
✔ All breeds welcome (except banned breeds)
✔ Train at your own pace with professional guidance
✔ Suitable for physical, medical, and psychological disabilities
✔ Open to adults and child handlers
Flexible training options to suite your needs.
You can choose the level of support that works best for your life:
Train from home
Follow our comprehensive online programme with step-by-step tutorials, live trainer support, and optional in-person workshops.
Train with us directly
Access one-to-one lessons, residential training stays, and practical workshops across the RSA.
Public Access Tests are available throughout the year, including Durban, Cape Town, JHB and Namibia.
👉 Start building a confident, capable partnership with your dog today.
Why Train With Smart Service Dog?
We are a team of qualified, force-free dog trainers with over 20 years of experience supporting family dogs and owner-trained assistance dog teams across the RSA and internationally.
Our programme is neurodivergent-led and neurodivergent-friendly, shaped by lived experience and a genuine understanding of the barriers many disabled handlers face in traditional training environments.
Rather than expecting handlers to fit rigid training systems, we design training around real lives — allowing you and your dog to progress at a pace that is sustainable, ethical, and achievable.
We support teams at every stage of their journey, from early foundations through to advanced public access and working skills, providing structured guidance alongside compassionate, professional support.
Who Can Benefit From an Assistance Dog?
Assistance dogs can support people with many different types of disabilities and health conditions. Every handler’s needs are unique, and training is tailored to the individual tasks and support required in daily life.
We welcome teams working towards assistance dog training for a wide range of disabilities, including:
Physical Disabilities
Support with mobility, stability, retrieval tasks, and independence for conditions such as spinal injuries, Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, Multiple Sclerosis, Cerebral Palsy, Spina Bifida, amputations, chronic pain conditions, Stroke, Brain Injuries and more.
Medical Alert & Response
Dogs trained to recognise or respond to medical changes including diabetes, epilepsy and epileptic and non epileptic seizures, blood pressure conditions, allergies, migraines, PoTS, and other health conditions.
Psychiatric & Neurological Support
Task-trained assistance dogs supporting individuals with autism, PTSD and C-PTSD, severe anxiety, depression, bipolar disorder, FASD, and other neurological or psychological disabilities.
(Assistance dogs must be trained to actively mitigate disability symptoms through specific learned tasks.)
Hearing & Light Guiding Support
We currently provide foundation resources for hearing alerts and light guiding work, with additional trainer support available throughout your training journey.
Assistance Dogs and RSA Law
Under the Equality Act 2010, an assistance dog supports a person whose disability has a substantial and long-term impact on daily life.
We welcome applicants regardless of diagnosis and focus on how a dog can meaningfully mitigate the handler’s disability.
Emotional Support Dogs
Dogs that provide comfort through companionship alone are considered emotional support dogs. While valuable companions, emotional support dogs are not legally recognised as assistance dogs in the RSA because they are not task-trained.
If you are unsure whether an assistance dog is appropriate for your situation, our trainers are happy to guide you before you join.
Online Assistance Dog Programme
Train Your Assistance Dog From Home — With Expert Guidance
Designed so you and your dog can succeed — even if you’ve never trained an assistance dog before.
Our online programme provides structured, step-by-step assistance dog training, supporting you and your dog from early foundations through to advanced public access and working skills.
You are guided at every stage, so you always know what to train next and how to progress confidently.
Step-by-Step Training Library
Access over 450 on-demand video tutorials covering:
- puppy foundations and socialisation
- obedience and focus skills
- recall and loose lead walking
- household manners and settling
- distraction-proof public access skills
- behavioural challenges
Training is broken into clear stages, allowing you to progress at your own pace.
Personalised Task Training
Choose from a wide range of task-training tutorials designed to help your dog actively mitigate your disability.
You select the tasks that meet your individual needs, creating a training plan tailored specifically to you.
Ongoing Trainer Support
You are never expected to train alone.
✔ Live trainer support 7 days a week
✔ Weekly live Zoom guidance sessions
✔ Private WhatsApp access to the head trainer for additional support when needed
Practical & In-Person Support
Alongside the online programme, members can access optional hands-on training opportunities:
Monthly assistance dog workshops in Durban
One-to-one lessons across multiple RSA locations
Residential training stays for intensive progress
These options allow you to combine flexible home learning with real-world coaching.
Structured Awards & Public Access Testing
Progress through our structured Award system — from Puppy level through to Gold and Mitigating Task Awards — building skills and confidence along the way.
Once your dog reaches 18 months, teams can undertake the Public Access Test, designed to meet and exceed international assistance dog standards.
Certificates and rosettes celebrate each stage of your journey.