Contact Our Sacramento Team
Two Forms, and They Do Different Jobs
Two things come through this page, and they need different forms. A question — about the programs, about whether a service dog is even the right answer, about what the training looks like — belongs in the contact form below. An actual request to be matched with a dog belongs in the application, which asks for the medical and household detail we can’t work without. Sending the second through the first just means we write back asking you to start again.
Quick Takeaways
- Got a question? Use the contact form on this page.
- Want a dog? Use the application instead. The contact form can’t collect what we need.
- Where we are: Sacramento, California. The dogs train across the greater Sacramento area.
- Before you write: Watch a few training clips first. They answer most of the questions we get about method.
- What we won’t do: Tell you a dog is right for you when it isn’t.
Use the Contact Form to Ask Us Something
Anything you’re weighing up, send it here.
People ask whether their diagnosis qualifies, whether a child can be a handler, what separates a service dog from a therapy dog, and whether a dog would even help in their situation. All fair. All better answered before anyone fills in a long form.
Talking someone out of a dog they don’t need is a good outcome, not a lost sale. A wrong placement costs a family years and a great deal of money, and it costs the dog a home.
Use the Application if You Want to Be Matched
The application asks for things a contact form never would.
Your medical diagnoses from a physician. Your history with dogs, and the ages, breeds and temperaments of any dogs already in the house. Who else in the household will help care for the animal. Which specific tasks you need — deep pressure, behavior interruption, anxiety alerts, buffering in crowds, travel to work or school. And then, in your own words, your story.
That last box is the one we read most carefully. Take your time with it.
Do This Before You Write to Us
One suggestion, and it’s the one that saves everybody time.
Go and watch a dog being trained. The links are at the bottom of every page on this site. Pick any session — a settle, a task, a bit of public access work — and most of what people write in to ask about method answers itself in a few minutes. Then send us the part that didn’t.
Pick the unglamorous clips, not the highlights. A dog getting something wrong and being shown it again, patiently, tells you far more about how a trainer works than a finished dog performing a task it mastered two years ago.
If You're Earlier in the Process Than That
Some people writing to us have never lived with a dog at all, let alone a working one.
That’s not a problem, but it does change the conversation. A service dog is still a dog — it needs feeding, exercise, veterinary care and a household that agrees on the rules. Getting straight about that before you apply is worth more than any question about training.
The ongoing costs are the part people forget. Food, vet visits, flea and tick cover, grooming, replacement gear when a harness wears out — none of that stops because the dog has a job, and the job itself puts more miles on the animal than a pet ever gets.
Veterans ask about VA help with this, so here’s the straight version. The VA’s Service Dog Veterinary Health Insurance Benefit is real, but narrow: under 38 CFR 17.148 it covers veterans prescribed a dog for a visual, hearing or substantial mobility impairment, and VA does not provide the dog itself. Talk to your VA team before you build a budget around it.
What Happens Next
Everything that comes in gets read. If a placement looks plausible, the conversation goes deeper — your days, your household, the tasks that would actually change something, and who in the family is going to be holding the leash on a bad Tuesday.
If it doesn’t look plausible, you’ll be told so. The application puts it bluntly: we will never lie to you. That cuts both ways, and it includes hearing no.
We train people and dogs to love to work together
Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Training with YES located?
Sacramento, California. The dogs are trained across the greater Sacramento area, so the contact form is the right first step.
Should I use the contact form or the application?
The contact form for questions, the application if you want to be matched with a dog. The application collects medical and household information the contact form doesn’t ask for.
How long is the service dog application?
Long. It covers diagnoses, household, dog experience, the tasks you need, and an open question about your situation. Set aside proper time for it rather than rushing it in a browser tab.
Can I ask a question before applying?
Please do. Most people should. A short exchange up front often saves a wasted application, and occasionally saves someone a great deal of money on the wrong kind of dog.
What if a service dog isn't the right answer for me?
Then we’ll say so. Some situations are better served by a therapy dog, by a well-raised companion dog, or by nothing with four legs at all. That conversation costs you one message and it’s worth having early.
Get in Touch
Questions go in the form on this page. If you already know you want a dog, go straight to the application instead.
Training with YES · Sacramento, California · trainingwithyes.com