How to Certify My Dog As a Service in Colorado

- Dogs must be at least 12 months old.

- Must have a stable temperament and be well-behaved in public.

- Must be trained to perform at least one task that mitigates the effects of your disability.

- Colorado only recognizes Service Dogs and Psychiatric Service Dogs.

2. Train your dog.

- Obedience training is the foundation for service dog training.

- Once you have completed basic training, you can begin training your dog to perform service-specific tasks.

- You can train your dog yourself, or you can hire a professional dog trainer to help you.

3. Pass a public access test.

- Once your dog is fully trained, you must pass a public access test to receive certification.

- The public access test evaluates your dog's ability to behave appropriately in public.

- The test is administered by a certified public access test evaluator.

4. Obtain certification.

- After you pass the public access test, you will receive a certification from the testing organization.

- The certification is valid for one year.

- You must renew the certification annually by passing a public access test.

Additional information:

- Colorado recognizes out-of-state Service Dog certifications.

- There are no laws that require Service Dogs to be registered.

- Businesses are required to allow Service Dogs to accompany their handlers in all areas open to the public.