this slipped off the first page and I over looked that anyone responded.

I am at work, responding on iPhone - typing not easy-!

I have been checking into this. I joined a few Yahoo service dog training groups. One seems active but a couple don't have many posts.

Certification, from what I can tell so far, varies by state.

And- it seems that all care, upkeep, costs may be tax deductable for service dogs. Still checking on that.

If you don't think you can handle a puppy, google petfinder for your area, and look for shelters that do cell dog programs. I searched Ohio Correctional Facility Cell Dog and found a list of shelters that do this in Ohio. It even listed several service dog organiztions that pull dogs from, or train dogs through cell dog programs.

I found it really interesting to search YouTube for assistance dogs or service dog training with the word "clicker" It seems most are trains by a possitive training method called "Clicker! Training"

I will try to put some of the links up here when I get home and can copy and paste.