Wanted to add that I have a thread at the top (or perhaps on the second or third page below) about how Texas A&M Vet school did a study on the criteria for selecting Adult Dogs that would/could be successfully trained most easily. I include the link. It is good to begin your job by first assessing your dog.

The industry of providing service dogs is horribly expensive because the idea is "you start with a puppy that you place with a host family who will raise it to adulthood" and this ends up with MOST (honestly, MOST) of the dogs being winnowed out and rehomed or returned to the host families because the dog is simply not a candidate for the strict obedience training needed or even able to achieve a sufficient level of socialization, based on factors intrinsic to the dog's inborn propensities towards defensiveness, dog domination, human domination, territoriality, and resistance to submitting to training. Energy levels and need for vigorous daily exercise are other factors. Propensity for anxiety disorders and behaviors are others.

Hounds, for instance, as an entire class, are highly resistant to basic training, even house training, tho highly talented in learning what they were bred to do..

Someone who truly needs a service dog who they hope to select for themselves and then train, whether completely on their own or with degrees of professional guidance (and YOU will be need to be trained by the trainer as to how to interact with your dog - any trainer who suggests otherwise or does not have this work with you personally as part of the plan is NOT a good trainer).

I wish all luck... and a companion who can make a more normal life possible.

OneMoreTime