Application Instructions

Step 1: Complete our online Inquiry Form.

If we want more information after the inquiry, we will email you an application and medical form. Please note the waiver must be printed and signed by hand for the application to be complete. Facility Dogs will be asked to submit a policy on how the dog will be used in the setting. PGI will respond within four weeks, letting you know your inquiry has been received.

Step 2: Once all your material is received, our team will review your application.  We ask your material be returned within four weeks of receiving it. We may contact you, or you may receive a letter containing additional information needed for your application. PGI will run a veterinary check on all other animals in your home and call personal references listed on the application. Annual update forms are sent to applicants as needed. These forms must be completed and returned for PGI to keep your application on file.

Step 3: If your application has completed the above steps, and we feel one of our dogs may be a good match for you, PGI will contact the applicant to schedule a telephone interview. After the telephone interview, an in-person home visit will be completed by a PGI staff member. This may be done by zoom (COVID).

Step 4: After the home visit, your information will be presented to the Board of Directors, and a decision will be made on if we feel our dogs are a good match for you.

***THIS IS WHEN YOUR APPLICATION IS OFFICIALLY APPROVED (PENDING YOUR COMPLETION OF TRAINING), AND YOU ARE ON THE WAIT LIST TO START THE MATCHING PROCESS FOR A DOG. WE ARE UNABLE TO PROVIDE A TIME FRAME TO START TRAINING UNTIL YOU HAVE REACHED THIS STEP.

Step 5: If an applicant is accepted to move forward in the application process, he or she will be added to the waiting list to begin working towards their required 25 training hours in Peoria, IL.

Step 6: The applicant will be contacted to attend training classes for 25 hours, complete an animal care workshop, and complete at least three successful home passes with a potential service dog match. They will have a 6-month follow-up and annual re-certification tests.

Step 7: The service dog is placed in the recipient’s home.

Step 8: Continued training is required for the service dog’s life.

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Please review our working dog alumni form:

https://givingindependence.org/pgi-alumni-working-dog-form/

*PGI reserves the right to add or remove steps from this process at any time. It is the right for the applicant/client to leave the process at any time for any reason.

*Paws Giving Independence accepts service dog applications for children 10 years and older and facilitated service dog applications for children 6 years and older.

PAWS GIVING INDEPENDENCE RESERVES THE RIGHT TO DENY SERVICE TO AN APPLICANT FOR ANY REASON, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, FAILURE TO MEET THE ESTABLISHED CRITERIA FOR RECEIVING A SERVICE DOG OR LACK OF MATCH BETWEEN THE DOGS’ SKILLS AND DISABILITY OF THE APPLICANT. PGI ALSO RESERVES THE RIGHT TO REMOVE A PROGRAM SERVICE DOG FROM A HOME AT ANY TIME FOR MISTREATMENT/NEGLECT, FAILURE TO CONTINUE TRAINING OR AN INAPPROPRIATE MATCH.