Expanding Our Services: Now Offering 24/7 Service Dog Support

The Sharp K9 is proud to announce the expansion of our service dog program to include 24/7 emergency support for service dog handlers. This new service addresses a critical gap in care when handlers face medical emergencies, hospitalization, or other crisis situations that prevent them from caring for their service dogs.

Why This Service Matters

Service dog handlers face a unique challenge that typical pet owners do not. If a medical emergency sends you to the hospital, who will care for your highly trained service dog? Standard boarding facilities do not understand service dog needs and often ignore specific requests. They will quickly instill bad habits in your service dog since they don’t understand how to approach handling a service dog as opposed to a pet dog. Family members often lack the expertise to properly care for a working dog, and take the liberty to change your dog’s routine for their convenience. This leaves handlers in an impossible position worrying about their dog when they should be focusing on their own health.

What Our 24/7 Support Includes

When you contact us about an emergency, we can typically retrieve your dog within hours. Once in our care, your service dog will be taken out of the medical facility to go for a solitary walk. We will ensure that no strangers pet or interact with your dog to maintain their good public access habits. We will travel with your dog to your residence to feed your service dog if you don’t have dog food with you. If you need your service dog to accompany you at the hospital, we will return the dog to you as soon as the care visit is complete.

We can handle any specific requests and make sure YOU and your service dog are well-taken-care-of. If you are in the hospital for longer than 5 days, we are prepared to manage your service dog’s care daily with drop-in visits in the hospital or in your home.  When you are ready to return home, your service dog will have their skills and manners in-tact.

Planning Ahead for Peace of Mind

The best time to arrange emergency service dog care is before you need it. We encourage all service dog handlers to establish an emergency care profile with us. This profile includes your dogs specific information including trained tasks and cues used, dietary needs and feeding schedules, medication requirements, behavioral notes and preferences, veterinary contact information, and authorized decision-making if we cannot reach you. With an emergency profile, your service dog care can begin immediately with no delays for information gathering.

How to Activate Emergency Support

Emergency support can be activated by you if you are able, a family member or friend on your behalf, or medical professionals with your authorization. Contact us as soon as possible when an emergency occurs with your service dog present. We will coordinate pickup of your dog and begin care immediately. If you are unconscious or unable to communicate, having our contact information in your wallet or phone allows others to reach us quickly.

Beyond Hospitalization

While hospitalization is the most common emergency scenario, our 24/7 support extends to other situations including sudden injury or disability preventing you from handling your dog, family emergencies requiring unexpected travel, death of the handler when family needs time to make long-term arrangements, or any other crisis situation where immediate expert care is needed. We understand that emergencies come in many forms and our services adapt to your specific situation.

Specialized Care for Working Dogs

Service dogs are not pets. They are working partners with specialized training and important jobs. Our team includes professional dog trainers who understand working dogs. We will not allow your dogs skills to degrade. We will not inadvertently undo training. We treat your service dog with the respect their training and role deserve. When you reunite with your dog after an emergency, they will be the same well-trained partner you know.

Pricing and Accessibility

We understand that emergencies already create financial stress. Our 24/7 service dog support is priced to be accessible while reflecting the specialized care provided. Contact us for specific pricing information and to discuss payment options. For handlers with recurring health issues that might require multiple emergency care periods, we offer package pricing and subscription options that provides security at a reduced cost.

Get Your Emergency Plan in Place

Do not wait for an emergency to think about your service dogs care. Contact The Sharp K9 today to set up your emergency care profile, free of charge. Provide us with your dogs information and preferences. Ensure family members know to contact us if something happens to you. Put our contact information in your wallet and phone. Then rest easier knowing your service dog has expert emergency care available whenever needed.

Protect your service dog partner. Contact The Sharp K9 to establish your 24/7 emergency care profile. When crisis strikes, we will be ready to provide the expert care your service dog needs. Call our main phone number at 240-415-4103 for emergency service dog assistance 24-7.