About Give Us Paws

Service dog training nonprofit in Houston

Give Us Paws is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit based in Houston that trains eligible candidates' dogs as service animals. It focuses on veterans with Post-Traumatic Stress, Military Sexual Trauma, Traumatic Brain Injury and limited mobility, and also serves civilians with disabilities under the ADA. Training is free to disabled veterans when funds are available, and the program costs $2,400.00-$4,800.00 for civilians. In January 2025 it announced Candidate Membership status with Assistance Dogs International.

Service dog program

The program runs six months to a year and combines private training, public access training and one-on-one, disability-specific task training, with at least an hour a week with a trainer and logged practice by the handler. Teams finish by passing the Public Access Test with at least three tasks that mitigate the handler's disability. Methods are force-free, fear-free and pain-free, using errorless learning and positive reinforcement, and handlers are taught to train their own dogs.

Pet dog training

Basic Foundation Skills is a five-week Karen Pryor Academy class, one hour a week, for dogs from 4-5 months and up, covering focus, sit, down, leave it, hand targeting, loose-leash walking, come, polite greetings and handling. Private lessons are also offered. Classes are led by Paul Buescher, KPA CTP, PCT-A.

What to ask

Ask about the application and eligibility steps for the service dog program and current private lesson pricing.