Welcome to
Buckeye Service Dogs!
Thank you for visiting Buckeye Service Dogs! Choosing the right service dog provider for you is an essential part of the process of obtaining an psychiatric, mobility, or seizure service dog.
I hope the information we have provided here will assist you in your journey. Please feel free to contact us by email or phone. We would be happy to answer additional questions or set up an assessment interview.
Christy Talbert
Owner, Buckeye Service Dogs
About Us
Buckeye Service Dogs provides service dogs to assist with a variety of needs:
Psychiatric Service Dogs respond to various serious mental health issues by interrupting harmful behaviors; mitigating outbursts; and alerting to and de-escalating panic attacks, PTSD episodes, and other challenges. These dogs identify the early stages of an episode and are task-trained to respond with deep pressure therapy; assistance in grounding; and other tasks. Since 2016, BSD's Co-Train program has helped more than seventy young adult and others select and train their own psychiatric service dogs. We also provide fully trained psychiatric dogs for those unable to attend Co-Train.
Mobility Dogs are for persons with mobility impairments (wheelchair, crutches, etc.), or mobility impairments. These dogs provide balance and brace assistance; item retrieval; and other tasks tailored to the individual's needs.
Medical Response dogs can respond to a seizures, fainting, and other medical conditions by summoning help and at times safely positioning their human partner during an episode.
Many of BSD's dogs perform a combination of these duties to serve people with numerous needs.
Application Information
June 2, 2025 Christy Talbert
Please read the FAQ and Fee sections before clicking the button below to fill out our application.
Is a Buckeye Service Dog right for you?
If you are able to answer “Yes” to the following remarks, BSD may be a good match for you as a service dog provider:
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Live in Ohio
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Live in an adjacent state but there is no suitable service dog provider in my area.
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Need a dog for a diagnosed physical or psychiatric disability.
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Seeking a seizure dog because I have at least two breakthrough seizures per week.
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I am at least 12 years old. If younger, a parent will be the primary dog handler.
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Have read the BSD fee section and have the ability to pay, or receives a DODD waiver.
Application Process:
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Please begin by reading the website. In particular, the FAQ, ABOUT, and FEE Sections. Also read the article on selecting a service dog trainer or organization.
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If you meet the criteria in the previous section, please fill out the application and submit.
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BSD will contact you after you have submitted the application.
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If it appears you we are a good match, an assessment interview will be arranged.
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After the interview, you will receive a written summary of the appointment which will include a price quote if it appears BSD is a good fit for your situation.
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If we move forward, BSD will begin searching for a dog to meet your needs as soon as we receive your initial payment.
Link to Application:
I began training service dogs as a volunteer for Support Dogs for the Handicapped (founded by Sandy Maze) in the early eighties.
At that time, using dogs to assist persons with mobility impairments was a completely new idea.
Many years later, I learned that Canine Companions for Independence (CCI) had started in California at about the same time Support Dogs started here in Columbus.
While I was working with Support Dogs, I met Sam and Joe Maxwell. Joe was a quadriplegic, and Sam was his wife. Sam, Joe, and I spent hundreds of hours evaluating dogs and trying to figure out the best way to produce a dog that worked reliably and joyfully for a disabled person. There was no experienced person to teach us everything was learned by trial and, especially, error.
The training techniques I use today are the same ones Sam and Joe developed early on (although, much refined now).
Fledgling organizations are prone to disunity (and drama!). Eventually, Sam and Joe parted ways with Support Dogs, and formed a new organization with the help of a neighbor. This organization was called Happy Canine Helpers (now disbanded).
After a couple of years, another split occurred, and Sam and Joe formed Guide Dogs for the Handicapped, which was later renamed Assistance Dogs of America. (As a side note, CCI eventually took over Support Dogs and has a facility in Delaware, Ohio).
Throughout all these organizational changes, I continued to train and place service dogs. Often, I did this on a volunteer basis, but I also was employed by Assistance Dogs of America, first, in the late 80’s and later in 1990, first as a contractual trainer and then for several years as Director of Training. When ADAI moved entirely to it’s location in Swanton, Ohio, I didn’t want to relocate, and assumed my days as a dog trainer were over. As it turned out, I continued to get requests to train dogs, and BSD was born.
Qualifications of Christy Talbert, Owner, BSD:
OUR DOGS IN ACTION
