Our Services

Medical Alert Animals

All medical alert animals are trained to meet each handler's specific needs.  For diabetes alert animals, this may include spit training to ensure appropriate alerts to lows, retrieving juice and getting help.

Our pup Tansey consistently alerts faster than her handler Lowell's glucose monitor.  Once, when he was miles away from Lowell, Tansey alerted to an issue with Lowell's insulin pump.Despite the distance, his behavior warranted enough attention that a call was made to check on Lowell. Sure enough, Lowell's pump had pulled out.  He was in crisis and didn’t know it.  But Tansey did!

Chase helped keep his handler alive while she waited for a pancreas by alerting to extreme, swift, changes in blood sugar.

We have had great success in medical alerts including fever alert.

Lowell and Tansey

Autism Service Animals

We provide a unique consultative service animal training for parents who want to train a pup to become an autism service animal for their child. We specialize in golden retrievers and golden doodles. The training begins at 8 weeks and culminates with a series of testing at one year. This program is designed for the child who experiences sensory issues due to autism. It is not designed for violent or aggressive children which we view as significantly different than a child who experiences meltdowns in an overwhelming environment. 

This is a fast paced, fun, interactive training curriculum and is sure to delight your child. It requires a commitment of two visits to Gilford per month during the ten month training sessions. Homework and tests are part of the curriculum and the training requires a commitment of 1.5 hours per day. There are a series of reading assignments that must be accomplished and videos that demonstrate proper techniques.

Charlie and Dookie

Emotional Support Animals

We offer a comprehensive bonding program designed to assist people with engaging with activities of daily life and reintegrating into their communities.  

This service is for both children and adults, and we welcome the opportunity to work with veterans for whom we have the utmost respect for their service to our country. 
Come see what we have to offer to help you feel safe, sound and surrounded by affection.  

Our emotional support animals are expected to pass the community access portion of the testing criteria, and it is essential that they demonstrate the temperament to be patient and kind.  

We are supremely confident that our bonding program provides the level of support for the handler and the dog to be a true pairing.  
Standards & Methods
Gilford's Golden Guardians trains our dogs in accordance with titles II and III of the Amercians With Disabilities Act ( ADA). Our animals are individually trained, using demonstrations and consultations, and taught to perform tasks and alert(s) in response to a handler’s confirmed diagnosis.

We also train in accordance with the intent of the established International Service Animal Criteria. Therefore we use a combination of three training methods to ensure pups are sign trained, escort within 18 inches of the handler’s left hip and perform all elements of the Public Access Test as well as alert and do tasks as needed. 

In order to own a service animal via Gilford’s Golden Guardians, LLC there are three steps:

1. You must provide documentation confirming your diagnosis.

2. You must provide a written script from a healthcare practitioner recommending a service animal with a brief description of the tasks and or alerts that would enhance one’s independence, community access, health and or wellness.

3. A handling assessment by Gilford’s Golden Guardians, to best assess the content of the individual pairing agreement and to determine what leads and tethering options may be needed. Individual pairing agreements are written in collaboration with the handler and trainer and coach.
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