We consider applications regardless of a person’s age, gender, sexual orientation, race, religion, national origins, or disabilities.
Our team is dedicated to supporting you even after you bring an ICAN dog home.
We’ll have regular check-ins with you for the life of our partnership (8-10 years) at no additional cost. This will ensure that you and your service dog continue to be a safe, effective team together.
Learn about our application process and the steps you’ll take before bringing your service dog home.
Bringing a service dog into your home or facility is hard but rewarding work. Not only do you have to look out for yourself, but now you’re also responsible for another living being’s health and safety.
Your whole life will change — and for the better. If you’re willing and able to provide for a service dog, keep up their training, and love on them, you might be a great fit for ICAN!
We train our dogs to perform 60 to 80 cues to help people with disabilities feel safe and independent at home and on the go. Depending on your condition and needs, one type of dog might be better for you than another. Our service dogs include:
Once you’ve determined which type of service dog would be best for you, download the corresponding form. You can find links to our application PDFs below:
Fill out the entire form and ask your medical and personal references to complete their part (if required).
Please note: Applicants must reside in Indiana, complete the entire form, and submit a $75 non-refundable application fee.
Please address your application and non-refundable fee to:
ICAN
Attention: Director of Client Success
5100 Charles Court, Suite 100
Zionsville, IN 46077
Once your application for a service dog is complete, we will contact you to either come to the office for an interview or schedule an in-home interview. These meetings will help us determine if we can give you a dog that meets your needs — and if you can provide a safe, healthy home for him or her.
We’ll ask you questions such as:
- What are your needs and challenges? What kind of help do you need?
- How do you see a dog helping you with your daily activities?
- Who will take care of the dog in the event that you (or the primary handler) cannot?
- Do you or your family have the financial means to care for a service dog?
- Are there other animals in the household or facility? If so, how might introducing a service dog affect them? Have you introduced them to other dogs before?
- Does anyone in the house or facility smoke? If so, how often?
- Are there other members of the household? If so, how do they feel about you getting a service dog? Are they supportive?
- Are you willing to continue caring for and training a dog (e.g., trimming your dog’s nails, grooming, taking them to the vet, picking up waste)?
- Is anyone in the house or facility allergic to dogs?
We’ll also ask your permission to videotape the interview so we can get a sense of your capabilities and living situation. In addition, the videotape lets us revisit your needs as we evaluate possible canine matches. Finally, we’ll have a rescue dog with us during the interview to see how you or your child interact with the animal.
After we’ve approved your application, we’ll start working on finding a dog to fit your needs. If we think we may have a match for you, we’ll either arrange a home visit or invite you to our office for a practice session.
During this practice session, you’ll get to learn what working with a service dog will be like. We’ll help you run through cues, practice keeping the dog safe while outside, and more.
If we think you’re a good fit for an ICAN service dog, we’ll put you on our waitlist! As soon as we’ve approved your application, we’ll start working to find a dog to fit your needs.
Please note: The wait time from application to being matched with a service dog can be one to three years; those who apply for an autism assistance dog might wait three to five years. These times are based on several factors:
- While we accept applications from adults with disabilities, please note that our placement priority is for children and adolescents.
- We review and evaluate applications in the order in which we receive them. But because we strive to make the best possible placement, time frames will vary.
- To make smart and appropriate matches, we must evaluate and compare the structure, temperament, motivations, and strengths of the dog with the lifestyle, personality, and assistance needs of the recipient.
Many of our applicants qualify, but not everyone does. We take various factors into consideration when deciding whether or not an ICAN dog is right for you. While we may approve you to be on our waitlist, this does not guarantee the placement of a dog.
Please know that even if you don’t qualify for an ICAN service dog, we’ll still guide you to the organization that’s right for you. For example, you may be eligible for a therapy dog, emotional support dog, or psychiatric assistance dog. In this case, we’ll direct you to Assistance Dogs International, which provides various types of assistance dogs.
Once we’ve found the best dog for you, we’ll ask you to attend two weeks of Team Training, where you and your new partner will learn to work together. Your teachers will include our staff and carefully selected inmate handlers at Indiana Women’s Prison in Indianapolis.
Please note: We require complete payment of the one-time $2,500 placement fee by the first day of Team Training. We also highly recommend that you get pet insurance for your service dog.
For more information on Team Training, please click here.
Once you complete Team Training, you’ll participate in ICAN Graduation. We hold these ceremonies at the Indiana Women’s Prison (IWP) on the second Thursday of June and December.
During the ceremony, your dog’s handler will introduce you and place the official service dog vest on your new friend, then hand the dog over to you. It’s a celebration where handlers and clients come together one last time before you get to take your service dog to their forever home.
To learn more about ICAN Graduation, please click here.
We’ll have regular follow-ups for several months after you bring your dog home. And our team is dedicated to supporting you even after you bring an ICAN dog home. We’ll have regular check-ins for the life of our partnership (8-10 years) at no additional cost. This will ensure that you and your service dog continue to be a safe, effective team together.
It’s important to keep up your dog’s training — and to be patient with them when they make mistakes. That’s because it takes two years of intense training for a puppy to become a service dog. And they don’t look at their placement as work; instead, they thrive on problem-solving and staying mentally and physically active. By working with your service dog every day, you’ll be able to keep them sharp, healthy, and happy.