Service Dogs in Housing: What Your Landlord Can and Cannot Ask

A service dog is not a pet under federal law. No-pets policies do not apply.

What to Bring to Work for Your Service Dog or SDIT

By Brenda Renou | Life With Service Dogs Disclaimer: This article is general information, not legal advice, and I am not an attorney. Bringing a service dog or a service dog in training to your workplace is usually handled as a reasonable accommodation under the ADA's employment rules, and the specifics depend on your employer,...

When You Feel Like Quitting: How to Stay Consistent When Training Gets Hard

By Brenda Renou | Life With Service Dogs At some point in the owner-training journey, almost everyone hits a wall. It doesn't always announce itself dramatically. Sometimes it's a slow erosion with a few skipped sessions here, a stretch of minimal progress there, or a quiet voice in the back of your mind starting to...

My Disabilities Are Part of My Story, Not the Whole Book

Most people who see me out with my service dog can't imagine why I'd need one. Most days, there's nothing to see. That's the thing about invisible disabilities, and it's part of why I wrote this. But this post ended up being about so much more than that. It's about the woman I was before anyone handed me a label, and the one I became after. It's about advocacy, and building Paws with Purpose Coaching. And it's about Belle. Belle was my first service dog. I trained her myself, from the ground up, with no map and no one to ask. She changed the entire direction of my life, and I lost her last November. Almost everything I do now traces back to her. I wrote this for anyone who's ever been reduced to the cover of their own book. Your diagnosis is a chapter. Your hardest year is a chapter. But you hold the pen, and there are so many more pages left to fill.

So You Want to Raise a Therapy Dog: Training Your Puppy for the Work

By Brenda Renou | Life With Service Dogs Disclaimer: This article is general information, not legal or veterinary advice. Therapy dogs, service dogs, and emotional support animals are three different things, with different training and different rights. Therapy dogs do not have the public access that service dogs have under the ADA. Health and vaccination...

Can an Adult Support Home Say No to My Emotional Support Dog?

By Brenda Renou | Life With Service Dogs Disclaimer: This article is general information, not legal advice, and I am not an attorney. Assistance animal law involves the Fair Housing Act, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, and in some cases the Americans with Disabilities Act, and how those laws apply depends on the specific...

The First Tasks Your Service Dog Should Learn And Why They Matter

By Brenda Renou | Life With Service Dogs One of the most common questions I get from people starting the owner-training journey is this: "I know my dog needs to learn tasks, but where do I actually begin?" It's a fair question, and the answer is more nuanced than most people expect. The right starting...

Free for everyone: the Paws with Purpose Companion App

This FREE app is available to everyone. However, coaching members get full access to everything.

What I Wish I’d Known Before I Started Owner-Training My Service Dog

By Brenda Renou | Life With Service Dogs I've been doing this long enough now to have perspective I simply didn't have at the beginning. Three service dogs. Years of training, advocating, grieving, celebrating, and starting over. Hundreds of conversations with people at every stage of this journey. And when I look back at the...

A Personal Invitation From Me to You

By Brenda Renou | Life With Service Dogs I want to step outside the usual format of this blog for a moment and talk to you directly. Not about a training concept or a legal right or a strategy for the hard days. Just person to person, about why I built this program and what...

Owner-Training vs. Program Dogs: An Honest Comparison Nobody Gives You

By Brenda Renou | Life With Service Dogs When I first started looking into service dogs, I did what most people do. I searched for programs. I made calls. I sent emails. I researched organizations across the country hoping to find one that trained dogs for my specific type of disability. I came up empty...

Choosing the Right Dog for Owner-Training: What Really Matters Beyond Breed

By Brenda Renou | Life With Service Dogs If I had a dollar for every time someone told me they wanted to train their rescue dog as a service dog because "she's so smart and so attached to me," I'd have enough to fund a lot of training sessions. I understand the impulse completely. You...

The Emotional Weight No One Talks About: Training Your Service Dog When You’re Already Struggling

By Brenda Renou | Life With Service Dogs On March 31, 2026, Oren retired. He didn't make a big announcement about it. He didn't seem to notice the significance of the day. He just curled up on his favorite spot on the floor at my feet (the same spot he's claimed for years) and rested,...

No, the ADA Doesn’t Say Your Service Dog Can Ride in the Shopping Cart

By Brenda Renou | Life With Service Dogs Disclaimer: This content is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Laws and regulations may vary by location and situation. Please consult a qualified attorney or disability rights organization for guidance specific to your circumstances. There's a post going around claiming that federal law...

Where Do I Even Start? A Realistic Roadmap for Owner-Training Your Service Dog

By Brenda Renou | Life With Service Dogs It's one of the first things people say to me when they reach out about owner-training: "I want to do this, but I don't even know where to begin." I understand that feeling completely. When I started training Belle, I had years of guide dog training experience...