The Service Dog Connection
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    • Home
    • Sessions/Board & Train
    • Volunteers
    • Service Dogs
      • Our Service Dog Program
      • Current Dogs in Training
      • Placed Service Dogs
      • FAQ
    • Breeding Program
    • Community Connection
    • Adoptable Dogs
    • Therapy Dogs
  • Home
  • Sessions/Board & Train
  • Volunteers
  • Service Dogs
    • Our Service Dog Program
    • Current Dogs in Training
    • Placed Service Dogs
    • FAQ
  • Breeding Program
  • Community Connection
  • Adoptable Dogs
  • Therapy Dogs
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Customized service dogs for the individualized need

Customized service dogs for the individualized needCustomized service dogs for the individualized needCustomized service dogs for the individualized need

Located in Terrebonne, Oregon 

Customized service dogs for the individualized need

Customized service dogs for the individualized needCustomized service dogs for the individualized needCustomized service dogs for the individualized need

Located in Terrebonne, Oregon 

RECENT Program NEWS

HOBBS has been placed as a PSYCHIATRIC service dog

Hobbs was placed as a psychiatric service dog with a handler in Los Angeles.  His new handler will be teaching him cardiac alert skills in addition to the psychiatric service dog training that we have done.  We are so proud of this happy little English Cocker Spaniel finding his purpose in life. 

Bitsy gave birth to a singleton black labrador puppy

On May 2nd, Bitsy gave birth to a little black Labrador boy named Nirvana.  This is Bitsy's final litter with our breeding program, and she will go back to being a full-time service dog in Portland.  The sire for this puppy is a yellow Labrador named Tony from Paws with a Cause.  Nirvana will be raised with puppy culture and early neurological stimulation.  Nirvana will not become available for adoption.

Jett has been transferred to k9s for Warriors

Jett the poodle was raised in our service dog program since he was 10 weeks old.  At the end of April, a trainer from K9s for Warriors flew out to Oregon to evaluate our dogs and decided to add Jett to their service dog program.  He is now living in Florida and will become a service dog for a Veteran in their program. 


We are so proud of Jett, and look forward to working with K9s for Warriors in the future.

Hero has been placed as a started service dog

Hero is a Labrador/Newfoundland cross that was born from our breeding program.  He spent the first year and a half in our service dog training program with different puppy raisers and trainers. He is an incredibly sweet, confident dog that loves to work.  Since we did not have an applicant that specifically met Hero's needs and temperament well, we decided to place him as a public access trained started service dog with an owner-trainer in Southern California.


After several days of team training in Oregon at the end of February 2025, this new service dog team is doing wonderfully together.  They have already begun to visit Disneyland regularly together.  Hero's new handler will do his task training once they are a more solid pair and Hero has matured a bit more.  He will be a psych/mobility/medical alert service dog.

Florenge gave birth to 11 healthy Lab/Golden cross puppies on 2/15/25

Florence is a lab/Golden cross from Guide Dogs of America's breeding program.  She joined our program as an 8-week-old pup and has graduated as a psych/medical response service dog on a guardian contract. Florence was bred to Mayer, a Lab/Golden cross from 4 Paws for Ability.  


On February 15th, Florence gave birth to 11 healthy pups!  We are excited to see where these puppies end up in their service dog journey!

Mopsy has officaily joined our service dog training program

Mopsy is a lab/golden cross that was born in our program.  She has officially passed her temperament test and had gone to a puppy raiser in Portland to begin official service dog training.  Mopsy is our singleton puppy born to parents Flopsy & Falcon.  She is spunky and confident!

Bitsy has graduated and been placed as a Psychiatric/medical service dog

Bitsy is one of our breeding moms that has been in our service dog training program since she was a little pup.  She is known for her loving nature, desire to please, and natural ability to tune into her person's emotions.  She especially loves children, so we are thrilled that Bitsy has been placed as a psychiatric/medical service dog with a young girl in Portland, Oregon in September, 2024. 


She is attending school, hospital visits, and errands with her girl.  Bitsy will come back to us in a year for one more litter with our program.  She has been task trained to provide deep pressure therapy, and respond to signs of escalation by nudging and redirecting her girl.

Florence graduated as a multipurpose Psych/mobility/medical response service dog

Florence came to us from Guide Dogs of America as a little 8-week-old puppy.  She has officially graduated our program and has been placed in Terrebonne, Oregon as a multipurpose service dog for a young woman with POTS, EDS, and other medial conditions.  Florence has been task trained to push handicap buttons, retrieve medication, pick up dropped objects, provide deep pressure therapy, respond to signs of anxiety, and elevate her handler's legs when she feels dizzy.  


Her handler is also teaching her to do high heart rate alerts and low blood sugar alerts via scent detection.


Florence has been placed as a service dog on a guardian contract.  This means that she will be coming back to be a mom for our service dog breeding program in the future. 

All of our Golden Newfie Service & therapy dog pups have been placed

We have had amazing success with our Newfoundland/Cross pups as working dogs.  We intentionally began breeding these mixes to get extra large dogs with the right temperament for mobility assistance.  Since we can only keep 2-3 pups per litter, we are thrilled to have the rest of the remaining working dog candidates go to other programs and owner trainers throughout the country.


Kingsley, Kiwi & Karma have stayed in our service dog training program.  Josie has headed to an owner trainer in Virginia.  Cairo is off to our friends at Illini Service Dogs.  Phelan is joining Puppy Jake Foundation in Iowa.  Thistle went to Freedom Service Dogs in Colorado.   Richard joined K9s 4 Mobility in Wyoming as the second Newf Cross they received from our program.  Murphy is off to Tails of Success Service Dogs in Florida to be their program ambassador dog.


Three of these programs are ones we have sent puppies to in the past.  It means a lot to have repeat programs that liked their previous dogs enough to come back to us for more!

Gus has graduated as a Psychiatric/Medical Response service dog

Gus is a Golden Newfie cross from our breeding program.  He is the definition of a gentle giant, and was placed with a family in San Rafael, California this August.  He will be a Psychiatric / Medical Response service dog for their daughter, and will head off to college with her in Boston this Fall.

Our Team

Kelly Sosa

Founder, Trainer, Executive Director

Kelly is a positive reinforcement service dog trainer with 20 years of experience. She grew up in Portland, Oregon obsessed with animals from a very young age, and was especially drawn to dogs.   Kelly began raising and training service dogs for Autism Service Dogs of America in 2005 and then Healing Hounds Service Dogs in 2016.  


In 2015 she received a Bachelor's degree in Psychology from Southern Oregon University.  While living in Ashland for five years, Kelly worked closely with Jackson County Animal Services and their shelter dogs.  Her involvement with them included fostering and evaluating shelter dogs, and teaching classes for the shelter volunteers on positive reinforcement training and reducing dog reactivity to make dogs more adoptable.  She also spent four years working in mental health at a residential treatment facility for young adults, and managed a mental health crisis facility.


Kelly moved to San Luis Obispo, California and started Central Coast Dog Services in 2018, which later became The Service Dog Connection in 2021.  Today, Kelly works to provide custom service dogs to families and is constantly trying to brainstorm new ways to help clients become successful service dog teams.  

Jillian & Zack Nelson

Housesitters & Socializers

Zack & Jillian Nelson of Nelson's Pets and Plants now live at our Central Oregon headquarters full time.  They assist with Socializer training outings, and caring for the pack whenever Kelly has to leave town for service dog placements.  Jillian is a former dog groomer and received one of our fully trained service dogs.  She and her husband, Zack, have had their own housesitting business for several years, and are well versed in our program's service dog handling skills. We are so thankful to have them as part of our crew!

Contact Us!

Email: theservicedogconnectionprogram@gmail.com


 Find us on Instagram: theservicedogconnection


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