WILMINGTON, N.C. – Dog owners in need of a service animal in the Wilmington area can now train their pet themselves.

Rick and Pat Hairston of Four Paws and a Wake Up-NC are leading a 10-month training program that gives owners a qualified service animal without the wait list.

The demand for service dogs currently exceeds the supply, and owners in need of an animal can be turned away empty-handed. The Hairstons have been training service animals for 25 years and saw this as a solution to the problem, at least for Wilmington.

“We're bringing all our years of experience in the service dog industry with the one goal of helping people gain independence that they want through the use of a service dog,” Pat Hairston says.

Before being admitted to the training program, dogs are assessed to see if they are capable of meeting the needs of their owner's disability.

“The dog will pass an assessment by us,” Hairston says. “Is it friendly around other dogs, is it afraid of loud noises, does it have the potential to do the job we're asking it to do?”

James and Mandie Rytych own Mollie, who is just a year old and is learning how to help James pick up objects. He suffered severe injuries to his neck and back while serving in the military overseas. James and Mollie already have a close bond, which is only getting stronger as they go through training together.

“A service dog has changed his life dramatically,” Mandie Rytych says. “It has changed our family dramatically. It's actually brought something to us that we didn't think we were going to have again, which was a relaxed time out.”

When the program opened up they said it was perfect and started her training at 10 months old.

Parker is a 14-month-old rescue who is now in training with Roy and Rose Morgan. Roy is fighting stage four cancer, and the treatments limit his mobility and strength. Although they had no intention of using Parker as a service animal, the opportunity was too good to pass up.

“We've always been dog lovers so to be able to train our own service dog is really amazing,” Roy Morgan says. “We've had dogs our whole life, but I've never felt that kind of bond with a dog until we've done this.”

By the time the owners complete the program and the final assessment, they will have a highly valued partner for a much lower cost. The price of the program depends on the complexity of the skills needed to be taught and ranges between $3,000 and $7,000.