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Das Center for the Study of Medical Alert Canines (CMAC): Medical Alert Dog Coaching für Profis & Forschung

CMAC helps experienced trainers and service dog organizations develop their medical alert training skills and practices. We also collaborate with research teams investigating canine scent detection and its applications.

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Explore live trainer education, tailored coaching for your organization, and research collaboration grounded in science and hands-on experience.

Three ways to work with CMAC

Professional Trainer Education

Coaching for Service Dog Organizations

Research Collaboration

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Build your medical alert and service dog training skills through live online instruction, practical assignments, and individual feedback. For experienced reward-based trainers.

Strengthen your program with tailored guidance on dog selection, medical alert training, assessments, and client support. Get practical help with your team’s specific challenges.

Bring canine scent-detection expertise to your research project. Partner with CMAC for dog selection, training, and handling support in medical detection studies.

NOW ENROLLING:

Train Medical Alert Dogs
and Expand Your Assistance Dog Expertise

CMAC’s year-long online program is designed for experienced dog trainers who want to expand into assistance dog work. Medical alert is our specialty, and the curriculum also covers psychiatric service work, including PTSD; autism-related support; and selected mobility, hearing, balance, and other assistance tasks.

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Learn to assess and select suitable dogs, teach service dog behaviors, prepare dogs for public access, evaluate progress, and coach clients through matching, team training, and follow-up. You’ll apply what you learn with at least one dog, using detailed training plans, assessment tools, and client forms. Submit training videos for individual feedback as you refine your technique.

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Starts January 26th 2027 at 1:00PM EST (NY time zone) · Live online


Early enrollment savings and monthly payment options available.

Ausbildung eines medizinischen Warnhundes

Die Ausbildung von Diensthunden verändern: Expertenberatung für Diensthundeprogramme

CMAC bietet Beratungen für Diensthundeorganisationen und -trainer an und bietet unschätzbare Hilfe bei der Einrichtung, Entwicklung und Verbesserung von Diensthundeprogrammen. Unser maßgeschneiderter Ansatz gibt Organisationen und Trainern das Wissen, die Ressourcen und die Strategien an die Hand, die sie benötigen, um bei der Ausbildung und Unterstützung von Diensthunden hervorragende Leistungen zu erbringen und so einen nachhaltigen Einfluss auf das Leben bedürftiger Menschen zu haben.

Jennifer Cattet, Assistenzhunde-Coaching

Science, Practice, and the Human–Dog Partnership

CMAC brings together canine behavior, medical alert training, and experience supporting people who depend on assistance dogs.

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Founded by Jennifer Cattet, Ph.D., founder of Medical Mutts Service Dogs, CMAC draws on more than 15 years of hands-on experience and collaboration in canine scent-detection research.

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Our approach emphasizes reward-based training, dog welfare, measurable progress, and thoughtful support for clients. Through education, organizational coaching, and research collaboration, we help professionals translate knowledge into practical training decisions.

Ethical, Reward-Based Training
Evidence-Based Practice
Dog Welfare
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Build skills through positive reinforcement, with respect for dogs and the people they support.

Prioritize physical health, emotional well-being, and suitability for the work.

Use research, documented progress, and careful evaluation to guide training decisions.

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ADVANCING MEDICAL ALERT DOG RESEARCH

Understanding what dogs detect, and how to evaluate their performance, is essential to advancing medical alert training.

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Jennifer Cattet and Medical Mutts have contributed to published research on seizure-associated odor, hypoglycemia-associated odor, and COVID-19 detection. Ongoing collaborations include seizure and autism-related scent research in the United States and France.

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These projects inform our work while helping us distinguish established findings from questions that still require investigation.

2 people looking at the screen of a laptop on a desk doing research on dog scent detection

REFERENZEN

„Das CMAC-Programm hat meine Erwartungen weit übertroffen und ich würde es ohne zu zögern weiterempfehlen. Ihre Live-Lehrplanbereitstellung fördert eine positive und ansprechende Lernerfahrung in einem unterstützenden Umfeld. Ich habe es sehr genossen, mit meinen Klassenkameraden Kontakte zu knüpfen, mich auszutauschen, zu lachen und zu lernen.“ und verschiedene Branchenexperten. Jennifer Cattet und ihre Mitarbeiter vermitteln ihren Schülern Wissen und Selbstvertrauen durch Geduld, Ermutigung und einen hohen Unterrichtsstandard. Die Erfahrung war entscheidend für meinen Weg zu einer humanen, evidenzbasierten Ausbildung von Diensthunden Ich werde weiterhin in die Mentoring- und Bildungsmöglichkeiten von CMAC investieren.“

Reisehunde

Jacquie Erickson

Service dog training book
A practical ressource

SELECTING AND TRAINING YOUR SERVICE DOG

by Jennifer Cattet, Ph.D.

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Explore how to select a suitable dog and develop the skills needed for public access work using reward-based training methods. Written for people training their own service dog and professionals supporting them.

LET’S TALK ABOUT YOUR GOALS

Looking to strengthen your service dog program, develop your training skills, or collaborate on research? Contact us to discuss how CMAC can support your work.

CMAC - Indianapolis INDIANA - USA - info@assistance.center

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