Training service dogs requires a significant daily time commitment. Whether you are training with a program or owner trainer, it is important to find an established, reliable trainer who is transparent about their methods and pricing.
It’s also important to consider the level of distractions that your dog must be able to handle in public. This involves training the dog to ignore strangers and strange noises, not greet other dogs, and more. Read on Sierra Canine for more information.
For a service dog to be effective, it must respond to its handler’s verbal and non-verbal commands. This basic obedience training ensures that the dog is attentive and will be able to perform service tasks reliably and safely. It is also the building block for more advanced training, such as psychiatric assistance, mobility aids, and medical alerts.
In this stage, trainers learn how to build solid foundations for each client’s service dog. This includes teaching obedience skills, such as sit, down, and heel and introducing service-related behaviors like blocking and harness pull tasks. Trainers are also taught how to chain these foundational behaviors together into a sequence of actions that prevent or alleviate the client’s disabling symptoms.
Once the basics are down, the Service Dog in Training will be drilled on how to remain calm and focused in public-access environments with a variety of sights, sounds, surfaces, and distractions. They will also practice their emergency obedience and, if necessary, off leash recall.
The specialized skill sets of a Service Dog are honed in this stage. This is the most important part of the training process, and it is where the team will become comfortable performing their unique tasks together. During this time, the trainer will be able to identify any issues that may affect the dog’s performance or cause long-term health problems.
Behavioral problems like chewing, jumping up, play biting, and crate training are addressed during this phase, as well as a variety of other common issues that arise in the field. The importance of addressing these problems early on will be stressed.
To be effective, a Service Dog must be able to focus on their tasks, even when they are in pain or experiencing other physical discomfort. This is why public access training is so important. The dogs will also work on a variety of different stays and leash walking in all kinds of situations, noises, and distractions.
Advanced Obedience
Once a dog has completed basic obedience training, it is ready to move on to advanced training that can help a handler with their specific disability. Service dogs can be trained to do a variety of tasks, including mobility assistance, psychiatric aid and medical alerts.
The first step of this stage is teaching the dog to respond to verbal and non-verbal cues. This includes commands like sit, down, come and heel. It also involves learning how to respond to specific triggers, such as a sound or a smell. The trainer can also teach the dog to respond by doing certain movements, such as pawing at the handler’s leg, spinning or nudging with its head. These responses allow the dog to communicate that its handler needs attention or help with a task.
Next, the trainer will focus on building public access skills in different environments and situations. This is a critical part of the training as it teaches the dog to remain calm and focus on its handler, ignoring distractions, noises and other animals. It is also important for the trainer to ensure that the dog can safely navigate crowded areas, public transportation and other challenging environments.
This stage also covers how to teach the dog to perform a variety of specific service dog tasks, such as creating personal space, retrieving dropped items or interrupting harmful behaviors. This training is most useful for psychiatric service dogs, which can help their handlers cope with anxiety attacks, panic attacks or self-harm.
Lastly, the trainer will prepare the dog for life with its new owner. This will include teaching the dog to be comfortable in large crowds, riding escalators and public transit. It will also cover how to train the dog for off-leash recalls and long downs.
This stage will also cover the business side of being a professional dog trainer. This includes budgeting, creating contracts and forms and delivering quality customer service. It will also explain how to expand your training knowledge and expertise through continuing education. This is an important component to becoming a successful service dog trainer, as the field can be very competitive.
Retrieval Training
Many service dogs perform tasks that involve retrieving, such as picking up dropped items or bringing a medication bottle or emergency phone. Retrieval is an important skill to train, as it enables the dog to respond to specific cues from the handler and provides a foundation for many other service behaviors.
Unlike obedience training, where the goal is to teach your dog to offer basic commands in the correct context, retrieve is usually taught through play. Hold a toy in your hand and drop it, then reward any attention the dog pays to the toy (mouth on it, sniffing it) until they are offering to “take” it. Once the trainer is confident that the dog is willing to take an object off of the floor, they will begin introducing the formal “take” and “give” commands. This can be done in several ways depending on the trainer’s preference. Some trainers will simply start with a toy and then move to an object that is more difficult, such as a book or piece of paper. Once the dog is able to reliably take and give the item, they will be able to pick up other types of objects as well.
Medical and alert service dogs are trained to assist people with a variety of disabilities, including seizures and other health issues such as low blood sugar and diabetes. Some may even be trained to help prevent seizures.
Mobility assistance service dogs are trained to perform a variety of tasks in public to mitigate a person’s disability related to mobility, such as carting, opening doors, turning lights on and picking things up off the ground.
Some dogs are trained to be psychiatric service animals, helping to alleviate the symptoms of various conditions such as PTSD, extreme anxiety and stress and depression. These can include creating a safe space in crowded areas, finding an exit to escape a stressful situation, calling for help on a special K-9 emergency phone and applying deep pressure therapy for a calming effect.
All service dogs must have a basic level of obedience. This includes the ability to sit, stay and come when called. In addition, it is essential that the dog learn how to behave appropriately in public. This means being respectful of the public, staying focused on their work and avoiding distractions. In addition, all service dogs are required to have regular veterinary examinations.
Mobility Training
Mobility service dogs can help their handlers perform tasks that they cannot do on their own. These tasks include opening doors, turning on lights and even bracing a person who has lost their balance. A dog that is trained for this type of work must be medium-to-large in size as smaller breeds are not tall enough or strong enough to complete these tasks. Depending on the individual needs of the recipient, a mobility service dog may also be trained to assist with grooming and getting dressed. This can be especially helpful for people who suffer from conditions that cause dizziness and vertigo.
Mobility and brace support dogs are a lifesaver for many people with physical disabilities, providing stability, independence and peace of mind. They allow their owners to live full lives without relying on hired personal attendants, who are often difficult to find and expensive. This gives individuals with disabilities more freedom, dignity and access to experiences that are often unavailable to them.
Training a mobility service dog is an extensive and specialized process that can take up to two years. These animals must be well-behaved in public and remain focused on their task, even when exposed to noises or other distractions. Veterinary care and high-quality food are additional costs that can add up over time.
Regardless of the type of disability, many people are eligible for assistance in funding their service dog training through programs and organizations. In addition, many local communities have disability-focused foundations that offer financial grants to cover the cost of training and other expenses associated with caring for a service dog.