Selecting a Service Dog
If one chooses to train their own dog for service work, being able to properly select a dog is at least half the battle. There are many factors that are used to help determine a good personality type for service work, but it is important to remember that even in the best training programs across the country, there are still dogs that fail the program and don’t ultimately become service dogs.
The reason for this largely has to do with the temperament of the individual dogs. Service dog work, particularly public access work, is stressful and tiring for a dog. Service dogs must be highly resilient because they will encounter a variety of people, sounds, sights, and things that most pet dogs will never have to deal with. For example, a day out at the mall and traveling on an elevator might be par for the course for a service dog but something the average dog will never encounter.
Because of what a service dog will be asked to handle throughout its life, both the genetics of a dog and the early upbringing are extremely important. This doesn’t mean that shelter dogs can’t become service dogs, but the failure rates go up the older the dog is when it begins.
This means that doing your homework is vital. You must know a good deal about proper early socialization of puppies as it is best to acquire a puppy right at 8 weeks of age. The times of 8-12 weeks of age are vital weeks for socialization and the puppy should be positively exposed to as many new people, animals, places, sounds, and things as possible. It should become comfortable with walking on and over a variety of surfaces so that it learns to trust its handler at all times.
You should also be very careful about the source of your puppy. A good, high quality breeder is best because they will have done all the genetic health testing required for your chosen breed. This won’t guarantee your puppy won’t have any genetic health issues, but it makes it more likely. There is nothing more upsetting than to have loved and trained a dog to a high level only to find out that a debilitating genetic health problem takes the dog out of a working career.
You also want to search for a breeder that begins working with their puppies before you take your puppy home. Frequent handling and exposure to a variety of stimuli from the time the puppies are born helps to make a well rounded puppy for you to start training. Additionally, you want an experienced and knowledgeable breeder that knows how to evaluate puppies for temperament and workability.
Ideally, a service dog is right in the middle in terms of personality. It is not shy or reserved, but it is also not the boldest dog in the litter. The best service dog candidates are highly biddable, very food motivated, love to be with people, and are not overly strong willed but are more interested in working to please the handler. Generally dogs with high prey drives (eager to chase moving objects), which is desirable in many kinds of working dogs, is not overly desirable for a service dog.
Service dog training programs and schools are very good at selecting potential working dogs, but many of these programs also breed their own dogs. For a person that doesn’t have much training experience, sometimes it is best to purchase one of these already trained young adult dogs.
Otherwise working with a professional trainer that is familiar with the training of service dogs is highly recommended. This greatly enhances training your own service dog and makes sure that all the major behavior skills are properly learned.
As far as what breed of dog one should select, there is no one right breed. The most common breeds used are Labrador Retrievers and Golden Retrievers. These breeds are usually highly trainable, very food motivated, work well for multiple trainers, and the general public is not usually afraid of them. But in actuality, any breed can be trained to be a service dog depending on what your requirements are, although some are easier to train and better suited for service work.
For more information on training service dogs, visit the Assistance Dogs International Inc.’s website and view their minimum training standards for service dogs:
http://www.assistancedogsinternational.org/Standards/ServiceDogStandards.php
Dog Training
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- Kinds of Service Dogs: Mobility Assistance
- Puppy Training 2
- Search and Rescue Dogs
- Seizure Dog Training Procedures
- Temperament in Working Dogs
- Therapy Dogs
- Train Your Own Service Dog
- Training Your Puppy Not to Bite
- Training of Search and Rescue Dogs
- When It’s Not the Ideal Dog
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