Skills Required to Train Your Own Service Dog
Training your own service dog is not as simple as teaching the pet dog to sit or lie down. While service dogs know those skills too, there are probably a good 20-30 more that are far more complex than that.
Complex skills such as turning on or off lights, opening and closing doors, and picking items up off the floor are harder and more laborious to teach properly. Force based training methods are not effective in the long term, nor are they appropriate for a dog destined for service work.
There are a few things that all individuals who want to train a service dog should know:
1. How dogs learn: While this should seem obvious, it usually isn’t to the average person. Dogs learn just like we do: in a pattern. They filter information that is of importance to them, but if you don’t know how they learn or the best way to teach them, you’re likely to make mistakes that will be important.
Positive-based training methods with the use of a marker or clicker are generally the best way to teach service dogs. It is an excellent way to train in a hands-off approach, which is very important for a service dog, but to also gradually teach very complex behaviors in a progressive manner.
There are many books that explain how positive reinforcement works, but if you’ve never done it before, you should consult with a training professional in addition to the books to make sure you’re on target. There are many factors that you must know about including not just how to train the behavior but also how to reward, how to fade out lures or cues, how to train a reliable behavior on cue in a variety of situations, and more.
2. What is required of a service dog: Sometimes people have a rosy idea of what a service dog is, but the amount of work that is actually required to produce one is often underestimated.
Training begins the very first day the puppy comes home and each week new commands must be taught as well as a heavy socialization schedule maintained. Every single day the dog must be trained. This even means after the dog knows all of his skills and is competent with them. Many people are overwhelmed by the daily upkeep and training to make sure a service dog is always ready.
3. The legal standards: While the law is fairly loose in its writing, it is important that people that want to train service dogs know what should be followed. Service dogs should be properly identified in public and should actually be trained.
This sounds funny to say …a trained service dog …but many people that train their own dogs don’t fully train them which means they present poorly in public. This can set a bad example for other service dogs and possibly reduce the likelihood of service dogs being welcomed into locations. It is imperative that your dog know basic skills as well as a set of behaviors that are of service to you. Even more importantly, these skills should all be performed reliably.
4. Financial and physical concerns: Training a service dog requires a financial obligation including the purchase price of the puppy but also all of the upkeep in terms of food, medical, and supplies. Make sure you can afford to properly train and care for your service dog.
Additionally, you need to consider your physical abilities in training a dog. Are you able to properly care for and train a puppy by yourself? Do you have people or attendants that are willing to assist you with housetraining, grooming, etc? This is very important to consider and be honest about with yourself. If you are limited physically and have limited help, your potential service dog could become more of a hassle or liability for you, and it might be better to start with an already trained dog.
Training your own service dog can be a rewarding experience if you’ve done your homework and know what you’re getting in to. If you haven’t, it might not work as planned and be highly frustrating and disappointing.
Dog Training
- Dog Whisperer
- Dog obedience training
- Dog Tracking
- Agility Training for Dogs
- Service dog training
- Special Needs Training
- Conformation handling classes
- Puppy Training
- 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
MORE Dog Adoption Tips
MORE Dog Toys
- Dog Collars
- Dog Costumes
- Dog Leashes
- Designer Dog Collars
- Leashes for Specific Dog Training
- Bones For Dogs
- Chew Dog Toys
- Dog Balls
- Fetch Toys
- Interactive dog toys
- Latex Dog Toys
- Natural Dog Toys
- Rope Dog Toys
- Rubber Dog Toys
