Can My Dog Be Trained As A Service Dog

If your dog can be individually trained to perform specific tasks to assist disabled individuals he can become a service dog.

Can my dog be trained as a service dog.

Any dog can enter service dog training regardless of breed or age. The dog must be trained to take a specific action when needed to assist the person with a disability. However unless they have a certain set of characteristics they might not do well. A properly trained service dog is a real asset to a person with a disability.

Professionals estimate that training a service dog fully can take up to 18 months. Service dogs can enhance a person s independence by helping with tasks such as pulling a wheelchair opening doors turning light switches on off or picking up objects as small as a dime. While you may love him as a pet a service dog is a working dog not a pet. The ada defines a service animal as a dog that is trained to perform tasks for the benefit of a person with a disability.

Paws service dogs are custom trained to assist people with physical disabilities affecting one or more limbs. A person with depression may have a dog that is trained to remind her to take her medication. Review all the commands the dog has learned together with the new command and only add a newer command after the dog has adapted to the previous command perfectly. Service dogs are valued working partners and companions to over 80 million americans.

Training options include training him yourself or hiring a professional trainer. Service dog training can take up to two years and these dogs usually wear a vest in public for easy identification. Halo dog training dawn hagan cottage grove oregon 97424 510 342 9364 email. A service dog is a dog specifically trained to perform work for a person with a disability.

A disability can be a physical disability but also includes disabilities in the form of a mental illness that substantially limits one or more major life activities such as depression severe anxiety or ptsd. Service dogs accompany their handler everywhere including in public places that are usually off limits to dogs such as shops libraries museums theaters hospitals and cinemas. Training program designed to assist the handler to train their own service dog. A dog that has already served as a pet usually can t be trained later as service dog.

For example a person with diabetes may have a dog that is trained to alert him when his blood sugar reaches high or low levels. When training a service dog at home expect the dog to learn one new command or action at a time.