How to Train Your Dog to Be a Service Dog

You've seen them in your day to day interactions: dogs with a special harness on them guiding a disabled person across the street or through Walmart. These cute, useful animals are in the middle of their daily job so you can't interact with them. However, what if you want to teach your dog to be one to help out society? Here's some steps to make this thought into a reality.

The best way to raise a service dog is from when they are puppies. According to servicedogcentral.com, the first part of training is to teach them basic manners and obedience under the supervision of an instructor for an obedience school. During this time frame, the dog learns all of the basic interactions that any canine should learn for its day to day life. Normally, for this training to be effective, it can take anywhere from 12 to 18 months. After this, the successful dogs are taken for advanced training. Some of this advanced training includes obstacle avoidance, directed guiding, and intelligent disobedience. Obstacle avoidance is self explanatory. Directed guiding involves giving simple directions like 'forward', 'left' or 'right' and the dog obeying them. Intelligent disobedience is when a dog is to disobey when it is for the good of the owner. If the owner says 'forward' when crossing a street, but the dog notices a car coming, the dog would disobey to ensure the safety of the owner.

To train a dog for obstacle avoidance, there is a case of some repetition being needed. For example, as outlined inservicedogcentral.com, a trainer can come up to a low hanging tree branch with a cane in front of them. When the cane hits the branch, it makes an audible sound that lets the dog know something has happened. The trainer can go ahead and say 'ouch' or something of that nature to reinforce it. The trainer would have to repeat this a few times until the dog is consistently navigating around the branch. After success is reached with the one branch, the trainer would need to move on to another branch for more practice.

For this training to be effective, it can take anywhere from 18 to 24 months before a dog can be ready for active duty. However, successful training does not a service dog make. There are certain aspects that need to be found in a dog as well. For instance, a dog needs to have a low prey drive. This is important because of the disasterous things that can happen if a service dog chases after a squirrel when working, leading their owner into the street. Also, as a service dog is going to be around a large number of people on a daily basis, they need to have calm personalities and steady nerves so as not to be distracted. Sometimes, these habits can be trained. However, if it is not in the nature of the dog, then they would not be good candidates. This is one of the reasons why you don't see chihuahuas as service dogs.

Service dogs are effective members of society. The main reason for their effectiveness is because of the amount of training that they go through. A service dog needs to be trained from birth and have the qualities necessary to be calm in the midst of loud situations to keep their owner safe. If you have a dog you think would make a good candidate, have patience and determination, and you may be able to train them. There are many resources out there on the internet for assistance if you should need it. Good luck!
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