Knott shares Davis’s enthusiasm for educating the public about service dogs — and isn’t shy when it comes to speaking out when he sees an unruly one. “If people abuse the service rule, there is bound to be some serious blow-back,” he says. “When I see a ‘service dog’ that is acting unruly in a public establishment, I will talk to the person about it. Usually I hear, ‘It’s my service dog.’ And I say, ‘OK, but you are responsible for that dog’s behavior, and it is behaving in an unacceptable manner. You need to take responsibility for its condition and do whatever you need to do to bring its behavior up to an acceptable level.’”
Upholding the Standard Paul Knott, 58, from Davis, Calif., is an information systems analyst for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. After Knott got out of rehab in 1986, he wanted to train his 18-month-old Australian shepherd — named Bear — to become a service dog. Bear had the right temperament and Knott had already trained him for perfect obedience. To bring Bear up to service dog level, Knott joined a local dog-training club, where he met a trainer who knew the tasks required for a dog to pass the service dog public access test and earn a vest (needed before passage of the ADA). With guidance from his trainer, Knott was able to train Bear for the public access test, administered by CCI in Santa Rosa, Calif., in four months.
• To qualify as a psychiatric service dog, the animal must be trained to perform specific tasks to help the handler, such as PTSD service dogs trained to do safety checks for anything that would alarm their handler, find the nearest exit to leave a high-stress situation, or remove a person by nudging to a safe place in the case of an episode like a panic attack. • “Attack dogs” trained to provide aggressive protection of their owners will not qualify as service animals.
If you notice a lot of tail wagging these days, chalk it up to canine pride as the efforts of elite pack members working in the assistance field are officially recognized from Aug. 7-13. International Assistance Dog Week is the brainchild of Marcie Davis, CEO of Davis Innovations in Santa Fe, N.M. Davis, 45, started the event to recognize and honor assistance dogs — from eye dogs to service dogs — and to raise awareness and educate the public on tasks they perform and their rights and responsibilities. In addition, the week honors the puppy raisers and trainers of assistance dogs.
DOJ Rules on Service Dogs On March 15, 2011, the new Department of Justice regulations on types of animals and their requirements to qualify as service animals under the ADA took effect.
Service Dogs Help to Reduce PTSD Symptoms
We can probably all recognize that dogs, be they pets, emotional support dogs, or service, can all have an incredible impact on their person. But service dogs are not the same as emotional support dogs. Service dogs are specially trained to perform different tasks to help people with disabilities and health conditions. On the other hand, Emotional Support Animals provide their handlers with therapeutic benefit through companionship. They provide comfort and affection to people in need of such.
A recent survey of service dogs and emotional support dogs assisting ex-military personnel revealed astounding findings. Both types of animals helped decrease Post Traumatic Stress Disorder symptoms in their handlers. However, participants paired with service dogs showed more positive outcomes than participants with emotional support animals. Also, veterans who were paired with service dogs showed fewer suicidal behaviors, decreased anger, and fewer had sleep disorders.
Veterans may benefit from trained tasks such as:
Along with many other psychiatric and medical-related tasks.
– Work closely with a professional trainer and/or dog behaviorist. Its always helpful to get a second opinion from an outside perspective, and especially when you’re picking your future candidate or stumped on how to train something. – Take training slow. “Slow is fast.” Make a sticky note of it if you need to (it helps). It takes an average of about 2 years for a service dog to fully complete training. You have plenty of time to take it slow, trust me. – Take breaks, and let your puppy be a puppy. Giving your dog/puppy breaks will help prevent them from becoming overwhelmed. Don’t forget that even though service dogs have a big job to do, they are not robots and need to be able to be dogs too. – Be honest with yourself. If you are lacking in certain areas, ask for help! It’s okay to have hiccups, and they will happen. – Learn how to be receptive to setbacks and fear stages. This too, shall pass. – Set realistic goals for you and your dog, and don’t compare your dog’s progress to other teams. Each dog and handler is different and will need different amounts of time to “get” certain things. – Maintain consistency. Repetition and positivity are super important when training any dog, but even moreso with service dogs. – Use a partner and/or video record training sessions. Training logs are especially helpful! Through documentation, you can get verbal and/or visual feedback to determine what you need to work on more/less. – Don’t stress. Just breathe, relax, and try to have fun! Our disabilities drag us down enough as it is; having a dog should be an enjoyable experience, and having a positive mindset will help out tremendously in the long run. Also remember that dogs can be very receptive to their human’s stress, so try to be relaxed and confident in yourself and they will usually follow.
Listed below are a few common reasons why a service dog might be washed. It is often times one or a combination of these examples that a service dog doesn’t work out for the job.
So, how do I keep my service dog or service dog in training from washing out? The answer is one that nobody ever really wants to hear – it is impossible to predict a wash out. There is no guarantee that even the most perfect puppy or the most suitable dog will graduate on to become a full service dog, and even the most ‘bomb-proofed’ service dog has potential to wash out. But there are certain methods you can use to try and help you and your dog or puppy be as successful as possible:
So when do I know to wash my service dog/service dog in training? It all depends. Sometimes the commitment to our dogs can override the hurdles we run into in our training. But if you’ve tried working through what is setting your dog back and things just aren’t improving, and if it seems you are making less and less progress or undoing previous training, then it may be time to consider washing the dog from assistance work after exhausting all other options. Of course, attempting to work through whatever issue there is will be the first option; but sometimes even professional help cannot turn things around enough to continue working certain dogs.
In a nutshell, there are many reasons a dog or puppy may be washed from service dog work. People typically think that it happens mostly with owner trainers, but this is simply not true. Canine Companions for Independence, a service dog training organization based in Santa Rosa, CA, has a very selective breeding program and a rigorous training program for their future service dogs. Even still, only about 35 to 40 percent of their dogs graduate to become full-fledged service dogs.[1]. This kind of “make or heartbreak” can happen to anyone; from handlers with no prior dog training experience, to the best professional dog trainers in the industry. Do not let a washed dog discourage you, for it may at the very least have produced a very obedient pet. Many times, it can provide handlers with the experience and insight of how to approach things the second or even third time around. Washing a dog is not the end of the world, and certainly doesn’t necessarily mean you are a bad trainer or dog owner if you do have to wash a service dog or service dog in training. Some dogs and puppies just weren’t built or meant to be service dogs, and that’s more than okay too.
Every Service Dog Should Have These 5 Skills!
There are multiple characteristics that go into making a solid and effective service dog, however, the most important factors are the drive to work and the ability to work for one person. What’s great about service dog washouts, (a dog that trains to be a service dog but does not make service dog status) is that the reason for them washing out of the service dog program is often the very reason they will actually make excellent family and/or therapy dogs. Here are the top three reasons that “washout” dogs make great adoption candidates:
When considering adoption, applicants should always look to find the right fit for their family, their lifestyle, and their personality. In considering a service dog washout for adoption, there is an advantage with the skills and characteristics of these dogs that deserve thoughtful consideration, given that what makes them not-so-great service dogs, ends up contributing to their success as excellent family companions.