Service dogs and training

[Muted]

Depends on how old the dog is and if they have the right qualities Are there other dogs in the house?...

She is two years old and no other dogs in the house. I think they would be all supportive of training her.

 

[illusionist]

@Muted...maybe looking up dog psychology would be helpful to you as a starting point.

 

[lostforgottensoul]

I was wondering if any of you are currently training service dogs.

Yep.

Does a dog have to be a certain breed or if they are calm and good natured, can they be trained?

A service dog can be any breed. Chopper is am American Pitbull Terrier.

What can a trained dog do to help with anxiety?

Chopper does a lot for anixety and panic. It has evolved over this year of training. Though just being with me does help a lot, that's not a task. He alerts to my anxiety and panic several different ways. I have trained a nose nudge, licking and nudging of my hand, a paw touch, and then when I am about to disossiate he alerts by jumping up and hitting his paws on my shoulder. He alerts to many anxiety/panic behaviors including but not limited to shaking, scratching and picking at my skin (which he is trained to interupt as I do it as an unconscience self mutalitation), wringing my hands, tapping my feet, shaking legs, shaking arms and hands, heavy breathing, and more.

He calms anxiety and panic a few ways. He does deep pressure therapy and does that a few ways but that is the dog laying across your lap, thighs, and/or chest. The weight and pressure is a huge anxiety/panic reliver. If I am about to disossiate I find the most out of the way spot at that moment, sit down on the floor and Chopper comes across my lap which is doing deep pressure therapy as well as keeping me there. He will also lean onto my chest which is a huge help. He is also trained to come across me laying down but due to pain we really don't use that.

A big help for anxiety and panic and what I show on video (because it is the biggest help) is cover and block. Essentually "crowd control". I retrained them several times as my cover and block and what helps me isn't necessarly what you need. But today cover (or "cover me") is him swinging out of heel and sitting behind me sideways, head facing my left side. He leans up against the back of my legs which REALLY helps anxiety and panic and I learned its the best place to be able to rub my knuckles quickly on the top of his head and that helps calm anxiety/panic a lot. Block (or "front" for us) is standing or sitting in front of me. I retrained that as a stand until I tell you to sit command to double as a mobility task command. If he needs to be there for a bit I will down him in either position but sitting is where I benefit the most.

There are MANY other things he does but that's specificlly for panic. Something that i purposely didnt train out of him was enviromental scanning. Was my therapist's idea as it helps to watch him and when he sees someone as that stops the millon exit route thinking in my head. I also allow him to look aroind a corner first as it helps me to know if he sees someone. Also he alerts me while in cover if someone is coming up behind me by nudging my hand. He isn't 100% on that yet and some times looks rather then alerts me but I don't really correct that as mostly I am looking at him anyway and so that alerts me to them being there. I haven't trained him to clear a building/room yet but something I want to teach him. I am looking to have his replacement to train in a year (hopefully not sooner but I am orgianized to bring in another dog tomorrow if needed) and thinking I will wait for that dog to do that.

 

[Muted]

That is absolutely amazing @lostforgottensoul ! How did you even begin to train him to do all of that?! My dog is smart, but even the thought of training overwhelms me.

 

[lostforgottensoul]

How did you even begin to train him to do all of that?

We just started small and worked up. I researched a shit ton before hand and then started with normal dog training, watched a shit ton (and still do) of dog training techniques, followed some service dog teams on youtube and leatned from them (which is actually why I had to retrain cover and block several times so be careful mimiking the way other handlers have their dogs do a task), took some Leerburg Univeristy (a dog training company) courses (which aren't cheap but well worth it), bought books, bought a video on demand, started my own youtube channel (tiny) and conversed with other handlers about how to train something better. And learned as I went really. I just started small and it evolved from there. That wasn't even half of the tasks he is trained to do and was only anxiety/panic tasks. With my next dog I do have a sort of "plan" but will start the same way. "Normal" dog commands that service dogs need to know well anyway and move from there. Every dog is different. Every dog needs different techniques and tools and even commands. So, you mainly learn by watching your dog. If you are on a roll run with it. If not, stop, look at the situation outside of the box (one of our task was trained by thinking outside the box when all techniques that are out there failed and that's item retrival and picking up items. Specificlly bringing them up to my lap and not to my feet), and go again. Also frequent breaks is a thing I learned along that way that is much needed for us both.

I am no where near the best dog trainer out there (most believe they are) and there are many service dogs further along after a year then Chopper is. I'm no one special in anyway in this regard. You start by starting and starting small. It evolves as you go and as you both learn together. It is called a service dog team for a reason. You and your dog become a team and become one. You learn from each other really. I think I've learned more from him then he has from me.

 

[Nighthawk]

Congrats @lostforgottensoul you helped a lot I can't think that far to even type it out lol.

It is very satisfying helping train theses dogs. I am currently doing it twice a week. I am working with a Vet with PTSD and A civilian that is in a wheelchair at the moment.

Molly my Service dog is awesome she has really helped me in so many ways. I wish she could help me put it all Ito words

 

[littleoc]

They go everywhere with you constantly aware of your state of being. When they sense anxiety/flaghb...

Nailed most of it

 

[Gs172003]

They go everywhere with you constantly aware of your state of being. When they sense anxiety/flaghb...

This. I need this. How do you know if your dog is a good candidate?

 

[littleoc]

Depends on many factors, including obidience, intelligence, confidence (making their own complex decisions), ability to handle many amounts of stress (being a service dog can get stressful), willingness to be helpful and be serious in public, ability to pay attention for long amounts of time, and etc :) All dogs are a little different, of course, and no dog is perfect, but that's usually fine. There's probably something else useful I'm forgetting...?

This. I need this. How do you know if your dog is a good candidate?

 

[Gs172003]

Depends on many factors, including obidience, intelligence, confidence (making their own complex decis...

I think she would be great...Trained. But I'm not an expert.

 

[lostforgottensoul]

How do you know if your dog is a good candidate?

There is testing you can do with the dog. Go to youtube and search for 'how to test a service dog canidate'. Many have made videos showing that testing. The dog needs to be calm in many situations (and I would add making a loud noise and test the startle responce to that), but needs drive to train. Which is a balance. The dog needs to be very calm but not so much that it has no training drive as then you will struggle with training. Testing it's ability to learn something it doesn't currently know would also be something I would do, testing both food and toy drive.

I would also test a puppy differently then an adult/close to an adult dog. I would test an adult dog for more things and would look for training drive moreso then a puppy. But a puppy should also want to work for food (like keep trying to get a very high value treat from under a strainer and not give up easily) and would test the "learnablity" differently.

Also it's ability to focus on you for at least a short time is good. Testing on whether its distracted easily or not.

Chopper has the perfect calm temperment. He had some behavioral bumps due to mine thus his isolation but his true temperment is perfect. Calm. Even as a high energy breed he is calm even with days of no exercise. He does get pint up syndrome where he is itching to run but he can handle not exercising for days at a time and be ok. Which is important. He has never been a dog that distroyed anything when not exercised (or at anytime) or get into things. Those type of dogs would not make good service dogs. They do need to be properly exercised but if there are times that you just can't they need to be able to handle that and be ok and still stay calm. If that makes sense.

 

[Gs172003]

There is testing you can do with the dog. Go to youtube and search for 'how to test a servic...

Eh...That might be a problem then. My dog is far from calm lol she's hyper but she's also very watchful of me.