ServiceDawgs - Teaching the Tasks

The Jobs of a Service Dog

If a Service Dog could work Service,
how much Service can a Service Dog work?

Okay, so just what can a Service Dog do? What makes their usefulness so special? There are many things a Service Dog (SD) can do. Their jobs depend on the needs of the handler (the person with a disability). Some SDs guide, others alert, others pull, others assist. The list is as infinite as the variations of all the disabling conditions.

You can see photos of SDs at work on several pages here on this site.

So you've decided you want a SD and you have chosen a dog. She is perfect for you in size and temperment. Now what?

First, you get the dog well socialized and basic obedience trained. Dogs who are in training to be SDs should not go out to public places until they are reliably house trained. Nothing can hurt the SD reputation faster than a dog that is not house trained. Urinating or defecating in public buildings is NOT how you want the pubic to see your SD. When Jo was just under a year, we took her to Toronto for a conference. She was picky about where and when she would 'do her business' there and actually became ill. She was getting better when it was time to go home. We tried to get her to do her business before we got on the plane and thought she had. However, while racing through the airport in Charlotte, Joella tried to squat and pee. We got her to stop but she did have a large puddle. We were late for our plane so we raced on. We told the staff at the counter where and what had happened and they sent a cleaning crew. They all felt sorry for her but we were horribly embarrassed by the whole thing. The staff constantly reassured us that they have seen kids do the same thing, and the parents never tell anyone. Our plane turned out to be running late anyway, of course! Joella was also very upset and when we got home, she had several small puddles of bloody urine in the house because she could not get outside quick enough. She had given herself a urinary infection from holding it in so much in Toronto!

So should we have taken Joella with us? We considered leaving her home but her self-esteem was so low that we were afraid the trauma of us leaving would be too much for her. The bonding that needs to take place would have been stalled and I did not want to lose what we had gained so far. She was reliably retrieving things for me at that point so she was a 'legal' SD. If we had known she would have so much trouble with doing her business away from home, we would not have taken her. Luckily she has gotten over that personality trait!

Now your dog is going through obedience and is getting good at letting you know when she needs 'to go'. Now is the time to start working in some SD behavoirs. If you have not already, get the dog used to the cape. Even if you just make one out of a small towel or wash cloth, it will help tremendously. Get her used to what you need her to do. Make big deals out of certain sounds, if you are training her for hearing alerts. With Joella, we played fetch a lot. And we did fetch with all sorts of stuff from metal pans to hats to ink pens! She had to learn to stay out of the way of my chair and to not be afraid of my crutches.

Of course, my suggestions here are by far not complete! I am just mentioning the basics. Each dog and each handler are different. And when you put two different beings together and try to form not only a friendship but a working relationship, the variables are endless!

One suggestion would be to join one of the several email lists on Yahoo! Groups that are for people with SDs. This will provide all sorts of information and resources. Another suggestion would be to make a list (if you have not already!) of all the stuff you would like your dog to learn to do. From retrievals to alerts to basic commands, write them down. Writing them down helps you to see ahead. You want to make sure your commands are not too similar in sounds to other commands. CLOSE THE DRAWER is too close in sound to CLOSE THE DOOR. And you want to make sure you use the same command for the same event each time. There IS a difference between OFF and DOWN. Make sure your dog knows the difference too.

In clicker training, you teach a task in steps. In order to teach Joella OPEN I first had to teach her TOUCH IT which then went into LET ME HAVE IT, a command she already knew. Once she was touching and grasping an object to bring it to me, I then moved on to the fridge door. I looped a belt through the handle and we worked again on just TOUCH IT. Then I asked her to bring it to me. As soon as she had pulled hard enough that the door opened, she got praised and cheese! She connected OPEN to cheese real quick!

Making a list really helped with teaching her that task. We now also have TOUCH IT at the same time.

I am putting up the commands that Joella knows and those we want to learn. I will also put up the huge list of commands that others use. Reading them helps to see patterns you may not have thought of before.

If there is anything you would like to add to this page or the pages of commands, let me know! Contrary to my understanding, I do NOT know everything!

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