How Do I Train a Service Dog

This blog post is in response to someone who suggested that I write what I do for the public to see and then invite others to do the same.

Ok, so how is a service dog trained?  What do I do that is the same or different than anyone else?

First off, most of the dogs trained over the last year, have been trained for a specific disorder that causes a person to go into anaphylaxis.  Their throats close up preventing breathing, their faces turn red and blotchy, other parts of their bodies also swell with the over production of histamine and other attendant chemicals.  This means EPI pens (epinephrine injectors) and trips to the ER.   

Most of the service dogs I train are medical alert dogs.  Under normal circumstances, the dog is trained from puppyhood and has a thorough understanding of what their job is and a commitment to doing it.  In some cases, an older dog is found and trained until competent.

What I train:

Commitment to the scent involved in the disorder/disease
Strong, persistent alert to the presence of that scent
Multiple alerts depending on what the person is doing at the time the scent becomes present (for instance, capturing the foot if the person is standing or sitting with feet down, licking the face and standing on the persons body if they are laying down, or giving a hard bump to a part of the body repeatedly)

In some cases, more than one scent and more than one set of alerts
Self control to the point of being able to leave a plate of food on the coffee table alone, without being reminded
Impulse control when something falls to the floor or road kill is encountered on a walk
Proper heeling depending on need.  For some dogs that means slightly ahead of the handler so the dog can block quickly or pull away from a trigger.
How to ignore strangers and other dogs
How to understand new environments based on known object types (a table is a table) so as to prevent or minimize anxiety in a new environment
The Its (drop it, leave it, take it, bring it, give it, do it)
Accept all kinds of handling from vets, groomers and overly excited children. 
Stay with their handler even when the leash is dropped.
Sit, down, stand, come, stay and wait to a high level
How to do all that around a wheelchair, a dentist chair, an emergency room and more



And depending on what the client needs much more.

Starting with a puppy, it takes 4 months to get through all the puppy stuff, but with a service dog puppy, that will include things that a pet puppy would never need to learn.  Climbing stairs, getting in and out of cars, learning about different surfaces, being able to get on and off things on cue, moving around wheelchairs, walkers and canes, and much more. 

Then at 6 months, the public access games start.  Sit, down, come, heel and stay are a very small part of what is needed with public access. Being in restaurants, handling noise and lots of movement, lots of people and even other dogs, eliminating on cue and knowing that doing so otherwise when in public is not tolerated. Until the dog is 18 months, public access games continue wrapped around the task training.

For a medical alert candidate, scent training starts at 8 weeks with games that help the pup learn to follow a scent, find a scent, being creative and persistent about getting to the scent, solving puzzles and learning to solve problems and do what they’ve been asked to do no matter what distractions there are.  By the time a medical alert candidate reaches 9 months they should be doing spontaneous alerts on strangers as well as alerting when the trainer brings out the target scent in session.  A medical alert puppy also starts to learn about alert behaviors at a young age. They learn targeting and that its ok to climb on a human to get to the scent.  And the humans, if they are involved at all in their puppy’s training, learn that it’s ok to allow the puppy to make choices and decisions about things.  Intelligent disobedience is a necessity for a medical alert dog.

From 9 to 18 months, everything the dog has learned is honed and tested and proofed until the dog can find scent blindfolded, stay at heel with 20 kids jumping around, and ignore other dogs and prey animals.  Bomb proofed.

It takes about 3 months to thoroughly train the first scent.  More to get to 92% accuracy.  Once that first scent is learned, it takes from 1 to 3 weeks to learn new scents.  But each one still needs proofing.  And that is with a trainer who knows how to train medical alerts.  With anyone else it can take a lot longer.

But always remember, each dog is an individual and each handler is also.  Train the dog in front of you and work with the handler that is being targeted. Don’t assume and don’t make generalities.