I've written posts on questions to ask yourself before you pair with a service dog, how to know if a service dog is a good fit for you, how to handle life once the service dog is sharing it with you, and more, but nothing where we talk about you, and how to help you prepare yourself. It's a big change partnering with a service dog, but it's an even bigger change if it's you who will be training it. When I undertook this task, I was going from being bed ridden or couch ridden most days to suddenly being expected to work with a trainer for 5 hours every week, and do 2-3 20-40 minute training sessions with a young, unruly dog every single day! I didn't fully anticipate how hard it would be on my body or my condition, but I found my way through and am stronger for it. The idea for this post came from a friend, who will hopefully have a service dog of her own one day, but it ultimately for anyone who is thinking about training their own service dog and wants to do a little leg work before they find they right dog.
0 Comments
*DISCLAIMER: I am not a behavior expert. The knowledge I share below is based on research I've done, my own observations and experience in handling different animals, and my knowledge of what's expected behavior for service dogs around other animals* Dogs really seem to enjoy chasing small things like rabbits, cats, and squirrels, They bark madly if one crosses their path and they can't reach it. This is a common activity for most dogs, and stems from their instinctual prey drive that all dogs are born with. Most dogs chase small animals because they're bored or frustrated, a few do it because they have an intent to do harm (aggression), and some are trained to do it for pest control or hunting. Even if a dog doesn't chase a rabbit or squirrel, they may be highly excited about it's appearance, and refuse to listen to you. Small animals can present a training hurdle for service dog owners, because they're pretty much everywhere and they seem way more interesting to our dogs than we do.
Other animals, such as dogs or livestock, your own dog may or may not have a drive to chase, but these can be equally distracting. Maybe they want to go say hi, or are blown away by the sheer size of a horse. Whatever the animal, it's important to help our service dogs learn that we will keep them safe, and to learn how to be calm & relaxed no matter the animal, no matter the place. You never know what you will encounter when working, so it's a good idea to expose your dog to as many different animals as possible, and to do so in the right way, to prevent problems later on. I've written another post on teaching your dog to ignore small animals. That focuses on specific training techniques. This post will delve more into specific places to find opportunities to train and go deeper into body language cues around other animals. |
My Name is Sally...I have a condition called Complex Regional Pain Syndrome. This blog is about my journey training Robbie, a dog who helped me regain independence, confidence, and achieve the impossible in the face of my disability. It continues on with the training of Austin, Robbie's successor. Check Out... - "More than a Dog" was published on a site called The Mighty Categories
All
Archives
August 2023
|