Dog Health Questions: Therapy/Assistance Dog Training Question?

My family just bought a German Shepherd puppy. I was wondering what kind of training program to enroll him in. I am considering getting him trained as a therapy or assistance dog for myself. I have a severe anxiety/panic disorder. Before recently prescribed medication, I had them every single day. It was horrible. I still get them but not as often. It's hard to leave my house, especially alone. I'll get shaky, sweaty, and my heart rate goes up. It's hard to focus or function properly when this happens and it happens more often than I'd like. I also get on-again-off-again depressive episodes that last anywhere from a couple weeks to a couple months. And when those episodes start, I get VERY depressed. When I'm not having one of those episodes, I feel anywhere from calm and happy to hyper and crazy. I am seeing a professional for this, but I thought that since we just got a new puppy, I could train him to help me instead of depending on medication 24/7 and worrying if I brought my anti-anxiety pills with me or not. Or worrying "Am I going to have a panic attack today?"

So, my questions are: What kind of program would be right for the dog? And can you train your own personal therapy/assistance dog?

Some Helpful Tips To Help You With Your Dog Training Abilities

Recommended Answer:
There's no such programme, no such training, beyond the proper training that all pooches should have.

We cannot tell how much of your problem is due to lack of confidence (in which case a devoted adult dog may give you enough missing confidence), how much due to chemical imbalances (in which case only medication can help).

One of my pen-friends gets periodic "black dog depression". For a while she had a bit.ch sensitive enough to alert her to the need to take her medication SOON - LIKE NOW! But training such a dog by starting with a randomly-chosen puppy is not a practicality - the dog has to display sensitivity to the changing chemistry/pheromones of its human, then be rewarded for demonstrating that it has recognised a crucial change. She bought the bit.ch out of curiosity about a not-yet-accepted new breed and because her previous personal protection dog (NOT one who alerted to her chemical imbalances) had died.

To increase the chances of your pup developing the required sensitivity, do what EVERY dog owner should do:
•1• Concentrate on reward-reinforcement techniques for EVERYTHING, starting in Day 1. Enthusiastically PRAISE each almost-right thing Pup does. Rewards vary according to the pooch's likes & dislikes, and include:
· Physical = pats or rubs on croup, ribs, between front legs, at ear bases.
· Games = Ball-Chase. Tug-o-War. Tracking.
· Tidbits = a salted peanut. TINY slivers of: hard cheese, baked liver, crisped bacon. A sprig of broccoli.
You need the pup to REALLY bond strongly with you as being the source of everything good in the universe.

•2• Concentrate on "familiarisation-&-confidence-building" (a much more descriptive term than the widely misunderstood "socialisation") so that by the time Pup is 13 weeks old he has experienced (always starting from a distance that PUP considers safe) every movement, reflection, scent, sight, sound & texture on your property while he is still in 'home quarantine', and then in your district (but avoiding places where dogs run loose or piddle/poo/vomit), being allowed to stop & think about each "maybe scary thing?" (while you stand still-&-silent, telepathing "I'm not scared of that, so there's no need for you to be") then being praised & rewarded when he decides to either ignore or investigate that thing.

•3• Booking YOURSELF (note: YOURSELF, not just "him") in nice and early to a proper training club's weekly classes, ready to start when Pup is 18-22 weeks old. There YOU get coached to improve your awareness & techniques; at the same time Pup learns to pay attention regardless of what other dogs & people are doing.

It is likely that just becoming aware of your pet's needs, and forcing yourself to focus on meeting them, will help improve YOUR confidence, too.

There is no way, under existing regulations, that you will be able to get your dog licensed as an "aide/service dog" - such dogs have to, on command, do something their human is not capable of doing, whether that be seeing obstacles, or hearing phones & doorbells, or picking up dropped cheque-books etc.

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"In GSDs" as of 1967

The Effects Of Dog Training Collars

• Most assistance and therapy dog organizations will not train your pet dog to be an assistance dog - there is a very low success rate with that training situation. If you are in need of a psychiatric assistance animal, there are a few things you should know:
  
  1. Dogs for purely psychiatric disabilities ARE NOT generally covered under the Americans with Disabilities Act, according to court rulings, and so DO NOT have access rights except those given to regular pets - no restaurants, no planes, no public transportation.
  
  2. The presence of an untrained or home trained pet with which you are well bonded will be as effective as the services of a trained therapy dog for calming, etc, unless there are specific tasks that the dog need to perform (such as getting a phone to call for help, blocking your access to doors, etc).
  
  3. There are organizations that can match you with a psychiatric assistance dog if you meet their requirements. Find them here: http://www.psychdog.org/index.html