Dog Health Questions: Where do I go to get my dog trained to be a service dog?

I have a 4 month old white German Shepherd and wanted to know where can I go to get it trained to be a sevice dog.

Schutzhund Dog Training - The Highest Level of Dog Training

Recommended Answer:
Step one is to make sure you qualify as disabled under the ADA. Programs and most trainers are going to require proof of disability.

It is extremely unlikely you'll find a program to train your dog. Programs select or breed their own dogs in house. Basically it's because very few dogs are really up to the challenge. Studies have shown that fewer than one dog in a hundred in the general population has all of the qualities in temperament, health, and biddability to do the job.

Service dog training typically starts at birth with early neurological stimulation. The primary socialization period ends between three and four months. That's when the brain is developing pathways particularly devoted to learning what is and is not safe, and who is and is not safe. It's important during this period to expose them to as many safe people, dogs, and other animals as possible to imprint on them that people and the world in general is safe.

So you'll need to find some sort of private trainer, and that will be difficult. Start with your local dog club or kennel club. You need a trainer with experience training advanced working dogs. A competition obedience person might work out, or a gun dog trainer, herding dog trainer, police dog trainer, etc.

Be aware that private training is expensive. A service dog typically costs between $20,000 and $50,000 to produce. That cost is absorbed to a large extent by charitable donations. Even if you do all the grunt work, expect to spend at least $5,000 on help from a professional trainer to do the job right.

It is best to find a trainer first, then pick the dog. He or she would have gone through temperament testing and health clearances before letting you commit to a puppy. And they would have gotten you into a puppy kindergarten class the moment the vet released the pup to be in public.

In all honesty, your best bet is still to go through a program and make your pug a beloved pet. It will be faster, less expensive in the long run, and more likely to produce a usable service dog.

Here's an article on finding a service dog program:
http://servicedogcentral.org/content/nod…

You might possibly find a trainer to work with through one of the resources listed, but honestly I don't hold out much hope.

The Importance of Dog Training

• A service dog- to assist you or someone else that is handicapped in some way? Or a therapy dog to take to visit nursing homes, etc?
  
  Not every dog is capable of being a service dog. There are classes to get your dog certified as a therapy dog:
  
  http://www.tdi-dog.org/


• To train your won
  
  http://sdog.danawheels.net/ot-adog.shtml
  
  Here's a rseouce of Trainers
  
  http://www.inch.com/~dogs/service.html


• check out this site. it might help u train your dog yourself.
  
  Click Here!


• For what purpose?


• look it up online, I don't know where you live.


• Believe it or not you can do it yourself! All you have to do is look up online.... "How to train a dog to become a service dog" and you will have lots of great websites that has descriptive information
  
  Hope this Helps!


• look up dog training schools in your area lol thats a simple solution


• obedience clubs usually have some groups doing this