Please only answer this question if you have ever raised a puppy to become a service dog for an organization like CCI or Guide dogs for the Blind.
I have autism and am getting a puppy soon that I would like to train to be a service dog. And please don't give me crap, I know training a puppy is very time consuming and requires lots of patience. I want to know what exactly I should do to socialize the pup. After training basic obedience, at what point do you begin to take the puppy everywhere with you, like the store, etc.? I just need to make sure I do this right, don't overwork the puppy, but still train it well. Thank you in advance :)
Puppy and Dog Training - How to Train Puppies and Dogs on a Lead - Easy to Follow Dog Training Steps
Recommended Answer:I have a 3 yr old M pit mix that I have owned since he was a pup, and did all the at home training, socialization etc. I did more intense training when he turned two , as he sort of had a change of demeanor. At this time he is fine. We still attend obedience class, but I have been training him on my own because my elderly Dad is in a "no dogs allowed" condo , and if I can get him service designated I can have extended visits there.
I was told by trainers NOT to socialize my dog to dog parks,etc. because that would negate his therapy work. By the time they told me that it was already too late, I had done it.
What I did do was keep on going. Whenever I went out, I noticed which stores had "no dogs allowed" signs. Many stores have signs that say "no pets, service dogs and dogs in training only". Any store that has that sign, I take my dog in. I have often called up in advance and told the manager...I have a dog in training and I am planning to come in, is that OK? I have never been turned down. In the beginning, I did not shop, I just did a walk through, with my dog in a heel. I don't allow him to interact with anyone...no children , customers or other animals, unless I specifically give him the command to greet, which in the store setting, I don't give him. I am very respectful, and only go to train when the store is not crowded or busy. My dog has learned when he is "working" and when he is not.I don't have papers, he does not wear a vest.I am not backed by an organization and I fully understand the ramifications of this...that in the event that something happens...I am responsible.
Of course, as you know, you can't train the dog unless you put him into the situation. I would start taking him around as part of his socialization and introduction to the world, as soon as the vet says he is OK with vaccinations and his immune system is fully working...maybe around 5-6 months. I would go slowly, start with car rides and friends and expose him as much as possible to things like automatic doors, and the like. When he has good obedience...sit, stay, down, come, heel....and an excellent recall....then you can start taking him in whatever store allows you.
Though I would recommend some work with a private trainer...for me the experience took me and my dog to the next level, when I sort of plateaued.
Go for it!! and good luck to you!
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- I trained for Canine Companions for Independence (CCI). They don't accept outside dogs. Most reputable service dog organizations breed and maintain their own dogs. Your puppy can not be a part of those programs.
If you want to train your dog you have to do it in a private organization. However, those do not tend to be as professional as CCI. Usually they help people train their existing pets to become service animals.
You will probably not be able to train your puppy to be a service dog in all honesty. In order to socialize a puppy you have to take it everywhere with you and you can't do that unless you have the backing of an organization that provides you with licensing and a cape.
Train your puppy to be the best pet possible, not a service dog.
- Having raised and trained two service dogs one for myself and one for someone else I can say that it very easy in our seal to have a service dog to meet our needs to over work and overload a puppy. I really want to encourage you to look at two books for raising a happy, well adjusted puppy and develop an organized socialization program:
1. Before and After Getting Your Puppy by Ian Dunbar
2. A Dog Who is Always Welcome (there is one little error in this book about what the ADA covers)
- hi peter pan,
So many people think housetraining your puppy at home is a difficult task to embark upon that is why they find it so difficult to carry it out efficiently. There are many methods that you can apply, but the major problem is where to start from. But I will have to tell you that, it is not all that difficult the way you see it, only if you can put on a little work and be determine. Puppy house training can be a good thing to start with; this is if you want to show of your well behaving puppy to your friends and also be proud of them.
The first thing to do when trying this method is to establish a ground rules. Make him understand where to stay, to poop, urinate and so on.
These are the 3 main methods to apply:
1. 1. Establish a routine- make sure you have a working routine to apply. Make an appropriate time for feeding him, taking him out to where he is suppose to do his thing within a particular time frame, taking him out for a walk everyday at a particular time also. This will make him to understand the time.
2. 2. Crate Training Him- this should be your favorite because its work effectively for every age of a dog. It helps your puppy to learn potty training. But remember not to leave him there for too long, say like an hour. I use this method a lot when training my client puppies.
3. Puppy padding- this puppy pad are absorbent and disposable pad. They are drop in the floor where you want your puppy to do his thing. They are also good and effective.
You must apply all this method to be able to get a better result. Be patient ok, cos you will not see the result on the day you start but for like 2 to 3 week with constant training. Make sure you apply this puppy housetraining method.
- I am on the autistic spectrum and I trained my service dog with the help of a owner/trainer program.
The best thing you can do is have a professional trainer with no emotional attachment chose your puppy. A service dog must have a specific temperament. Programs that breed their own puppies have about a 30-40% success rate (puppy->service dog). Programs that use shelter dogs have found that fewer than 1 in 100 dogs has what is necessary to be a public access service dog. Consider an older candidate also. If there is a guide dog school near you a career change dog could come with all the necessary health tests and basic training.
Before you begin you need to figure out what you will do if the dog washes out. It takes 18-24 months to train a service dog. You have to wait until the dog is 2 years old test for hip dysplasia. What will you do if you spend all the money and time training a dog who turns out to have HP? What about if the dog ends up aggressive towards dogs/children? Would you be able to wash a dog out and start again? 4 years ago my answer to these questions was yes. Now that I have a working service dog my answer to some of these question has changed. My next dog will be from a program.
After getting the puppy make sure not to ask to much. Let the puppy be a puppy. Do puppy kindergarten and socials. Until the puppy has all its shots do not take it to areas frequented by dogs of unknown health (parks, pet stores). Focus on socializing the puppy with people of all ages, races, and ethnicities. People wearing funny hats, with umbrellas, etc. Go sit in the parking lot at the mall and let people pet the pup.
I make the distinction between a service dog candidate and a service dog in training. To me a service dog in training is solid in obedience even with distractions and may have some trained tasks but still makes some mistakes. A puppy must be at least a year old before I will even consider calling it a service dog in training. The timing of the change has to do with the dogs maturity level. Expecting to much to soon causes dogs to burn out.
I do not believe in taking a service dog candidate everywhere. Puppies should have plenty of time to be puppies. I was very protective of my service dog candidate. One attack or negative experience can ruin a dog for service work. I plan our training outings with what exactly we will be working on (crowds, moving ground, obedience, traffic). My total focus is on the dog. I will not go somewhere I cannot leave if the dog is stressed or misbehaving. I tend to stick to places that allow dogs like outdoor malls, outdoor eating areas, on leash parks, playgrounds, parking garages, some hardware stores, some street fairs.
Once the dog is over 12 months old, can pass a Canine Good Citizen test with a perfect score, can hold a down stay for 20 minutes with distractions including dropped food, can ignore inappropriate advances from the public I would consider taking it into places that do not allow dogs as a SDiT in a state where owner trainers have access rights. I would make very sure to mark my dog as in training so if there are any behavior issues they do not negatively impact fully trained teams.
Even with a SDiT I would evaluate each situation for suitability. Can I control the dog while doing this? What would happen if the dog misbehaves? Could I leave and come back another time? My current service dog did not come to my college classes or a doctor's appointment until he was fully trained. I could not pay attention in class and train a dog at the same time.
A good place to get more information is http://servicedogcentral.org/
Here is a link to a website with socialization instructions for guide dog puppy raisers. http://hpwtdogmom.org/club/info/socializ…
- Take your puppy for short, frequent rides in the car. Stop the car and let your puppy watch the world go by through the window. Introduce your puppy to umbrellas, bags, boxes, the vacuum cleaner, etc. Encourage your puppy to explore and investigate his environment. Get your puppy accustomed to seeing different and unfamiliar objects by creating your own. Set a chair upside down. Lay the trash can (empty) on its side, set up the ironing board right-side up one day and upside down the next day. Introduce your puppy to new and various sounds. Loud, obnoxious sounds should be introduced from a distance and gradually brought closer. Accustom your puppy to being brushed, bathed, inspected, having its nails clipped, teeth and ears cleaned and all the routines of grooming and physical examination. Introduce your puppy to stairs, his own collar and leash. Introduce anything and everything you want your puppy to be comfortable with and around.
- Before you start taking the pup to places where pets are not permitted, he should be 100% house trained, 100% vaccinated, and have passed a CGC (Canine Good Citizen) test. Until then, there is no need to take him any place where pets are not permitted.
Be aware that state training rights don't always apply to everyone (for example, they often don't apply to all disabilities). Consult your state's attorney general to make sure you qualify under state law. Otherwise you risk possible legal consequences like fines and jail time (in my state it is both). So make sure. Either ask a lawyer (which will cost you money) or ask your attorney general (which won't cost you money). But make sure.
I actually don't think CCI is a good model on puppy raising. They have a very high wash out rate because, IMO, they don't supervise their puppy raisers enough. I saw one such puppy raiser letting her puppy play in a dog park with its vest on. That's a huge no-no. When the vest is on, the puppy is either training or working and on his best, most serious and focused behavior. When the vest comes off it means it is time to play. That pup had the worst stays ever because the raiser lacked the timing to catch her pup when he started to break and refused to keep a training line on him so he'd break and go running around like a fool barreling into other dogs. I was training a pup for service work at the same time. Mine was younger, but she held her stays, even when that other pup plowed into me from behind and nearly knocked me over on my pup. I've also seen dogs with CCI vests on in local stores that were pulling hard at the end of their six foot leashes, completely ignoring the handler who was giving repeated commands but doing nothing to actually enforce those commands. One in particular dragged their handler over to interfere with my working service dog. Another huge no-no.
GDB does a much better job.
You also don't take a puppy everywhere with you. Some venues are too stimulating and you don't do them until the pup is mature enough and has enough experience under his belt to handle them. There is no formula for this. You have to know puppies. You have to have experience in raising them and watching them develop. You have to understand fear imprint periods (which are not periods where they get scared and then magically stop being scared like many people wrongly assume). Without someone to guide you through the process, the likelihood of you ruining the first few pups you try to raise is pretty high.
So you don't have a program to work with, what can you do instead? Find some people who show and trial dogs and learn from them how they socialize their pups. It's a start. I don't mean ask them over the internet, but find some local ones that you can shadow and observe and who are willing to observe you and offer pointers.
The issue isn't actually stores in the first place. Socialization is about living things, not places. It is about meeting as many different kinds of people, kinds of dogs, and kinds of other animals as possible. You don't need stores to do that. You do need creativity and good record keeping to keep track of what you have encountered, ie old people, middle aged people, college students, teens, kids, toddlers, black people, white people, Hispanic, middle eastern, and Asian people. People with glasses, with facial hair, with long flowing skirts or roller blades. People with floppy hats, canes, wheelchairs, or loud booming voices. People who move quickly or jerkily, people who limp or wheeze.
Habituation is the process of learning different kinds of things in the environment (as opposed to people). You need to focus on floors. Concrete, tile, vinyl, industrial vinyl composite (that square stuff you tend to see in schools and grocery store floors), short carpet, long carpet, padded carpet, textured carpet, gravel, clay, dirt, grass, weeds, mud, wood chips, puddles, metal grates and metal panels, sand, etc. As many different kinds of surfaces as you can think of.
You need to show the pup as many different things as possible. Plants, landscaping, trailers, tractors, barrels, lawn ornaments, trash, grates with water running in them, bicycles, skateboards, roller skates, wagons, playground equipment like slides, etc.
- Unlike what some people say, you absolutely CAN train your own dog to be a service dog. That is what I will be doing in the near future. I also applied to be a puppy raiser for CCI. You need to take it everywhere with you, get it used to people, dogs, cats, horses, planes, trains, automobiles, classrooms, stores, children etc etc. I do believe that you should start as soon as vaccinations are complete. Good luck to you if you have anymore questions please feel free to ask.
Edit: Ok I found a website that may be able to help you.
http://autismservicedogsofamerica.com/
- That's not how it works. You don't train the dog yourself, you either get a dog from an organization who professionally trains SERVICE dogs, or you have a dog PROFESSIONALLY trained by a Service Dog organization.
Find one near you, Google it and do some research. Get in contact with a SD org.
