Transition from lovable companion to service dog in training

Now that Bello has graduated his obedience training he will continue on with his Good Canine Citizen training to reinforce those basic obedience skills but while reinforcing those skills he will also begin his service dog work.  You might see us around town in local businesses, parks, and on the streets! Please keep in mind that when a dog is working the handler/owner often would rather the dog not be pet or distracted from his duties (especially if they are in the training stages).  Many owners/handlers equate people petting their dogs with  ...walking up to a strangers kid in public and hugging them.......it just wouldn't be well received. Let's face it too, it's just never smart to walk or run up to a dog you don't know and start touching it..........they are just like us......they don't enjoy strange people putting their hands on their heads and faces.....equate with your great aunts pinching your cheeks as a child......just not cool! 

Definitions and Terminology

An emotional support animal (ESA) is a companion animal that a medical professional has determined provides benefit for an individual with a disability. An emotional support animal is not provided with the same public access requirements as a service animal. An emotional support animal however, is allowed to live with you even in locations where pets are not allowed.  Emotional support animals do not have any special training and often times have not even completed a basic obedience class. 

"A service animal means any dog that is individually trained to do work or perform tasks for the benefit of an individual with a disability, including a physical, sensory, psychiatric, intellectual, or other mental disability. Tasks performed can include, among other things, pulling a wheelchair, retrieving dropped items, alerting a person to a sound, reminding a person to take medication, or pressing an elevator button." ADA  

     Examples of animals that fit the ADA’s definition of “service animal”

• Guide Dog or Seeing Eye® Dog
• Hearing or Signal Dog
• Psychiatric Service Dog
• SSigDOG (sensory signal dogs or social signal dog)
• Seizure Response Dog

A handler with a service dog can enter any public facility or place of public access and cannot be asked about their disability. There are only 2 questions they can legally be asked:

     1. Is the animal required because of a disability?

2. What work or task has the animal been trained to perform?

 Dogs start out as "service dog candidates" while they are doing socialization and learning basic obedience skills. They become "service dogs in training" (SDiT) when they have completed basic obedience and are ready to begin learning the special behaviors and skills that will aid their owner/handler's disability. 

Somewhere between 6 and 12 months, most owner-trainers will start working more on the specific skills that will mitigate their disabilities but an adult dog can also be trained to learn skills and behaviors that will aid their owner/handler. The dog's maturity is a huge factor in deciding if it will be a good SDIT candidate. A puppy under one year of age is not mentally or emotionally ready or capable in most cases to accept the challenge of shouldering the responsibilities of a service dog and pushing them into that position to early can often burn them out and prevent them from being a SD.  Most owner/trainers/handlers will transition their candidate to the status of "service dog in training" somewhere between 6 and 12 months and start working on some light weight public access work to solidify core obedience skills and begin task training. Light public access might consist of trips to the local pet store, hardware store or other dog friendly businesses. The transition from candidate to service dog in training should not be made before 6 months or before the puppy has passed a basic obedience test and has learned at least one task that helps the owner/handler/trainer. The SDIT should be at least 18 months old and have been doing public access training (performing his already mastered skills and tasks) in public for at least six months reliably before being transitioned from "service dog in training" to full service dog. So, provided all goes well Bello will be a SDIT until June 2017 and then if successful he will be able to progress to a fully trained SD! 

Using the correct terminology encourages people who are both familiar and unfamiliar with service animals to take you seriously and signals to others in the service dog community that you are both knowledgeable about what you are doing and legitimate. Many people who simply want to take their dog with them to places do not have trained SD. I have often seen people with an emotional support animal in the grocery stores but because workers in those businesses are not aware of the law and that emotional support animals are not allowed public access as SD are they allow the untrained emotional support animals in.  This makes it difficult for people with legitimate SD when those untrained animals make messes, or act "unprofessional" or even aggressive.  

Where to Train

Bello's training will need to be solid in many places before I will take him to a most public places. For example, Walmart is not the place to teach a dog to sit. Walmart is not even a good place to take a SDIT until he/she is comfortable with many various distractions (crowds, loud speakers, squeaky carts, screaming children, lots of smells, etc. etc. etc.).  A SDIT training should have already learned to sit in his obedience class and had this skill reinforced at home first as well as in the backyard, around the neighborhood, at parks, etc. The basic obedience skills should be mastered in each location before moving on to public access locations. This is important for Bello to develop more and more difficult skills in more locations and with more distractions step by step and develop good habits for when we are in public locations. If Bello sheds his bad habits in moderate locations and at home then he will never have the chance to earn bad habits in public either and will always be on his best behavior! 

According to paws4people many retail stores, outdoor sporting supply stores, and department stores are pet friendly. Simply call and ask. These, along with pet shops, will prepare your future service dog for shopping outings, and will allow proofing to shopping carts, checkout counters, merchandise, different floor surfaces, and narrow aisles. Many of these venues will also have elevators/escalators to train on.

• -Dog schools are a great place to teach your dogs the basics, as well as socializing your dog to other dogs.
• -Training in parking lots and parking garages, and busy intersections will allow you to proof your dog to traffic, car horns, and the vibrations that vehicles produce in elevated parking areas. Some parking garages also have elevators to practice on.
• -Strip malls and outdoor shopping centers, as well as street fairs, parades, and outdoor festivals will allow you to proof your dog to foot traffic. These are also great places to socialize your dog, because many different types of people that span many different ages will also likely be in attendance. There will be plenty of opportunities to allow your pup to make new friends in this delicate part of their training.
• -Walking, biking, and hiking trails will allow your future service dog to get used to different interesting smells. They may also allow you to proof to bicycles, skateboards, Rollerblades, and even horses, as well as any wild animals that may cross your path.
• -Outdoor sporting events, performance showings, and concerts (if not too loud) will allow you to train your dog in high stress, high distraction environments. These places should only be added to your training routine when your dog is ready.
• -You can use outdoor eateries and ice cream shops to teach your dog how to properly tuck under tables, as well as other restaurant etiquette.
• -Playgrounds can be used to train in high distraction environments, as well as to proof to children. Playground equipment can also be used to introduce the concept of moving surfaces, such as elevators, and various modes of transportation.
• -Rodeos, pet expos, and stock shows will socialize your dog to other species of animals.
• -Training outside of hospitals will prepare your future service dog for what it could encounter during medical appointments or in case of an emergency. It will also help your dog get used to the idea of sirens and flashing lights, wheelchairs, crutches, oxygen users, and other medical equipment.
• -additional options: parks, outside bus stations, outside of petting zoos, Renaissance festivals (some permit dogs)....  paws4people 2016

Don't underestimate the value of training in your neighborhood. As a SD, Bello will be in public access situations, and there is the temptation to rush out and train for that before he has mastered the basic skills. Key behaviors such as heeling should be mastered in a low distraction environment before throwing the dog in the deep end in a busy strip mall or Walmart. Residential streets also offer loads of training opportunities, such as barking dogs, curbs, light traffic, distracting smells, lawn mowers, some other pedestrians and the other day to day occurrences of people's homes. Just because Bello has completed basic obedience doesn't mean he can abandon our previous training and move on to public access training. Even with my previous 2 service animals (NaNook and NaKoda) obedience training was a daily and lifelong experience. These skills must be kept fresh in order to have the most well behaved SD.  My goal is not only to have my SD but to allow them to be ambassadors for their breeds too! (NaNook and NaKoda were Rottweilers).  As a working service dog, Bello will probably need to work almost as much in residential areas as public access, especially since he and I walk and public transport such as planes and buses on travel occasions to get around.

 Bello and I will be engaging in a lot of his SD training at home on most of the behaviors I will expect of him in public. One example can be learning to sit quietly next to my chair or bench. This is a very important thing for Bello to know how to do, but the training will not start at your favorite coffee shop. Bello will first have to sit politely beside my chair at home. We will start when am doing nothing but focusing on him and his responses. Next, Bello will move onto sitting beside me I eat my meals, then I will move to taking some meals outside in the yard or at local parks (many may have already stumbled across us at lunch time at Riverside park having breakfast or lunch while watching the ducks where there's more distractions), and once I feel he has accomplished these skills successfully you might find us at a local outdoor cafe/restaurant. It is never fair on our dogs to expect them to learn a new behavior in a distracting environment when they have not yet learned it in a quiet one. Don't forget that it is important for a working dog learn the difference between work time (any time Bello has his vest on is a signal he is working) and time to be a dog (any time he is allowed off leash without his vest usually with his canine friends Kaiyia - local animal control officers dog who is also a search and rescue dog and Benny - local Merry Trails dog trainers dog who also has search and rescue dogs, there are some behaviors you should never allow, such as begging for food, if you want your SD to be 100% successful in public. 

When Is He Ready to Begin Public Access Training?

Before taking Bello into any business, either public accommodation or pet friendly, I made sure he was 100% toilet trained and 100% vaccinated. It is important for your dog to learn the exact places where toileting is and is not approved. If you never allow him to toilet in a business as a puppy, he will never do so as an adult. Working dog or not if at any time your dog does toilet in any business, pet friendly or not, always clean up after your dog. The employees are not there to clean up after your untrained canine! 

Dogs that are not fully vaccinated are at risk for catching diseases from other dogs. That's why young puppies should not interact with unknown or un-vaccinated dogs until they complete their puppy series and the vet says it's okay. Another vaccination issue that many overlook is rabies. Many vets will recommend holding off on rabies vaccinations until the puppy is 4 months old. Rabies is not generally given before 3 months of age because the immune system is undergoing too many changes between 8 and 12 weeks for the rabies vaccination to be effective. If your puppy accidentally nips someone or even just bumps into them with their mouth open, his razor sharp baby teeth may scratch or make a tiny puncture. That alone is enough to get him quarantined right in the middle of his basic socialization period. This in turn can cause setbacks in any training you might be engaging in. Be especially careful who you let near his mouth until he is vaccinated for rabies. Either restrict contact to friends and family. 

Set Goals for Every Outing

Bello's experiences during SD training will be controlled by me so that he only has good experiences.  I want to set him up for success! My goal for Bello is for him to grow into a SD who is confident and happy in his work.  I will protect him from anything that might be unpleasant.  That means avoiding venues that are loud or have too much activity, avoiding confrontations at all costs, and avoiding negative encounters with other animals.  One of the most common experiences large dogs seem to experience is small dogs who act aggressively towards them.  I often will keep Bello away from small dogs and their owners who show no effort to correct their dog’s behaviors. Many small dog owners do not seem to understand that just because their dog is small doesn't mean they are not aggressive. This is often a nuisance, especially with a working dog in training. I want to assure Bello of a positive experience. I choose specific times and places that we visit public places for his training experiences. 

A trainer/owner/handler cannot drag their SDIT everywhere and expect him to learn by osmosis. I take Bello with me only when I can devote my full attention to him and his training currently so he doesn't develop bad habits or have a bad experience. Public access training is not about teaching him to be inside a superstore or restaurant, it is about teaching him to perform and respond to commands reliably even when surrounded by distractions. If he's sitting there being distracted because his mind isn't occupied with doing something constructive, then I am teaching him how to be distracted in public accommodations instead of how to work in them. ADA.org

Keep following us as I journal Bello's progress to becoming my next SD! I didn't realize until last week when a friend made a comment to me how noticeably my behavior had changed since NaKoda passed away in July 2016 and beginning my training with Bello. I knew it had and felt it had but I didn't realize it had become noticeable to others. It will be good to have a SD again who will be able to help me. 

https://adata.org/publication/service-animals-booklet