Can My Dog Be Trained As A Service Dog

A person with depression may have a dog that is trained to remind her to take her medication.

Can my dog be trained as a service dog.

Service dogs accompany their handler everywhere including in public places that are usually off limits to dogs such as shops libraries museums theaters hospitals and cinemas. To apply for a psychiatric service dog you will need a recommendation from a medical doctor or licensed. Service dogs can enhance a person s independence by helping with tasks such as pulling a wheelchair opening doors turning light switches on off or picking up objects as small as a dime. Service dog training can take up to two years and these dogs usually wear a vest in public for easy identification.

The dog must be trained to take a specific action when needed to assist the person with a disability. A dog that has already served as a pet usually can t be trained later as service dog. Professionals estimate that training a service dog fully can take up to 18 months. Types of dogs trained.

Autism service dogs medical alert stability psychiatric support hearing. A service dog is a dog specifically trained to perform work for a person with a disability. While you may love him as a pet a service dog is a working dog not a pet. Service dogs are valued working partners and companions to over 80 million americans.

A properly trained service dog is a real asset to a person with a disability. However unless they have a certain set of characteristics they might not do well. If your dog can be individually trained to perform specific tasks to assist disabled individuals he can become a service dog. Halo dog training dawn hagan cottage grove oregon 97424 510 342 9364 email.

For example a person with diabetes may have a dog that is trained to alert him when his blood sugar reaches high or low levels. Training options include training him yourself or hiring a professional trainer. Review all the commands the dog has learned together with the new command and only add a newer command after the dog has adapted to the previous command perfectly. Paws service dogs are custom trained to assist people with physical disabilities affecting one or more limbs.

The ada defines a service animal as a dog that is trained to perform tasks for the benefit of a person with a disability. A disability can be a physical disability but also includes disabilities in the form of a mental illness that substantially limits one or more major life activities such as depression severe anxiety or ptsd.