# Service vs Pet



## SableTMC (Oct 12, 2013)

Lots of online research convinced me to get a dog from a decent breeder to raise and train for seizure detection/response. Since we definitely aren't in the ballpark for a $7000 trainer, I'm wondering if poodleforum can give my family insight on how we should treat puppy differently than a pet.

Thanks in advance


----------



## Tiny Poodles (Jun 20, 2013)

One thing for sure, is that you want to get a calm but confident - not highly reactive dog and begin work from day one on it having excellent public manners - because even if the dog does it's job alerting, they cannot be a service dog unless they have impeccable behavior in public!


Sent from Petguide.com Free App


----------



## Mom-n-Reiki (Jan 6, 2013)

My biggest advice is usually the hardest for people to understand so if I sound cold, bear with me.

First, find a puppy that is a 3 or a 4 on the temperament test scale or, even better, a breeder that already has working service dogs on the ground so they can help you find the right pup.

A service dog is to be considered medical equipment (but alive duh!) And your partner first, and a cuddly fluffy thing second. There is a chance your puppy will "wash out" of training and you need to be aware of it and do yourself and the dog a favor and start again with a different dog. Some dogs just aren't cut out for SD work. It is a very difficult decision to make and you need to decide if the pup does wash out will you have the finances for two dogs or will you have to rehome it, and stick with your decision.

If your dog shows aggression or extreme fear, it is not a good candidate and needs to be washed out. If it just does not want to work, it needs to be washed out. If it exhibits too mich stress, wash it out. It needs to be "bombproof", not bark or startle easily at noises or distractions, it will be kicked, hit, yelled at, fussed over, hugged, and pet wether or not you want it to. It needs to be housebroken (a SDiT just peed in our local Wal-Mart last week and caused a fuss for other service dog users). Also check with your state about access rights for Service Dogs in Training (SDiT) and become familiar with state and federal service dog laws. And can YOU handle the stress of dealing with people in a calm way when they try and deny you access or bother your dog, or are rude to you and your dog? Will you stand up for yourself when people try and bully you? (This part was hard!)

As a puppy you need to socialize more than you would for a pet dog, but still at a pace to prevent pup from becoming fearful. Learn when fear periods are and avoid outings during those for best success. Set boundaries immediately. This is not a pet and spoiling it and becoming lax on training and boundaries now can be detrimental in the future. I also start teaching object names and "pick it up/take it"when they are about three months old as well. Ten weeks I teach and encourage good walking habits and by six months really enforce them if we are still having issues. Four to five months I start training alerts.

Now the good news:
Spoos in general seem to have a relatively low wash out rate among owner trained service dogs. I'm actually planning on going back to one. They want to work and do their job well and they seem to tend to pick up on alerting very well. My Reiki gave his first alert when we were still driving back from the breeder at 8 weeks old. I was speaking with a trainer from one of the SD schools and he admitted he LONGED for a spoo or two in his kennel just because they are so easy to work with. I also really liked working with a spoo in public because they don't shed. I get embarrassed when I go out with a shedding dog, especially in a restaurant because I feel like the dog is just leaking hair (which is silly but I have never been more conscious of dog hair since a poodle!)
The AKC CGC test is a good way to test your obedience skills and I use it as a marker of when tk start public access training.

Having a service dog is, in my opinion, both a blessing and a curse. Raising and training your own can be heartbreaking, frustrating, but ultimately rewarding. The wash out rate for owner trainers is high, usually only one in four or so make it through the two years of training. In a big litter of...maybe eight, only two or three might be pulled as potential candidates. Washing out a dog is by far the hardest thing I have ever gone through in my life. Dealing with the people will try every bit of patience and strength you have (not not killing them when they let their kid hit your dog takes even more!  ) It is an amazing partnership for you and your dog but it is a hard road to get there. Is it worth it? I think so, but I would give it up if there was a better way to treat them or if they would just go away all together. I apologize for focusing so heavily on the negatives, but they tend to get glossed over and many people don't realize a lot of them since the dogs do so many amazing things for us. Usually it's better to see both sides of something before getting into the thick of it.

Feel free to PM me if you want any help with specific task training or have any questions. 

Best of luck and hopefully this helped!

Sent from Petguide.com Free App


----------



## SableTMC (Oct 12, 2013)

After reading that I'm optimistic. The last litter from this dam/sire was mostly 3&4 with 2 pups going into service work. And I figure when we go out if people get to bullying about the dog then I'm going to have to take a deep breath and remember to be a good example for our daughter. You mention that Reiki first alerted at 8 wks?! That's impressive. I thought it had to take about 6mos for a dog to even focus enough to pick up an aura. Well congrats on having such a good dog and if our puppy washes out then I'llhit you up for info on your dog'sbreeder


----------



## Mom-n-Reiki (Jan 6, 2013)

That's a pretty good reason to be optimistic! 

I have PTSD that is pretty severe. I believe puppies notice this faster because they are really tuned into people's emotions, and dogs (especially poodles in general but puppies seem very intuitive). So usually when I start to have an attack, they tell me something is up and it is up to whatever other himan is around to reinforce it if I cannot. Reiki would not stop licking whatever skin he could and would get in my lap, and I have had two dogs that would hot me as hard as they could with their paw. My greyhound makes a weird yodeling sound at me. But you also need a pup that is brave enough to come to you. Some will run the other way when mom starts acting strange. 


Reiki was an amazing boy but he passed away last May. The Akita I bought to replace him was almost as good as he was until she hit about seven months and became horribly dog reactive and I had to place her (she got attacked several months prior by a smaller dog amd we couldn't get her over it). I've been working with a greyhound since and he has brains somewhere in there but I haven't found him. His alerts, as well as my first SD's (a great dane) are pretty good but still not on par with what Reiki was doing. I might be getting a ten month old female spoo or a three month old girl depending on what my rescue friend actually gets surrendered to her, and I'm going to hang on to Cricket for now and try one of them. Cricket needs time to be a pet, or at least, that's what I think he is telling me.  I'm really hoping for the older girl, she's been in the showring so already well tempered and socialized as well as trained in basic OB, which would be a lot of stress of my plate. We have a baby due in March, so a puppy underfoot plus a newborn is a daunting idea.

Reiki's breeder retired after that litter when she developed a heart condition or I would have a puppy from her again! I know his sister went to another breeder, but we've lost touch and I don't know where she has gone. She was a wild child though!


I can't wait to see what pup you end up with! 
Sent from Petguide.com Free App


----------

