When it comes to service dogs, there is a ton of information out there and most of it is misleading and confusing. The first question is this- do you have a physical or psychological disability. Don’t answer this yourself, ask your doctor or therapist. Then ask them if they believe that you could “benefit” from a service dog. If they answer yes, ask them to put that in writing. No matter what you think, if you do not have a doctor willing to write that letter you DO NOT need a service dog. Too many people out there without a disability purchase credentials online just so that they can take their pet to places where pets are prohibited. Even if it never catches up with you, the truth is that you are no better than an able bodied person who parks in a handicapped space.
There is NO federal or Pennsylvania state law that requires you to pay for someone to train your service dog for you, nor is there any requirement for “certification”. However, once you have that letter every dime you spend on your service animal is 100% deductible. At that point, it is not a pet. It is a medical device.
If your disability is so bad that you “require” a service dog to mitigate that disability so that you can live a normal life, insurance may pay for it but don’t hold your breath. They are always looking for a reason to say no and a service dog is a high budget item at about $15-$25000 dollar that has a service life of about 6-8 years (with very wide variables). If you qualify and they say yes, get ready for a very long wait. There are very few places that train service dogs across the US.
The model most use is that they have someone foster the dog until a certain age and have the foster work with them on obedience. Then they come back and work on task training. Once the dog graduates task training, they will have the handler come out and spend a week or so with the dog and then they take the dog home. Personally I am not a fan of this type of training and here is why.
For a dog to be of any benefit to the handler ,they first must have a relationship. That relationship is more important than obedience and task training. It is the foundation they are built on. The chances of you getting a dog that someone else trained and bonding with it to the level I am talking about is slim. There are many who will disagree with me and that’s fine. I am saying this based on my personal experience as a a person with a disability that has handled a service dog every day for over the last five years, and as a former service dog trainer, and current dog trainer who has worked with over 3000 families and their dogs.
So if the insurance does won’t pay for it, and if they do I don’t like the idea of meeting a dog after they are trained then what do I propose? Assuming you have a note from your doctor saying that you could benefit from a service dog, here is the next question. Take inventory of your daily life, are you dedicated and capable of taking a dog everywhere you go? Just as with any medical device, the dog is of no use to you if it’s not with you when you need it. So you got the letter and have decided that you want to do this, not that you are ready because trust me you never will be, pump your brakes one more time and ask yourself if you are one of those people who likes new things but moves on as soon as the novelty wears off. If you are still into this, let’s talk about it.
You are going to want to start with a puppy at 8-16 weeks. The closer to 16 weeks the better because they have had more time with Mom and their pack to socialize and learn the way of the dog. Don’t choose the breed based solely on aestetics. Don’t get a Rottweiler if you live in an apartment and drive a SMART car. Is the dog for a physical or psychological disability, or both? A medium to large breed can do both whereas toy breeds can be great for psychological disabilities but not for physical ones. Some will be excited to hear this and others not but in my experience the best option if you are going to use a rescue is a Pitbull. They are readily available, loyal, and easy to train. Please feel free to contact me about other breeds. From the minute you pick that puppy up, you are responsible for its food, water, space, toys, and attention. You need to feed it and walk it every time. Don’t put it off on anyone else. Whichever person in a dogs life that consistently controls these things will be their pack leader. Spend tons of time with your dog, move and touch them instead of talking to them. Never correct them with their name. As and aside, please don’t slap a vest on your five year old dog and expect them to work as a service dog. The rule of thumb is that a dog starting training for service dog work be no older than two. This is for longevity in service since it takes most dogs 6-18 months before they are fully working.
Here I would like to add a few thoughts on service dogs for children on the Autism spectrum. Besides knowing dogs, my 19 year old daughter Emilie has Autism. When you live that life you know a few things. The first is that those on the spectrum typically have one or more fixations. Those fixations are their happy places that let them deal with the world. Emilie’s are new born baby dolls and food. She has always had a love hate relationship with our dogs. It changes minute to minute. Please take this into consideration when thinking about getting your child a service dog. Then think about your next 5-8 years of you and your child’s life and how a dog would fit into it. Dogs for kids on the spectrum typically require a proxy handler and that is usually Mom. Does the stress and time needed for working with a puppy outweigh the benefits of what the dog can do for them? Only you can answer that question.
Awesome, you made it to this point and everything is a go and you have your service dog candidate puppy, now what. The first thing you need to do is get the dog a leash or a vest and apply patches that say SERVICE DOG IN TRAINING. You need to take them everywhere you go and expose them to everything you can think up. Instead of the usual picking them up and telling them it is going to be OK, stand up, be confident, and don’t say anything. They need to learn that you are confident and their confidence comes from you. Don’t let them lean on you. Start by standing where the pup can be exposed to things at a distance. For the first six months let everyone pet them. There is no way to get a dog to ignore things it has never been exposed to. For a dog to be of any use, it must ignore distractions in the environment and only focus on the handler. This is the one thing that eludes many dog owners including those with “certified” dogs.
The vast majority of businesses are family with service dogs and the laws protecting them. Regardless of any “certification” the law states that failing to control your dog meaning such things as barking, growling, lunging, or going on the floor are grounds for you being asked to leave. The service dog in training identification typically gives you more leeway. People know puppy behavior from an out of control dog. If you are asked to leave, then leave. If you want to file a complaint afterwards, then do so. Personally I don’t return to places where my service dog is not welcome.
There are typically two parts to service dog training, public access and task training. The uninitiated only think about the task training (what “work” does the dog do to mitigate the handler’s responsibility). As far as I am concerned, the task work is secondary to public access. Public assess (or advanced obedience) as previously explained is nothing more than the dogs ability to do what pets do not, ignore any and all distractions in the environment and focus only on the handler and their needs. A dog that excels at this is easily identified by the fact that they consistently walk on a loose leash, don’t bark (unless trained to do so), and can be observed always looking at the handler for feedback and permission in response to everything they encounter instead of responding instinctively. This level of training is required so that the dog is stable in any environment with any distraction so that they can be with their handler to provide task training. I don’t care if your dog is trained to do CPR, if they they can’t go to the grocery store with you they will never have the opportunity to perform that task if you need it there.
It is during public access training that you really bond with your dog. You become your dog’s world and vice versa. This allows task training to begin to naturally take place and you can shape it into what you need the dog to do for you. Focusing on task training too soon will stress both you and the dog.
By this time you will be thinking about what tasks or “work” the dog can do for you. The internet is a great place to find things you probably did not even think of. You should start with 2-3 and from there with discipline, love, and leadership, the sky is the limit. There are lot of great books and videos on task training. I don’t do the task training anymore because truthfully I don’t enjoy doing it for other people. I do however offer public access / advanced obedience training.
By doing this article, I hope I have provided food for thought. If you have a legitimate disability to the point where you believe that a service dog could add quality to your life, and your doctor agrees, and you are truly dedicated, then do it. Feel free to contact us with any questions.