Other service dog training

Service Dog Progression Training Program

Service dogs are capable of providing a wide variety of benefits helping people with physical, medical and phycological conditions.  We can offer assistance training a variety of service dog tasks and preparing partners for public access.  We have experience working with dogs trained for medical alerting, balance and mobility, autism, PTSD, anxiety, panic disorders, physical limitations, and a collection of tasks.

Many tasks provide relief or assistance in a variety of ways and a few are relatively easy to train. For the purposes of a Service Dog and rights to public access, a task must be trained to assist with a disability associated with the handler. What this means is while it is true petting your dog naturally lowers one’s blood pressure and reduces stress, it does not meet the requirements of a trained task. Training your dog to lick or nudge you to interrupt nervous tendencies like rapid breathing and nail biting prior to an anxiety or panic attack is a trained task. While we further receive the benefit of feeling comforted by stroking our dog from head to tail, that in and of itself is not a trained task; however, being trained to apply deep pressure to alleviate anxiety and reduce panic qualifies as a service dog task.

Retrieving is a popular service dog task.  This is helpful for people with physical limitations, but also a very useful skill for medical alert dogs. Dogs can recover dropped objects, retrieve objects off shelves, pick up a cane, help with the laundry, bring a glucose testing kit, medications or even a juice box.

Other tasks such as opening and closing doors, turning lights on and off, alerting to sounds, applying pressure and tactile stimulation are just a few ways dogs can help people.

Deep pressure and tactile stimulation are beneficial for people with anxiety, apathy, dissociation, distractibility, fear, feelings of isolation, flashbacks, distress, increase in heart rate, nausea, sadness, sensory overload, migraines, seizures, interrupting unwanted behavior and so much more.

Dogs can be taught to alert their owner of unwanted behaviors and physiological changes like aggressive driving, changes in breathing pattern, hyper focus, increased heart rate, irritability, muscle tension, restlessness, self-mutilation, nervous behaviors and odors resulting from chemical changes in the body.

Service dogs can provide stability and support for balance, wake up their partner during a nightmare, seek help from a family member, serve as a barrier, interrupt behaviors, alert to low and high blood sugar levels,  an oncoming migraine or epileptic seizure, protect owners head during a seizure, provide comfort and companionship, ease depression, and the list goes on.

For people struggling with PTSD the following tasks can be helpful:

• Alerting to an alarm, person approaching or other sounds

Waking up from a nightmare

• Providing pressure and heat to distract from a migraine
• Interrupting self-harming behaviors by nudging or pawing
• Calming an anxiety attack by placing paws on shoulders or body over legs
• Applying deep pressure by draping across chest or lap
• Nuzzling hands at start of anxiety cues like leg jiggling, nail biting, fidgeting, hair pulling, picking
• Checking the perimeter of the house and rooms
• Touching/physical contact while walking through a crowd
• Barrier between individuals and handler by blocking in front and covering in back
• A social bridge by inspiring conversation, redirecting focus or as an excuse to escape 
• Guide to an exit

Households with an autistic family member may be helped by a dog trained to: 

• Respond to an alarm by touching the owner, removing blankets and turning on lights
• Lead to an alarm set for a pill dispenser or kitchen timer
• Alert to a smoke alarm and lead out of the building
• Fetch objects prior to leaving like keys, wallet, or a list
• Alert to the sound of the handler’s name
• Respond to sounds like the phone and doorbell
• Lead to the source of a sound
• Signal the handler when stimming, especially if harmful behavior
• Find a family member in the home to get assistance 
• Carry a note to a household member
• Lead through a crowd
• Apply pressure by draping or leaning
• Provide as a social bridge by inspiring conversation, redirecting focus or an excuse to escape 
• Serve as a transitional object 
• Be a tether for wanderers

While not a trained task, dogs are valuable for teaching empathy, husbandry, accountability and responsibility.

Dogs can assist people who have seizures by being trained to:

• Push an emergency button when the owner is down and displaying rapid movements
• Locate and retrieve a phone
• Seek out assistance or alert by barking for help
• Lie under the head to protect it from hitting objects
• Provide deep pressure therapy
• Tactile stimulation by licking helps bring back awareness and decrease recovery time
• Brace or balance for stability after seizure
• Retrieve medication
• Alerting to the onset of epileptic seizures

Some dogs will instinctively alert prior to the onset of non-epileptic seizures, and we can encourage that behavior; however, there is not a reliable method to train this task.

Dogs can assist with anxiety by being trained to:

Alert and interrupt anxious behaviors like leg jiggling, hair pulling, picking at body, heavy breathing, and nail biting.

• Apply deep pressure therapy
• Provide calming tactile stimulation 
• Stimulate awareness of an onset 
• Provide comfort during episodes
• Seek assistance 
• Retrieve medications or a phone

Dogs can assist with mobility by:

• Serving as a brace
• Assisting with balance, 
• Pulling to help owner up
• Holding doors open
• Providing a barrier 

Medical Alert Dogs are incredibly useful for: 

• Alerting on high and low blood sugar levels
• Retrieving objects like test kits, insulin, juice box, meds
• Seeking or barking for help

From my research, dogs can be taught to alert at the onset of migraines, and 30-45 minutes prior to a Chrohns attack using the same training method we use for training Diabetic Alert Dogs. 

Dogs can be trained to do all of the above and so much more.  These are examples of tasks trainers at A Canine Experience can assist with.  If you have other needs, please ask, we may be able to help. Every training program is catered to the needs of the partnership. 

To inquire about the Service Dog Progression Training Program, fill out the application and submit it to info@acanine.com.  Please call the office at 360-488-0639 if you need any assistance and to schedule a 15-minute phone call with a trainer.