Service Dog: Looking at your needs

A few days ago I received a phone call from someone trying to understand my process for choosing whether or not a dog is appropriate for a person. Like I talked about in my last Blog, my application asks for details on their life. This is because it is going to tell me the energy level of the person, what type of household I am looking at putting a dog into, as well as, how experienced the person is with a dog.


The next thing you need to ask yourself is, what are my needs? Don't just ask yourself this, ask the others around you. I have friends that are writing lists, what do I struggle with and what does/can my dog do to help me. The other thing is, don't just rely upon your own assessment of yourself, others see things that you may miss or one behaviour you thing is an issue, actually may be completely normal or tied to something else that the dog can help with. Sitting down with the family and having a candid discussion about their concerns and needs goes a long way to create harmony in the family, you never want to receive a dog to help you, only to have your home life fall apart due to the dog.


Looking into different breeds, look at what their natural tendencies are. Going against their instinct is never wise. Some breeds are natural at picking up and bringing items, this is especially helpful if you have mobility or balance issues. Some breeds, even though they can retrieve, have genetic or physical characteristics that make bracing on them an issue, drastically reducing the life of the dog, like a Shepard. Always talk to your vet about what breeds you are considering and always have your dog/puppy physically assessed to ensure it is even a task that they can do.


Last time I talked about some dogs not being the norm when it comes to natural behaviours, this can also happen when choosing a breed that has the correct tendencies but not looking at the individual dog. Each dog is also an individual, just because you get a retriever, doesn't necessarily mean it will retrieve. Never go into choosing a dog blindly, and looking at puppies, try and match some of their natural behaviours with what you can work with and grow into what is going to help you. Getting a trainer involved will also help you not only choose the correct temperament but also assess the puppies behaviour in order to determine if they have the skills necessary.

Service Dog: Choosing a Breed

The first question people ask me is; how do I choose the dog? This is the first question anybody asks themselves when getting a dog, even a family pet. Choosing any dog should not be done because you like the way that they look, or because your family has always had that type of dog, or because you know people with that dog and they are great. I know many people who have given up pets because this is the criteria they used for picking a dog, this is also how I have received dogs myself. Many times it has nothing to do with the dogs potential, but the inability of the dog to suite the family situation that it was put into.


Take a deep look at your lifestyle. What do you do for fun? how energetic are you? what activities do you want to do with the dog? how much time can you actively spend training? what kind of space do I have available for the dog to live in?


Different breeds do have different traits and even though you may know a great Boarder Collie that has the correct temperament and fits into a household exactly like yours, that doesn't mean that every Boarder Collie will display these traits and have these needs. Choosing a herding dog as a service dog, or even a pet, comes with many challenges, however if you do not have the right household, space, time and energy to fulfill the natural needs of a dog like this, then training becomes a lot harder, longer and the dog may end up suffering in trying to go against some of it's natural instincts. If you are determined to stick with a breed that typically would not fit into your lifestyle, like having an apartment and wanting an Australian Shepard, look at older dogs and see if you can find one that is lower energy and has a temperament that matches your needs and ensures that you can fulfill theirs.


As puppies age and mature, they go through phases, sometimes growing into breed traits that they didn't have as a puppy and sometimes growing out of them. As a very little puppy, I had never heard my dog bark and he stuck to me like glue. Thought it was something I did not have to worry about. Barking and running are two traits of his breed, but felt like I would not have that issue. At about 8 months old, he decided barking was his new favorite hobby, and that the world was a big place that he just had to see. Because these traits were indicative of the breed, they were very big challenges to overcome and things that I work on to this day, but I have the time, energy, space and knowledge to adequately work with his behaviors, and give him an outlet, otherwise he could have become highly destructive.