Dogs are the animal of choice assigned to helping the disabled.
Service dogs are defined by the Americans With Disabilities Act of 1990 as dogs "that are individually trained to perform tasks for people with disabilities such as guiding people who are blind, alerting people who are deaf, pulling wheelchairs, alerting and protecting a person who is having a seizure, or performing other special tasks."
Not every dog can be a service dog. ADA laws require that they possess certain characteristics in order to enter a training program and even then, many are eliminated simply because they aren't qualified due to something lacking in their personality, their concentration or their physique.
Temperament and Personality
Upon puppy selection, dogs are put through three basic tests to evaluate temperament; a noise sensitivity test, a body sensitivity test and a fetch test.
Noise sensitivity can be tested by dropping an object onto a bare floor. Bolting, loss of bladder or bowel control, cringing or unbridled trembling indicate that the dog is extremely sensitive to loud noise. No reaction at all could indicate deafness. The preferred reaction is a slight startling and quick recovery.
Body sensitivity is tested by pinching a sensitive area, usually between the toes. If the puppy tries to bite in retaliation or howls and squirms away and will not return, the pup has a high body sensitivity. If the dog were to be licensed as a service dog, it would not be acceptable to display these behaviors in public if a tail were accidentally stepped on.
A fetch test is done to ensure the dog will retrieve an object and will cooperate and work with his or her handler.
Other characteristics sought are calmness, diligence and curiosity.
The 'Bare Bones' (and eyes and ears and muscles)
Dogs must clear basic physical exams, performed by a veterinarian, to even be considered a candidate. Things such as eyes, ears and skeletal tests must be passed. Sometimes these will vary depending on the client’s needs and what tasks the dog will need to perform, but for most tests, it’s either pass or fail. A dog must have good vision and the eyes must be disease free. Skin, blood and stool should be free of parasites or infection. Internal organs such as liver, heart and intestines should be in good functioning order. Dysplasia of hips and elbows will be certified as sound through OFA or PennHip, two major orthopedic testing programs.
Manners
In addition to human partners, dogs, too, must "remember their manners" if they are destined to go in public with their handlers. Teaching things such as coming when called, following commands, eliminating when and where asked and not voicing when uncalled for (like growling at a person or other dog) are standard procedures for service dog training.
Obedience with Proofing
Obedience with proofing refers to a dog focusing on commands given by the handler while ignoring any distractions. Proofing often requires each distraction to be introduced separately. Proofing is the most time consuming part of training a service dog. Distractions can range anywhere from food at eye level to an interesting smell. Service dogs must be able to concentrate solely on their handlers. Many dogs are eliminated during the proofing process because they do not have the required focus.
Task Training
"Once he has a firm foundation in core skills, heeling/attention, and proofing, putting together trained tasks is as easy as teaching a dog a neat trick," according to Service Dog Central. Task training builds on those core values such as sitting, eliminating on command or dropping an object and strings them together for each individual task in a number of combinations.
Combining the commands "stand", "pick it up" and "back" can be strung into one command to open a cabinet door using a towel.
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