1. Making A Difference With Service Dogs One Paw At A Time

2. What Is A Service Dog A service dog is any dog individually trained to do a task or benefit a person with a disability. This can include hearing, sensory, alert, psychiatric, or any other physical or mental disability. The task must be directly related to the owner’s disability.”

3. What Kind of Service dogs Are There? There are many types of service dogs that can help with any type of disability. Most of the time one dog can be trained for more than one disability so you won’t need a different dog for each disability convenient right? Seeing-eye Dogs Hearing Alert Dogs Seizure alert Dogs Seizure response Dogs Mobility Service Dogs psychiatric service dogs

4. What Kinds of Tasks Do Service Dogs Perform? Bracing: If you physically have a hard time getting up from certain positions, the dog can be trained to stiffen its muscles so you can put all of your weight against it to get up into the desired position. Navigation: This is the most common one (mostly seen with hearing dogs and seeing-eye dogs) Dogs are trained to listen to and understand directions given from their owners in order to get them safely to their locations. Alert: Dogs can be taught (and sometimes learn on their own to sense) if something is off with their owner. For example; a dog might be trained or learn on its own how to sense a person’s blood sugar just by smelling the person. Deep pressure: In certain situations if a person struggles with anxiety or stress the dog can be trained to do something called “deep pressure and/or “grounding”. This is an exercise where the dog puts most of/all of its weight against/on you to calm you down. Also, you can pet your dog to help you “become one with your dog” Stroke the individual hairs so you have something to physically touch to distract you from your anxious thoughts.

5. Waking a person from sleep: If a person sleeps through an alarm due to medication the dog is trained to wake the owner. Remind owner to take medications: If the owner forgets to take medication the dog can remind them by a “schedule” reminding them by nudging their med pouch or retrieving their meds for them or nudging them reminding them that every time they walk the dog it means it’s medication time. Calling For Help: If someone has overdosed on medication and they are unconscious the dog can be trained to either call 911 using a K-9 rescue phone and barking, or if the person isn’t unconscious they can write a note and the dog can deliver it to a specified person. Crowd Control: If a person gets too overwhelmed in a situation, the dog can be trained to lead the person out of the room on cue, or become a boundary so people don’t come too close.

6. A Service Dog Should Make sure the dog is focused on the owner and the owner only Stay quietly by the owner’s side at all times Look presentable to the public Ignore distractions Respond quickly to their owner’s instructions

7. A Service Dog Should NOT Defecate and/or urinate inappropriately Sniff (Unless doing trained task work) Leave the stay position Engage with other people or dogs Appear uncared for Wine bark or make un necessary noise

8. Organizations that provide Service Dogs Obtaining a service dog takes a lot of time, money and energy. It costs thousands of dollars to get a service dog because insurance usually doesn’t help pay for them. You would have to start out with an interview with an agency, then they may or may not do a home study to see whether or not you’re fit to have a service dog. Then you go out to where ever the dog is located for a 2 week training with the dog to learn individual tasks with the dog specific to your disability. Some organizations that provide service dogs are Paws With A Cause and Canine Companions for Independence but it also depends on where you live.

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