Socialization and building a reliable dog doesn't have a perfect rule book of instructions for the simple reason that every dog is different. There are guidelines, but no "one-size-fits-all" approach. What one dog finds distracting, another dog can work around without issue. What one dog is afraid of, another dog barely notices. What one dog is confident around, another dog can barely take the first step.

​The key to overcoming this training challenge is learning what your dog considers to be of little distraction, moderate distraction, and high distraction. The level of distraction directly affects how much your dog has to overcome in order to pay attention to you and be responsive when you ask them to do things. In this post, I want to delve specifically into how distractions change when you take a country dog into the city for a training session, and vice versa if you're wanting to take a city dog out into the countryside for a fun weekend or longer vacation. Thought and time should be given to any dog - working or companion - to allow them chances to be exposed to various differences between city/town and country/wide open spaces. 

Socialization training is a part of dog training that involves exposing your dog to various sight, sounds, and smells in a positive or neutral manner so that they do not develop an aversion or fear to it. The goal with socialization training in the beginning isn't to interact, but rather to simply learn how to experience a stimuli or event without developing an averse reaction. All socialization training begins at home, then your neighborhood, and is expanded to more places as your dog becomes ready. In this post, I'll explain why desensitization/socialization training is important for either a service dog or a companion dog, and 10 tips to help you introduce your dog to the world around them without accidentally overwhelming them or creating negative connections. 

Rushing training will get you nowhere. Training a service dog takes 1 - 2 years, because there is so much material for both the dog and handler to learn. Taking shortcuts will cause problems later on, like your dog struggling to heel through crowds, being unsure of new situations, not being able to be out of sight from you, and the list goes on. Training will be boring at times, but going slowly through everything to be sure that both you and your dog are capable at each level is vital to your success as a team one day, and their ability to do their important job day after day, under any circumstances. Tasks, especially, are very complicated actions for a dog to learn how to do, and that takes time. 

Not all dogs have the drive to help people, or the energy to be on alert for several hours during the day. A service dog not only needs to have the desire to please their person, but also be capable of focusing in high distraction zones, lay on uncomfortable surfaces, ignore temptations like food or other people's attention, be on their feet moving several times a day, or go to work and be on duty in a strange place for 2 - 8 hours in a day. Some dogs just want to romp in the yard and snuggle on the couch, and that is okay! What isn't okay, though, would be trying to force the snuggler into a rigorous life of working when they don't have the heart for it. When looking into dogs, you want a dog with medium to high energy, and a desire to be with people or their person. Checking out specific working breeds is a good idea. 

Recently disabled/diagnosed? Give yourself a year or so to acclimatize to what life as a disabled individual is like, before adding a service dog to the mix. Besides - if you're new to being disabled, it may take you some time to figure out how you need a dog to help you. 

Moving soon/new baby coming soon/getting married soon? Wait for the big life change to happen, for life to smooth out a little, and then talk about bringing a service dog into the mix, especially if you want to owner-train. Adjusting to always needing to account for your service dog's presence, their needs, and how they help you, into your daily routines can be a challenge in itself at first. Working with a service dog is a big life change. You don't want to stack big life changes if you can stagger them. 

Medical condition in a constant state of turmoil? Be prepared for owner-training to feel like you're being road hauled until you find your feet. Trying to force yourself out of bed to train, play with, feed, and exercise your service dog in training will be a hefty task for yourself several times a day, every single day for 1 - 2 years. There are no days off from taking care of your dog. Days off from training, yes. Days off from giving them structure, playtime, feeding, and general care are not a thing. Once your dog learns how to help you, your condition will likely stabilize, and things get easier with your dog's care and your interests/hobbies. Until then, you need to have a way to drive yourself into action to give your service dog's training and care everything you got. 

Training your own service dog is not for everyone. It requires personal sacrifice to spend adequate time on and off the clock ensuring your working dog is always learning the right things, and not picking up bad behaviors, a ton of patience, and can be frustrating at times. Read on to find out 5 components of training to consider when training your own service dog. 

Deciding to partner with a service dog is a big decision, not only for the disabled individual, but also for anyone routinely involved in their life. I recommend sitting down with the people who routinely help you and go through these questions together, before embarking on the adventure of finding your service dog partner. 

Many things go into creating a good service dog, but age is one of the most crucial. There is a good reason why programs start with puppies bred from reputable parents, and why most owner-trainers search for puppies from a breeder or younger dogs from a  rescue. Youth is paramount for this task. In this post, I'll discuss the service dog timeline, the importance of puppies, and advantages of starting young vs the disadvantages of starting with an older dog. ​

​Science has proven time and time again the overwhelming benefit that animals have on our lives. Primarily, the effect that stroking an animal has on keeping people calm, reducing anxiety, and alleviating the symptoms of depression. Think about your own life. How many times have you come home after a bad day and snuggling up on the couch with your cat or dog suddenly made your day 10x better? What about going for a horseback ride after a busy week? Did that ride leave you feeling calm and refreshed? Maybe in your spare time you volunteer at the local shelter. Does playing with the kittens or stroking a dog make you feel happy and relaxed? If you answered yes to any of these questions, then congratulations! You have successfully proved the scientific belief that animals make our lives better.
 
This post is the first in a series of posts I’ll write about the various purposes a dog can fill in your life. Giving a dog a purpose keeps them happy, because all dogs want more out of life than just sleeping and eating treats all day. Here, I’ll talk about what an emotional support animal is, who they can help, and how an ESA differs from other working dogs. Emotional support animals can be any animal, but for the purpose of this post, I’ll be referring to dogs as emotional support animals.