We get lots of questions and requests to train service dogs but what qualities make a good service dog or things to think about if you want your dog to become a service dog.

First, is do you have a medical, mental, or emotional condition that can be something that legally can have a service dog.   This is something that needs to be discussed with your doctors, therapists, and other professionals that you are working with.

Second, if you are looking to train the dog you already own does your dog physically, mentally, and socially be able to fit the job.  This is what I will be discussing below.

Third, is your dog enjoy this type of work?  Even though you may need a service dog does not mean that your dog likes doing that kind of work.  True service dogs love what they do and at no point in time would we want to make a dog do something they didn’t want to 24/7/365 as service dogs truly are giving their lives to their owners.

So, what are service dogs anyway?

According to the Americans with Disabilities Act, “service animals are defined as dogs that are individually trained to do work or perform tasks for people with disabilities.”  The dog must not be a pet but be specially trained to assist the handler with something directly related to his or her disability.  Neither emotional support dogs nor therapy dogs are considered service animals in the eyes of the law.  Some of the different types of service dogs are Guide Dogs, Hearing Dogs, Mobility Dogs, Diabetic Alert Dogs, Seizure Alert Dogs, Psychiatric Service Dogs, and more.

What Makes a Good Service Dog?

The best service dogs are smart and have temperaments that make them easy to train as well as reliable, calm under pressure, and not easily distractible.  Breeds that have long histories of these traits and are purposely bred to maintain these qualities make the best service dogs.  Service dogs must remain focused, attentive, and responsive to their owners’ needs, and unruffled by crowds of people, traffic, loud noises, or other animals.

What Qualities Make a Good Service Dog?

  • No aggression to people or other animals (dogs, cats, birds, and small animals)
  • No reactivity barking lunging even if not in aggressive manner towards people or animals
  • Appropriately interacts with other dogs (no hackling, overstimulation, extremely pushy play, etc.)
  • No fear issues or being timid towards anything-people, other animals, objects in the environment
  • No submissive behavior towards the handler and not extremely strong willed towards the handler
  • Super balanced, easy going, and calm nature in ALL environments
  • Enjoys ALL interaction with ALL humans, social but not over the top
  • Able to focus on their handler, even if there’s stuff going on around them
  • Willingness to learn and easy to train
  • Willingness to do the same thing day after day without being rewarded all the time
  • Physically able-for Guide and Mobility dogs are they physically able to bear the physical burdens you will put on them
  • Not over the top excited about toys or treats but may like them
  • Ability to quietly relax in ALL environments
  • Travels readily in ALL forms of transportation and responds to new places, people, and things with no signs of stress
  • Accepts guidance of the handler or others giving direction and commands to the dog
  • Accepts containment-being kenneled, leashed or any other forms of physical containment by the handlers or others

What’s Next if Your Dog is a Candidate for Service Dog Work?

The next step if your dog fits all the temperamental requirements of being a service dog would be finding a training program for the specific behaviors you need your dog to perform.  All service dogs, by definition, must perform specific tasks to aid their owners with the disabilities they have.

There are many ways for the training itself and many different trainers out there.  Not all trainers train for all types of tasks or disabilities therefore researching the training facility will be vitally important.  Here is a link of a few service dog trainers here in MN.

https://usserviceanimals.org/blog/the-best-service-dog-training-in-minnesota/

For more specific information about service animals see the US Department of Justice Civil Rights Division for further answers to other questions you might have.  Their website is as follows https://www.ada.gov/resources/service-animals-faqs/