Susquehanna Service Dogs Series: What Makes a Good Service Dog

Susquehanna Service Dogs Blog has just begun a new entry series entitled "What Makes a Good Service Dog". I am looking forward to reading this because I find as an owner trainer learning what established programs look for in successful candidates and why should increase my chances of selecting a dog with maximum potential (always of course remembering any can happen at any time).

News: Smartest Dog Breeds

The 1o smartest dog breeds, includes the most common breeds working as service dogs, the Labrador and the Golden Retriever. Many of the other breeds listed may have the smarts to be a service dog, but being a service dog requires more than just brains.
Some example of traits that generally keep dogs from being happy working as a service dog:/
10th Smartest- The Australian Cattle Dog-"its qualities are exceptional intelligence, alertness, resourcefulness, and a fiercely protective loyalty over its property and people." Service dogs must be able to accept strange people moving in an out of their space all the time. Cattle dogs and the number one smartest dog, the Border Collie are an example of dogs who are just plain too smart and high energy to be happy living with a person whose disabilities cause them to be low energy and in a job where a lot of time is spent waiting.
People working service dogs need dogs who are not only smart enough to do the work but flexible across the board. Some of the dogs on the list are also subject to breed specific legislation such as the Rottweiler, the German Shepherd, and the Doberman Pincher that make it even more difficult for these dogs to be affective as service dogs. Their history as protection, police, and guard dogs also tends to make the public very afraid of these dogs, which can make it very difficult to work these dogs in public. I am not saying individual dogs of these breeds don't make good service dogs,in fact, here is a page show casing Rottweiler Service Dogs. These three breeds;however, are generally classified in the dog world as "not for first time owners." Many people looking to partner with service dogs fall into this category making the amiable and forgiving natures of Labs and Goldens the top choice for most service dog training organizations. People looking for a dog to owner train should remember to look at each dog not only for smarts but the temperament to thrive in the world demanding human a partner whose energy and activity vary greatly.

Book Review: This Month's Bark Magazine Discusses Service Dog Breeding Programs and More

This month's Bark Magazine features two articles on how dog's become service dogs offering a great deal of history on the Guide Dog shift to carefully managed breeding programs as the primary source for guide dog candidates and the life of a puppy raiser. The Making of a Guide Dog is available online. I found this article particularly poignant, because this week I have been reading Dogs: A Startling New Understanding of Canine Origin, Behavior & Evolution wherein the authors express very strong, though, not wholly unfounded opinions about the general shift by service dog programs to breeding programs. (I will post more on this book later). The second article Puppy Raisers Wanted shares about the role of puppy raisers in the lives of potential service dogs. Unfortunately, this article is not available. After having raised two puppies for service dog work, I want to say to all long term puppy raisers/walkers, thank you for all that you do!

News: Assistance Dog Club Program on Temperament this Weekend

If you are within a few hours drive of the Tacoma area TACID Center and are interested in learning about how programs go about selecting dogs to enter training as a service dog, attend this weekend's meeting of the Assistance Dog Club of the Puget Sound. The program will be presented by Sue Meinzinger of Summit Assistance Dogs. The Summit program uses dogs from a variety of sources including shelters, breeder donations, and their small in house breeding program. Shiloh and I will be there!

News: NYC Transit for Denying her and her Service Dog Access

Today's New York Daily News shares a story about a woman denied access with her service dog. The story brings some important points up for people with disabilities who are partnered with service dogs, training their own dogs, or looking for a dog to train.

1. Be careful what you say about your service dog/ service dog in training on the Internet. It could come back to haunt you. "Their legal papers draw on 8,000 pages of Stamm's Internet postings, in which she suggests Wargas' breed - livestock guardian dog - is dangerous.

"Livestock guard dogs in the subways is a wonderful sight to behold. The seas of people part before us," the former ad agency manager boasted in a 1998 posting.

In other postings, Stamm discussed dog-on-dog attacks involving her previous service dog, Mishka, a Caucasian Ovcharka that died of cancer last month.

She described livestock dogs as genetically wired with "tremendous killing power" and said Mishka could be aggressive toward elderly cancer patients because "she can smell death, and she doesn't want it near her.""

2. If you decide to sue over access denials be prepared with proof of your disabilities and your service dog's task training as it relates to your disability. See Deciding What to Train.

3. Choosing unusual animals or unusually large breed dogs may increase the likelyhood you will experience access denials with your service dog. "pony-sized dog".

What kind of dog is that?

Ever since I rescued Bastien from the Seattle Humane Society people have wanted to know what kind of dog he is. Originally, the shelter has him classed as a Newfoundland mix (which was what I was looking for), we believed the other part to be Australian Shepherd. Over the years we have come to believe that he is an English Shepherd. These dogs are not for first time dog owners and must have a job. If you don't given them work they will create their own! Bastien in his retirement has taken to freeing my mother's house of vermin, keeping the peace between all the dogs, and become the office dog for my father's business.