"How do you decide if a pup is going to be a service dog or a companion dog?" This is a question we frequently receive from potential clients who are considering purchasing a dog from us. While all the dogs that we produce are incredible creatures, not every dog is perfect for the working life. The standards are so high for service dogs going through our program that we carefully identify pups with temperaments conducive to service dog training, detector dog training or those
better suited to in a
family dog life.
At seven weeks of age, we do what is called PAT testing, (Puppy Aptitude Test). We use a combination of the Volhard test and our own tests to determine if a pup has service potential or not. In addition to the Volhard test, we have added a couple problem solving and curiosity evaluations. Two of which are sound and smell tests. All of the tests are done in a room that the pup has never before been in, and the evaluator is a person the pup has never met. This helps to give a truer evaluation of who the pup is, and what his/her potential could be.
The Volhard test is a combination of tests that evaluate many different aspects of the puppy. Rated on a scale of one to six, they are tested on social attraction, social dominance, retrieving, as well as other things. Here is a video of one of our pups going through the Volhard section of the PAT test.
The expectation for a cuddle buddy is not nearly as intense as it is for a service animal. Since they don't have to be constantly working, and they don't need to have an incredible sense of smell, picking companion dogs is a much easier process. When we have puppies that have shown that they would better fit as a family dog, we will then look for a family, couple, or individual that best suits that particular puppy. Some pups have lots of energy and exuberance! Others are snuggle bugs and love to relax. We do our best to place pups with a family that matches their personality. Energy and wiggles thrives best in a busy family with active kids. The more relaxed calm puppy may do better with an elderly couple.
Sometimes we will have a puppy come through our program that is a bit higher drive. In those instances, we will do our best to place those pups in drug or explosive detection work. Detection dogs need to have an incredible sense of smell, while oozing confidence and work ethic. We have found our pups to excel in this line of work.
As you can see, there is much forethought, time, and energy expended as we do our best to place our Dutydog puppies and dogs in their ideal home.
Well, It's been a year since Jackie's most recent litter. All the pups are doing fantastic! This litter has landed jobs in all kinds of places!
Henry
Henry---This beautiful, settled black lab is still with us and continuing his training to be a Diabetes Alert Service Dog (DAD) for some fortunate individual. He loves to play, snuggle, and most of all WORK! He is such a problem solver, and loves to be out in public.
Daisy
Chester
Chester---Such a sweet boy!! He is in Wyoming being a fantastic companion/therapy dog for an older couple. Like his brother, he is such a fantastic boy and bringing much delight to his people.
Daisy--Petite and smart, she is also in Wyoming devoting her life to a lady she was placed with about a month ago.
Remington
Remington--This hard worker is in Canada being trained as a narcotics, explosives, and cash detection dog. Her trainer has glowing reviews for her, work ethic and intelligence!
Fun to look back and see where these dogs have gone and how they are thriving!
Jason's large family headed north and joined our even larger family for a weekend of training, fellowship, and fun!
Upon seeing each other again, Timber happily rolled over and welcomed a good tummy rub from Jason. She let him love on her awhile, but then she was right back at Jeremy's side.
Our daughter taught Jason how to make his own hands-free paracord leash.
What was intended to be a weekend to teach Jason how to scent train Timber, turned out to be a wonderful Type 1 Diabetes Retreat for both families. Both of our families have lived with diabetes for several years and have established habits and routines.
I've been to Type 1 support group meetings and have many friends who also deal daily with the disease. But to spend almost three days living together with another Type 1 family was an enormous blessing. There was time to discuss so much that a family living with this condition deals with everyday that no one else can quite understand-- emotions upon initial diagnosis, transitioning primary care from parent to son, watching them make mistakes, the scary lows and troublesome highs, managing supplies, and of course what to eat. And cooking together was just fun!
Another highlight was seeing my son not be alone in his battle. For once, he wasn't the only one in the room who had to check his blood and give a shot before he could enjoy popcorn with his movie on the big screen. Watching the boys compare numbers after a meal of Dreamfields pasta and enjoy a scrumptious Samoa cookie that was practically carb free (with no artificial sweeteners either) was just plain fun for this Mama.
Saturday morning, Jeremy gave Jason a step-by-step instruction on scent training. After doing a session with Timber, he brought in Henry, our nine month old DAD-in-training to demonstrate. This gave Jason a visual of what he was hoping to accomplish with Timber.
That afternoon, the dads, boys, and dogs went to town to work on Public Access. Although Timber has good manners, it's important that the family be trained what to expect of her in public and how to handle certain situations. Lunch out, a stop at the meat department of the grocery store, and some ping-pong at our Rec. Center provided great opportunities to work on what to expect of her in public settings.
On Sunday morning, after a last scent training session between Jason and Timber, the families said good-bye. The devoted little dog jumped into the mini-van and rode away with her new person.
Here are links to the other parts of Timber's story. Part 1part 2.
Some of you may remember Major from earlier posts. He is a DAD (Diabetes Alert Service Dog) in California that we placed back in January. Right off the bat, he and his partner were working easily together and fast building a relationship. During placement, one of the things we trained him to do was to unlock and open the inside door and the outside screen door. Our thought was when Marie, Major's handler, had her hands full, he could open the door for her. Another option was in the event of an emergency, Major could open the door for EMTs that might need to get inside. We took a video of Major just after he was trained to open the doors.
About a month ago, Marie fell and broke her hip. This training came in handy as Major was a big help through this. But enough of us writing. Marie wrote up her testimony and sent it to us. So read on!
Last month, while picking up the balls and the Chuck It that is
Major's most favorite thing to do, I moved my foot to the left, didn't
lift it up enough, and caught it on a large pebble. I fell, tried to
catch myself, to avoid re-breaking my knee and ankle. I did that, but
broke my hip instead. Since I was out in my gravel driveway in the
country, I had to get back to the house on my own.
As I started dragging myself to the house, I remembered I had something I didn't
have before, a new companion. His name is Major. He is a English black
Labrador trained to be a Diabetic Service Dog. But he is turning out
to be so much more!
He nosed open the front gate for me. He then licked me all over the
face every time I stopped. At first I thought it was because he loved
me, but then I realized it was because he was trying to make sure I was
not going to stop or pass out!
We got to the house and he pulled open the front screen door and
helped me push open the front door. He would have gotten my cell phone
for me, but my land line is right by my front door. After calling 911,
I laid down and waited. After assuring himself I was not passing out,
Major laid down and put his head on my stomach while we waited for
the ambulance.
When it came, Major barked a little , unlocked the screen door and let them in. He then lay down and hoped for a tummy rub. He followed my transport to the ambulance, climbed in and again
lay down and put his head on my stomach. As we rode to the hospital,
the EMTs were amazed! I kept telling them, "That's my boy!" like a
proud mama.
At the hospital, he followed quietly along with my bed and
sat quietly next to it when we stopped. My sister Maria
showed up and took Major out potty, where he peed on command. He was
sent home with her, not because he was not allowed to stay, but because I
wasn't able to have someone stay with me full time to take him out to
relieve himself. He got to stay at his litter sister Dropje's house
for the week! Dropje lives around the corner from my sister's.
He now walks carefully along side my walker and knows the words "slow
down" too.
Now, If that wasn't enough for him to do for me, this past Tuesday we
had another adventure. I was driving us to my primary care doctor for
a post surgery check up. On the most curvy part of the trip, my accelerator stuck and my brakes didn't work!
Good thing for my watching detective shows! I put it in neutral, hit
the brakes. Nothing. Did it again. Nothing. Finally, I stood on the
brakes, in neutral, pulled to the right side of the road and figured I
could slow down by side swiping the cement pile-ons. Luckily, the car
slowed some and I was able to shove it into park and turn off the key.
Major kept licking my face from his seat in back of me. I'm sure he
was proud of me and happy to be alive too like I was!!
So, that is the latest in the adventures of Marie and Major.
Hopefully there won't be any more like them......ever!
A few months ago we had an interesting inquiry. A woman from a nearby town contacted us about a service dog that she had "inherited" so to speak. It seems that Timber, a Blue Heeler/Australian Shepherd mix, had been "working" for a veteran who had passed away. Through a series of connections, Timber came to live with Sherry*. Sherry had been fostering the dog for several months, but really desired for Timber to be serving in her given capacity as a service dog, although it wasn't clear exactly what service Timber performed. She asked us to evaluate Timber as a Diabetes Alert Dog, because Sherry suspected that's what she was.
When Timber arrived, it was clear she was a Service Dog. Her obedience was precise and she was completely tuned into her handler, following her every move. However, when presented with the scent of low blood sugar, she gave a cursory sniff, but didn't get excited about it as our labs do. Regardless, we agreed to work with Timber to see if she could develop or redevelop her nose for diabetes.
A word about Timber before proceeding. This medium, reserved, white and black dog is so different from our lively, gregarious labradors. Although she has an exceedingly sweet disposition, she is a one-person dog. Once she decides who that one person is going to be, she establishes herself as a permanent shadow.
Sherry knew of a family with a Type1 teenage son in Colorado that she would like to see Timber serve, if indeed she was a DAD. Both Sherry & Timber and a Duty Dog's team paid a visit to the family to see if it was a good match.
Timber picked Jason*, the T1D as her person. Good start. And Jason, of course, fell in love with this devoted little dog that dutifully followed him everywhere during her weekend trial.
It was decided that Timber would come and spend a few weeks with Duty Dogs and work on scent training. And so, Timber found herself north in Wyoming once again.
Whew!! It is always an adventure training and socializing puppies. Yesterday we had grocery shopping to do, so we decided to let a couple puppies tag along. However, that is not as easy said as done. Our goal was to leave around two pm, but, by the time we finished all of our studies, chores, and were ready to leave, it was three-thirty!
Finally, in the van with four boys, two puppies, Bailey, Mom and I, we were on the road. Stopping at the post office, Mom let Wyatt, the two puppies and I off. We then walked about a block across a beautiful park to the library. The puppies did fabulous.
Cocoa and Bailey
Then we went to Albertsons, and while the others and Bailey went shopping, I showed the pups around Subway. The outside that is. They are not quite ready to go in. From there, we made our way to Walmart, were the others, again, went inside, and I socialized the pups in the parking lot. They did very well around the barking dogs you always encounter in a Walmart parking lot. You'll notice there are no pictures of the dogs in the parking lot-- that's because everyone else was shopping and I haven't figured out how to be a photographer and dog handler at once!
Lucky
It was a full afternoon for Cocoa and Lucky. However, they learned a lot, and are well on their way to becoming solid companions for their kids.
The puppies are growing fast, so here are some updates. They are starting the weening process this week and are LOVING the puppy mush. Jackie is also happy to have more free time away from the pups.
Assistance or medical dogs are very helpful in a variety of ways. They can do everything from alerting on cancer in a person to bringing the TV remote to their handler. However, there is one thing that an assistance dog should NEVER be allowed or trained to do~ being protective of their handler. Although this may sound like it would be very helpful for someone often alone in a rough part of town, this protectiveness may also cause the dog or handler to lose his life.
Imagine this;
A young women in her twenties is walking down the street with her well-trained seizure alert dog. Dusk is falling and she is on her way to her job, a night shift in a rough part of town. This young lady, whom we will call April, is feeling very safe because of her adorable new seizure alert dog. Because of this dog, April has gotten her seizures under control. They are a great team and have bonded well together. All of the sudden April slips, and falls to the ground! Her head slams into the concrete sidewalk and she is knocked unconscious! A worried bystander hurries over to see what's the matter. However, April's dog suddenly goes into protective mode. He will not let anyone close enough to see what's the matter or help her. Paramedics are called and they arrive in record time. However, this dog is not relenting at all from his protective state.
What might happen to this dog or his handler?
The dog may have to be tranquilized or even put to sleep, so that help can be administered to April. Worse yet, April's protective companion may cause help to be so late that she may have major complications or even die!
This is why we do NOT train ANY service dogs to be protective of their handlers or aggressive in any way. Service dogs should be friendly with everyone and never even growl at another dog or human, no matter what it may be up to. Hence the reason you will never find any of our dogs named "Killer".
