# Has anyone on here trained their own service dog?



## Prism Goldens (May 27, 2011)

I've trained multiple alert dogs for clients and also a couple of dogs to ground their people by pressure. 
I don't think Goldens are suitable breed for physical support or any weight bearing jobs.


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## holycarp (Jan 3, 2021)

Prism Goldens said:


> I've trained multiple alert dogs for clients and also a couple of dogs to ground their people by pressure.
> I don't think Goldens are suitable breed for physical support or any weight bearing jobs.


What does ground their people with pressure mean?


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## Prism Goldens (May 27, 2011)

sensing a meltdown before it gets past the point of no return, and applying pressure- usually on the person's feet (training the dog to do something totally irritating to person who isn't in need of this) though with children, often lying on top of them. It grounds a person to have pressure applied if done before an all out meltdown happens.


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## SRW (Dec 21, 2018)

Prism Goldens said:


> sensing a meltdown before it gets past the point of no return, and applying pressure- usually on the person's feet (training the dog to do something totally irritating to person who isn't in need of this) though with children, often lying on top of them. It grounds a person to have pressure applied if done before an all out meltdown happens.


Sound like a good kick in the butt would work too


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## GoldenDude (Nov 5, 2016)

The training isn't the hard part. Finding a puppy who can be trained to become a service dog is the hard part.


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## DevWind (Nov 7, 2016)

Mine isn't a service dog, but would probably be able to qualify as one in Ohio. Don't worry....no fake service dog here! I've trained him to pick things up for me. Maybe trained a little too well. I showed him at an obedience trial last weekend and the judge dropped her pen. He was going to rush over and pick it up for her!


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## SRW (Dec 21, 2018)

GoldenDude said:


> The training isn't the hard part. Finding a puppy who can be trained to become a service dog is the hard part.


The training is the expensive part though. 
Washout field trial dogs are sought after for service work because of their obedience training.


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## GoldenDude (Nov 5, 2016)

SRW said:


> The training is the expensive part though.
> Washout field trial dogs are sought after for service work because of their obedience training.


If someone wants to train their own service dog, a washout field trial dog would be a way better bet than a puppy. You can assess their fitness since they're not 8 weeks old. There is really no way to tell if an 8-week old puppy will become a successful service dog, but people rarely listen to that truth.


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## holycarp (Jan 3, 2021)

SRW said:


> The training is the expensive part though.
> Washout field trial dogs are sought after for service work because of their obedience training.


Aren't field trial dogs typically too high energy in most cases as a service dog? I was given to understand that calmness is a highly desired trait.


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## holycarp (Jan 3, 2021)

GoldenDude said:


> If someone wants to train their own service dog, a washout field trial dog would be a way better bet than a puppy. You can assess their fitness since they're not 8 weeks old. There is really no way to tell if an 8-week old puppy will become a successful service dog, but people rarely listen to that truth.


Do you mind explaining what to actually look for in a service dog? I guess I'm not familiar enough with them to know why you can't spot the desired traits in a puppy. If I can trust my working line breeder to pick out pups with high or even OTCH potential, what makes them unable to pick out a pup with service dog potential?


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## Prism Goldens (May 27, 2011)

Because your breeder who can see OTCH potential is looking for a dog who takes direction and is willing to experience new things without fear or insecurity. A puppy w SD potential is a whole other thing- SDs must use their brains and learn not only behaviors but learn to make correct choices themselves. That's why a washed field dog would be a great choice-- in the field, dogs are required to use their brains and not behave in a rote way as an ob dog is.


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## SRW (Dec 21, 2018)

holycarp said:


> Aren't field trial dogs typically too high energy in most cases as a service dog? I was given to understand that calmness is a highly desired trait.


The majority of those “high energy” dogs seen at field trials can be complete angels in the house. They know where they’re at and they know what they’re doing.


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## holycarp (Jan 3, 2021)

Prism Goldens said:


> Because your breeder who can see OTCH potential is looking for a dog who takes direction and is willing to experience new things without fear or insecurity. A puppy w SD potential is a whole other thing- SDs must use their brains and learn not only behaviors but learn to make correct choices themselves. That's why a washed field dog would be a great choice-- in the field, dogs are required to use their brains and not behave in


Oh gotcha, yeah that makes sense. I'm living with a heeler right now which messes up my perception of "high energy" lol


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## LZL (Feb 2, 2020)

I am currently training my own service dog. You can message my if you want, but I have to say I am not from the US so I am not sure if I can answer your questions.


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## LZL (Feb 2, 2020)

My SD in training is high energy. It’s a misconception that service dogs are the slow kind of dog. A service dog is supposed to do their tasks with passion. Some tasks are really complex. Dogs need to think for their own, and be motivated to go on and on and on, even when the handler is ignoring their alerts. They have to be able to keep up with the handlers lifestyle. For a dog to do all those things, it has to have an enormous drive. The calmness you see in those dogs is trained. While they are high driven dogs, at the same time they have to be capable to make themselves invisible. They can’t be a nuisance to other people. So they are taught to be quiet, or lay down for long periods of time, to heel and stay close to the handler etc. That all looks like a slow dog, but it’s just looks. It’s trained like that and for most SD’s this doesn’t come natural. In my training class there is someone else who is training her own SD. It’s a poodle with a really calm and even lazy temperament. We started training at the same time, when our dogs were 8 weeks old. Her dog was constantly complimented. The dog was so polite, serious and calm! While I had a golden retriever who was a BRAT. My dog was hyper hyper hyper, biting me, running circles, eating stuff, jumping on people, CHAOS. And people frowned on me: how could -that- become a service dog. Now 1,5 year later the tables have turned. My dog has drive, I can teach her any task I want. She will do it and she will persist. We can repeat training over and over and she will keep engaged. I taught her to be calm and well mannered so the chaos is gone. The poodle who got all this praise in the beginning, doesn’t have a lot of drive. The handler struggles a lot to teach her dog tasks. The poodle isn’t very engaged. Just wants to sit around. You can teach a dog to be polite and mannered, but you can’t really teach a dog drive.


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