Today I am driving to see the trainer with the K-9's in Special Service program. It's about a two hour drive, unfortunately. But I'm excited to see a couple of the dogs she's been training and to learn more about her training methods and to discuss the tasks I need a service dog to do.
My plan is - I think - that if the dogs from this program are well-trained and good dogs, I will select three tasks for them to train the dog for me, and then I will work with the professional trainer I would use if I had to train a service dog myself to train the dog to do the rest of the tasks I need him to do. That will be an additional cost to me but I've been told that the most difficult parts of training a service dog is selecting the dog in the first place, training the dog to behave appropriately in all sorts of public places, and proofing the dog to distractions. Proofing the dog to distractions basically means that the dog will follow commands and perform his tasks even if there are people around calling to the dog, barking at him, meowing at him, offering him food, etc. So if the program selects a good dog, trains it for public access, and proofs it to distractions, they've done the hardest parts. Training the dog to perform additional tasks should not be that difficult.
I really, really hope things look good this afternoon. I really hope this program works out.
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