I was faced with a disheartening reality when I compiled statistics after my first three years of coaching owners to train their own service dogs. Over 85% of the dogs who walked through my door were unsuited as potential service dogs, due to health or temperament. Because of this, most of my initial consultations focused on helping the owner to understand why their dog was unlikely to meet their career goals.
In fact, out of the first five service dog consultations I conducted, two of the dogs had already bitten someone, and two of the dogs were physically unsuited to work.
This is why I developed a set of services to help people find the right dog to train as a service dog. As a result, our clients’ success rate is now much higher! Most of the people I help to find a dog end up with the right dog.
Still, most people opt to find a service dog without any direct guidance from a service dog trainer. If you’re one of those people, here are a few tips to help you increase your odds.
NOTE: Because this is a short article, I must address large concepts with broad strokes. Consider each point as something to think about and, ideally, discuss with an experienced trainer that understands dog behavior and service dog training.
1. Breed Matters
The American cultural story is that anyone can become anything if they work hard enough. While we may not like the idea that some dogs are ill-suited to a particular job based on genetics, a service dog’s health and their temperament are the foundation from which everything else is built. Just as not every human can be an Olympic athlete, not every dog can be a service animal.
Breeds were developed by selectively choosing certain traits to be passed along and others to be avoided. While there are always major differences among individuals, hundreds of years of breeding does make a difference.
Generally speaking, a service dog candidate should be
- Relaxed and friendly with people and dogs
- Food-motivated
- Low-prey driven
- Relaxed and confident around new things
- Unbothered by sudden or loud sounds
- Eager to work and train
- Biddable (have some innate interest in doing what’s requested)
- Easily able to relax and nap anywhere, tolerating long stretches of boredom
For more details on what traits are needed for a public access service dog, please watch the free video on our website.
If that description sounds like some Labrador Retrievers you’ve met, it’s no surprise that Labs are the overwhelming favorite of most of the world’s assistance dog programs! Labs and similar breeds (such as Golden Retrievers) were bred to work cooperatively with people, to have low prey drive, and to happily tolerate unpleasant conditions, three traits that also make them a good service dog prospect.
The most common mistake we see with breed choice is based on the idea that because a service dog is a working dog, they should get a high-drive herding breed that loves to work (such as a Border Collie, Australian Shepherd, or Australian Cattle Dog). While these breeds tend to be biddable and a joy to train, they often have trouble settling for long hours (think about what’s needed if you’re at your desk for work or waiting for hours at the emergency room).
Guarding breeds are another potentially risky choice. Dogs bred to guard the home or livestock against people or animals are often tense when surrounded by strangers in public, and are more likely display aggressive behaviors (growling, barking, etc.). Does the breed standard for a breed you’re considering include descriptions such as “loyal,” “courageous,” “protective,” or “reserved”? These are often euphemisms for dogs that may have a tendency toward reactivity with strangers.
Is it possible to successfully train a service dog from a nontraditional breed? Yes, definitely. I’ve trained with dogs from nontraditional breeds many times. But this requires you to search for individuals that are the exception to the breed. Then, you have to hope that breed typical characteristics don’t emerge until well into social maturity (usually between one-to-three years old). Since training a service dog is already a monumental task, it makes sense to stack the odds in your favor with breed choice.
2. Find the Right Lines
Even if you pick a likely breed, you still need to pick the right individual dog from that breed. If you’re getting a puppy, a crucial starting point is to look for breeders who are selecting for the traits that are most important for a service dog.
One critical aspect is to choose a dog bred to be a pet (or therapy or service animal) and NOT from working lines.
What are “Working Lines”?
All dog breeds were originally created to excel at a particular job, e.g., retrieving ducks, killing rodents, driving cattle, or lying on a monarch’s lap.
Breeders who breed dogs to do what they were originally bred for (hunting, protection, herding, etc.) have “working lines” dogs. This is different from those who breed with the intention of creating great pets.
While Labrador Retrievers are generally a great choice for a potential service dog, Labs from working lines were bred to hunt. Hunting dogs are high energy and have high exercise needs. Since service dogs spend a lot of time settling by their handlers’ feet, working lines Labs tend to get frustrated, antsy, and barky when trained as service dogs.
Assessing whether a breeder or a dog is from the right line is complicated! It’s not as simple as asking what their dogs’ energy levels are because “moderate energy” is very subjective depending on where you live, what you’re used to, and what you’re comparing it to. However, a great starting place is whether the breeder you’re considering hunts with their dogs or references their lines’ working abilities or titles. The best breeders for service dog prospects are usually trying to breed great family dogs — easy pets that can go anywhere and get along with everyone.
3. Do Not Try to Rescue or Rehabilitate an Unlikely Candidate
In other words, do not choose with your heart (easier said than done)! This might sound, well, heartless, but this is for the dog’s sake, too.
If you need skilled daily assistance to function at your best, that’s a big job! You want the dog who takes that job to love and thrive in that work. You don’t want to “hire” an assistant who will be overwhelmed, stressed, and unable to perform when needed. That’s not fair to you – or to your dog.
You now know the rough characteristics of a dog who is likely to thrive as a service dog. Start your search with these characteristics in mind. Avoid situations that will tempt you into getting an inappropriate dog. As a bare minimum, some red flag situations include a dog that…
- Was raised in unsanitary or harsh conditions (outdoors, in a garage, in a cage)
- Has a parent with a behavior issue (aggression, fear, anxiety)
- Is Shy
- Has been returned to the shelter/rescue by a previous adopter
While it is possible – and laudable – to help a dog become the best version of itself, this is not the same goal as asking them them to achieve service-dog-level performance in the constantly changing environments required of a service dog.
4. Get Professional Guidance as Early as Possible
Many people choose their dog without professional support – relying on free advice they find online. They enroll in a puppy kindergarten or basic manners class and plan to consult a service dog trainer when the dog is ready for advanced training – task or public access training.
While this may seem reasonable in a lot of ways, if your primary reason for getting a dog is to train it as a service dog, this approach is backwards. The foundation for service dog success is the right dog. The further your dog gets in its training, the more skilled both you and your dog are, and the less you need skilled support! The MOST important time to work with a professional is before you find your dog, and then the first year of your dog’s life.
A well-run, positive puppy kindergarten, taught by a highly skilled trainer, is excellent for a service dog puppy in training because it helps with socialization. But if you are training a service dog, it may not be enough. Specialized service dog classes can provide additional support and guidance to get your pup started on the right paw and prevent training or management issues down the line.
Nowhere does the saying “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure” better apply than in service dog training!
Learn More about Finding the Right Dog
Getting guidance from an expert service dog trainer early on in the process can save you incalculable time and money. It may be difficult to think about spending money on dog training when you don’t even have a dog yet! However, that is actually the best time to invest. We have never yet heard a client say that they regretted investing in preventing a problem.
On the other hand, we hear very often from people who are full of regret for not contacting me sooner. The long-term costs of which — in time, heartbreak, and money — are much higher.
Remember Katy, from the short video at the start of this article? She said she would have had “zero chance” of finding the right dog without our help. Even though she’s a smart, educated person who knows how to research (a lawyer!). She has more to say about what was difficult about the process of finding and training a service dog, and what she wants others to know who are in her shoes:
Training a service dog is a journey with many twists and turns. Would you like help to make the path as smooth as possible? To find just the right fellow-traveler?If you’re looking for the right dog, join me for an invaluable two-part workshop, “How to Find Your Future Service Dog.” You’ll learn how to assess programs & breeders to get the RIGHT dog, pros and cons of puppies vs. adults, breeders vs. rescues, the search, selection, & assessment process, costs, timelines, and more. The course, including all supporting materials, is $150. If you ever plan to use our private Dog Search Support services, this webinar is a prerequisite. To purchase the recorded webinar GO HERE.
