Service Dog and Therapy Dog Training

Train Your Dog to Become a Service/Therapy Dog

Types of Dog Training

The Elite K9 provides personalized training for service dog teams based on individual needs. We have experience working with children, adults, and families training their own dogs to create successful dog/handler teams. We specialize in a personalized approach that focuses on how your partnership with your service dog will help you overcome the challenges you face in your home and in public. We use balanced-reinforcement methods to teach the behaviors that are necessary for dogs working in public settings, and to train the specific tasks you need from the canine partner in your life.

Service dogs increase freedom and independence by providing assistance in everyday life. Service dogs can improve the lives of people with a wide range of disabilities, whether physical, neurological, or psychiatric. We train service dogs to mitigate symptoms of many disabilities such as: autism, anxiety disorders, depression, hearing impairment, multiple sclerosis (MS), post-traumatic stress (PTS or PTSD), severe allergies, spinal cord injuries, and traumatic brain injuries (TBI). We also often customize tasks for a specific client’s needs.

The following are examples of the most common disability skills we teach:

Alert:

• To people approaching
• As a response to your name or someone trying to get your attention
• For specific sounds, such as alarms, ring tones, sirens, or vehicles backing up
• For certain smells, such as smoke or gas
• Go seek help from someone else when you are having a medical emergency
  
• Press a medical alert button for designated emergency contact
• Wake-up alerts

Calm:

• Apply or receive deep pressure therapeutically
• Cuddle on cue
• Interrupt repetitive movements or compulsive behaviors
• Lead to an uncrowded area or place to sit down
• Respond to an anxiety or panic attack
• Interrupt nightmares or night terrors

Retrieve:

• Get personal items and bring to you, such as keys or cell phones
• Carry items for you
• Open and close doors, cabinets, drawers, or appliances to bring you something from inside
• Bring medication to you at a designated time

Support: 

• Act as a positional buffer – behind, in front, looking the opposite way, or circling
• Turn on and off lights, including turning on the light for you before you enter a room
• Open and hold doors
• Provide bracing for you to stand up or steady yourself
• Tug or hold clothing, socks, and shoes to assist with dressing and undressing
• Pull to assist manual wheelchair propulsion
• Target away from walking out into a street or other dangerous areas
• Offer a signal that allows you to politely excuse yourself from the company of others

Detect:

• Triggering odors
• Scent detection 

Training Your Own Dog

The Elite K9 recognizes that there are many great organizations that provide service dogs to those in need. Sadly, the number of applicants for those organizations far outnumber the dogs that are ready for placement. This often creates long wait times for individuals to receive their service dogs. 

There are many people who have, or are willing to find, a dog that could be trained as a service dog to fill a need with their family. The Elite K9 creates a customized training plan to teach your privately owned dog all the necessary skills to mitigate your/your loved one's disability. We also teach the people who benefit from this assistance so the dog can be used to their fullest potential. 

To learn more about the process and cost of personal service dog training, please read through our FAQs. Contact us for more details.

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