Training of a Service Dog

By Shawn Hogendorf, Staff Writer

Editor: The training of a service dog is a long and involved process. It typically begins with folks who raise and socialize a puppy that may be selected to be a service dog. Here's an article from the "Pryor Lake American" with the story of the raising of one service dog. This article is reprinted with their kind permission.

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At just 4 months old, Jamila has big plans. As if the task of being man's best friend isn't hard enough, the focus of Jamila's life will be that of service. Although the golden retriever-yellow Labrador mix will never know or understand the things she may be destined to bring to a person's life, one thing is certain; she is headed down a path to help others.

Jamila is a 4-month-old Golden Retriever-Yellow Labrador mix that will be trained as a breeder, service dog or skilled-companion dog.

Jamila is being raised by Sue and Pete LeRoy of Prior Lake to become a potential breeder, service dog or skilled-companion dog for a person with disabilities.
These are some lofty goals for a young canine.

Only 30 percent of dogs that begin training at Canine Companion for Independence (CCI) make it through the six-month advanced-training course and graduate as a service dog, skilled-companion dog, hearing dog or facility dog to help people with disabilities.

Service dogs help adults with disabilities by performing physical tasks such as opening doors and turning lights on and off.

Skilled-companion dogs assist children with disabilities under the supervision of a facilitator to boost confidence and alleviate feelings of isolation.
Hearing dogs assist people who are deaf or hard of hearing and alert them to key sounds such as doorbells, alarm clocks and a person who is addressing them by name.

A facility dog works alongside able-bodied professionals in rehabilitation centers, hospitals, funeral homes and special-education classrooms.
When it's all said and done, Jamila's education will be worth about $15,000. She will know more than 40 different commands and be able to give a person with disabilities an increased independence along with the unspoken companionship.
After the training process is complete, the dogs are given to participants in CCI programs free of charge.

Giving back

Pete and Sue began their experience with service dogs in 1988, when their son Scott, who had muscular dystrophy, received a service dog from CCI.

The special relationship between Scott and his dog Rex was documented in a book called "My Buddy." The duo's story was told by Burnsville writer Audrey Osofsky, who wrote about the companionship she saw when Scott and Rex went to school or on walks through their Burnsville neighborhood during the 1980s. The book was illustrated

"My Buddy" is still used in schools across the United States to teach children about sensitivity to different cultures. The book was also translated into Japanese for use in schools in Japan, Sue said.

"Canine Companions changed Scott's life. They gave him a book, confidence, independence and a companion," Sue said.

As a service dog, Rex would pick up change off the floor, turn lights on and off, open doors, retrieve backpacks, push elevator buttons and get items off the shelves of stores and put them in Scott's lap, Pete said.

As a friend, Rex would sleep, eat and go to school with Scott.

"Sometimes when a person in a wheelchair or with a disability is in public, people give them an I-feel-sorry-for-you look," Sue said. "The dogs are tangible evidence that something great happened to a boy in a wheelchair."

The dog also becomes an ice breaker, Pete added. People come up and ask questions about the dog and make the owner feel comfortable, he said.

After helping Scott with various chores for 11 years, Rex died in 1999.

Raising companions

After Scott died from complications of muscular dystrophy in 2003, the LeRoys decided to raise service dogs in their son's memory.

"We were looking for a way to keep Scott's memory alive and to do things in his honor," Sue said. "It's just a great program. It's been a nice way to channel our grief and give back."

The process of training service dogs begins with raising puppies bred in California. The puppies are sent to CCI training centers and then shipped to raisers for the first 18 months.

Jamila is the fourth dog Pete and Sue have raised for a year before sending the dog off to CCI for advanced training.

The first dog Pete and Sue raised, named QT, was one of the 70 percent of dogs that fail the advanced training - as was their second dog, Vander.

"Raising the first dog, I knew that even if QT didn't pass service training, she did a service for me," Sue said. "It was good grief therapy."

Another dog Pete and Sue raised, named Curt, is currently a skilled-companion dog to a girl living in Iowa.

Jamila is the latest puppy to come into the LeRoys' lives.

Jamila is mellow, smart and picks up on things quickly, Pete said.

So far, she has learned to visit (which is like giving someone a hug by putting her head on the lap of the participant), sit, stay, wear her cape (or coat), go to the bathroom on command and lay under tables to stay out of the way.

As puppy raisers, the LeRoys' main duties are to socialize Jamila, get her into different situations she may encounter someday as a service dog, teach her basic obedience commands and teach her other simple commands to get her ready for advanced training, Pete said.

But it's not all business.

When Jamila isn't wearing her cape, the LeRoys play with her just like any other puppy.

Jamila will begin general obedience school in January. She will officially be considered "a puppy in training" on Jan. 17 and will be able to go into stores, malls and churches at the graciousness of the store's owners, Sue said.

As raisers, the LeRoys do not have the same rights as a person with a disability does with respect to taking a service dog into a store, but most store owners are cooperative, she said.

Jamila will live with the LeRoys until November and then be sent off to "college" in Ohio, where she will have a strict six-month regiment to learn how to assist her future owner, Pete said.

So far Jamila is getting good grades on the monthly reports the LeRoys send to CCI.

The reports document the puppy's behaviors. In return, CCI sends the LeRoys monthly progress reports when the dogs are away at advanced training.

After advanced training, the dogs go through an additional two weeks of training with the potential participants who will use the dogs. The dogs are paired with different people for the first couple days and the trainers at CCI evaluate the relationships between the dog and their companion, Pete said. After the two weeks of additional training, the dogs graduate and the raisers have the opportunity to go to the graduation and hand the leash over to the dog's new owner, he said.

"People ask how we can give these dogs up after raising them for a year," Pete said. "But just watching someone when they get their dog and to see what the dog will do for them it is well worth it."