Flying With a Service Dog: 5 Required Skills
When it comes to flights, flying, airplanes and Service Dogs, the law is clear: your Service Dog gets to ride in the cabin free of charge. Disability or the size of the Service Dog doesn't matter, as long as the dog in question is partnered with someone who has a disability, and the dog is task trained to help mitigate that disability. Just because your Service Dog has access to the plane, though, doesn't mean they're ready to just waltz on board and go. Here are 5 vital skills your Service Dog needs before flying with you.
Thanksgiving and Your Service Dog
It's that time of year when family and friends travel, gather together and celebrate the holidays with big meals, special treats and lots of festivities. While Thanksgiving can be an amazingly fun time of year, for many people, pets and working dogs, it can be very stressful. Here are some important considerations for keeping your Service Dog happy over the coming days.
2015-2016 Guide to Service Dog Travel
While traveling with a Service Dog in the United States is your privilege, navigating airline policies, international laws, TSA regulations, security checkpoints and other commonly-encountered situations can be anything but smooth sailing. Here are some tips, tricks, guidelines and resources to ensure your trip is as stress-free as possible.
Tips and Tricks For Housetraining Service Dogs in Training
Lack of housetraining is one of the few things that a business or place of public accommodation can exclude your Service Dog for, so it’s vital that Service Dogs in Training master proper bathroom habits quickly and early. Here are some tips and tricks on how to rapidly housetrain your Service Dog in Training (or any young puppy).
5 Vital Public Access Skills Every Service Dog Should Know
One of the most commonly asked questions is, “when is my Service Dog in Training ready for public access?” While that’s a question only you or your dog’s trainer can answer, here are 5 vital public access skills every Service Dog or Service Dog in Training needs to know before beginning work in public.
Thanksgiving Food and Your Service Dog
With Thanksgiving right around the corner, there’s food, celebrating and fun galore. However, just because you’re able to enjoy something doesn’t mean your Service Dog should. Read on to learn about 10 common Thanksgiving food stuffs your partner shouldn’t have, and 5 fun options you can share instead.
Helping Your Service Dog Generalize Behaviors
We have heard the expression location, location, location as it pertains to real estate, but for those of us familiar with Canine Learning Theory and service dog training, changing location is paramount when it comes to teaching your dog to "generalize" or learn to do a behavior or command in any given situation or environment.
10 Service Dog Commandments
Few things in life have hard and fast rules and training, working and loving Service Dogs is no exception. However, there are some cardinal rules that should be followed by all teams for the benefit of the entire Service Dog community. We call these the "Service Dog Commandments."
Service Dog Quest: Impulse Control
During the 2014 Service Dog Challenge Week Four, you started reinforcing handler focus. By this point, your partner should offer rock-solid eye contact almost as a default. Now, it's time to engrain that handler focus in all situations and make it a habit. If there's something distracting going on, then self control and impulse control are the only things keeping your partner's attention on you.
Service Dog Quest: Focus, Fido!
During Week 3, your focus was on learning about the theory behind distraction proofing and changing canine behavior. Now that you've studied the concepts, it's time to put them to work in the week 4 Service Dog Challenge: "Focus, Fido!"