Selecting A Service Dog
In this lecture, Selecting a Service Dog, Barbara Handelman will cover the four most common resources through which disabled individuals find dogs to assist them with the challenges of daily life. A disabled person might apply for a dog through a service dog training organization; buy a puppy from a reputable breeder; adopt a puppy, adolescent or adult dog from a shelter or rescue organization to train for themselves or with the advice and support of professional trainers; apply to adopt a career change dog from a service dog training organization. Next, Barbara will discuss the pros and cons of each of these options.
Selecting a service dog candidate for service dog careers is risky business. Dogs change as they develop, and who they become is influenced by temperament, puppy enrichment experiences, early socialization, and innate breed predisposition to certain drive patterns. Approximately 50% of dogs who enter training as assistance dog candidates do not ultimately enter the workforce or retire early for a variety of temperament, stress, or physical health related reasons. These are daunting statistics.
Join Barbara as she weaves together twenty years of professional work in the service dog field and her personal journeys with the extraordinary dogs who became her own assistance dog partners and those who were simply wrong for the job.
Course Objectives:
- most common resources to find service dog candidates
- pros and cons of each of these options
- various influences on service dog candidates
- success and failure statistics of service dog candidates
- Barbara’s 20 years of personal experiences with service dog candidates as a professional
Speaker: Barbara Handelman, M.Ed., LCMHC, CDBC
Over the past twenty years, Barbara has selected service dog candidates for herself, clients, and friends. It has been both a personal and professional roller coaster ride. Since 2005, Barbara has had seven service dog partners she selected and trained for herself with varying degrees of success. She has studied and published materials on temperament evaluation for working dog candidates. She also created the DVD series Clicker Train Your Own Assistance Dog, based on her own training experiences.
NOTE: Both the Live and the Recording are approved for the same amount of CEUs.
Cost: $25.00 USD
CEU’s Available:
2 CCPDT CEU’s
2 ABCDT-L2 CEU’s
2 NADOI CEU’s
2 PPAB/PPG
Members of APDT, CCPDT, IAABC, ABCDT-L2 or NADOI receive over 25% off.All Lecture Series Webinars are only $18.00 each. See instructions below on how to find the password to take part in this professional discount.
IAABC members, Click HERE to apply your discount.
Email cheryl@e-trainingfordogs for the passcode.
NADOI, CCPDT, ABCDT-L2, PPG, IACP and APDT members, click HERE to apply for your discount.
Email cheryl@e-trainingfordogs for the passcode.