Rules and Regulations

OK, you might not be able to teach your dog to ski. But, any working dog must learn how to pay attention and obey off leash as well as on. Service Work, Therapy, Search and Rescue, Police Work, Hunting, just to name a few.

Start in a safe and contained area. Using the same techniques you learned in basic obedience, teach your dog to come to you from greater distances. Retrieve is a great game, you can use it for exercising the dog as well as teaching many service related tasks. If your dog gets loose and runs crazy, that is probably an indication that they are not getting enough exercise. Too much exercise before a training session, they will just want to take a nap.

You will teach your dog to load and unload from the car and to wait patiently until they are asked to get in or out.

Here is a short list of specific behaviors, and how they can be used.

Search - to locate a wanderer
Get Help - find a person to assist
Find - specific person or items
Bark - to call for emergency assistance
Wine - as an alert, or to ask for help
Nudge - to alert to a condition, use their nose, not their paws
Snuggle - to provide comfort for certain disorders
Lay Across - to restrict movement in case of seizures
Retrieve - go get a specific item
Take, Pick Up, Bring, Drop, Give
Brace - for stability, as an anchor for getting back up, or to stop motion of a child
Pull - a wheelchair from a harness
Press the button - elevators, electric doors, door bells
Turn light off or on -
Tug on a line - with their teeth
Open the door - turn the knob
Close the door - push closed with feet

The articles on this website contain the opinions of the author and are offered for educational purposes only. Nothing on this site is intended as legal, medical or veterinary advice or to provide answers to a specific situation. Heritage Service Dogs is not engaged in the practice of law or medicine and cannot render those professional services or advice. Always consult a competent professional.