Week 6: Potential complications with service dogs

Faith R -

Hello everyone and welcome back to another week of the service dog blog! To recap, last week we talked about how the service dog training process has differed from my expectations, in terms of things like the actual certification rules and how lack of official certification can harm properly trained dogs. This week on the blog we are going to talk about potential complications that may come with having a service dog. After all, dogs need to be dogs too!

Complications typically include things under the category of the dog misbehaving in even the most basic of situations. For example, when encountering another dog, ideally service dogs are expected to ignore the other dog, remain calm and collected, and continue to focus on the needs of their owner. However, service dogs are still dogs like any other, so they become easily distracted by the other dog and may even cause a commotion with barking.

In addition, a service dog also must be able to go everywhere their owner needs to go, including public places and stores and the mall. Things like escalators and other rough surfaces can often snag the dog’s claws so typically service dogs will wear boots when out and about. In stores that sell things like clothes, the service dogs will also often have trouble with the tight spaces. Dogs may feel claustrophobic and upset by all the clothes brushing against them as they walk around, so this is something that just be practiced many many times before a service dog is able to comfortably shop and attend all of the errands of their owner. 

 

Photos courtesy of National Service Animal Registry and Reddit, respectively.

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    mary_may_e
    Wow, this is really interesting! In the event of a service dog complication, are there protocols in place for owners to help get their dogs refocused.

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