How to Train a Psychiatric Service Dog

Wondering how to get started with training a  psychiatric service dog? Don't worry, in this   video i'm gonna go over exactly what your training  options are as well as what you'll need to do to   train your psychiatric service dog so stay tuned. For the best dog training and product advice be sure to hit subscribe to my channel and hit  the bell to be notified every time i post a   new video and for those of you who don't know me  my name is lisa i am a certified professional dog   trainer and i've helped hundreds and hundreds of  pups and their parents live more peaceful lives   together all right so before we get into exactly  what you'll need to train your service dog to do   it's important for you to think about exactly  how a psychiatric service dog will help make   your everyday life better. this is because one  of the very first steps is getting a doctor's   note. the department of transportation as well  as many service dog training organizations   and individual service dog trainers will usually  ask for a doctor's note so it's best to already   have one available when you see your doctor you'll  want to outline exactly how a psychiatric service   dog is going to help you if you're not exactly  sure how a psychiatric service dog can help with   your disability, then don't worry I'm going to  talk about it when I talk about more specific   disability tasks. okay so first let's talk about  your options because there are many options when   it comes to training your psychiatric service dog  so there's the option of self training which is   completely doing 100 everything on your own  with the support of maybe some research online   the second option is adopting a already  trained service dog from an organization   the third is hiring a private service dog  trainer and the fourth is working with   a group or an organization that either holds a group  service dog training classes or does a combination   of online education and group or private support. So let's talk about the pros and cons of each so   the first is self-training. The obvious pro is  that this is completely free you don't have any   financial commitment as far as the training goes  obviously you're still committed to anything your   dog needs... but you're not paying anything for  training but the con comes with the fact that   you're gonna be spending a lot of time researching  and maybe not even doing as good of a job as you   should be. There's a lot that comes with training  a service dog - including really understanding the   laws around having a service dog so it's not just  about just really being able to train your dog or   whatnot but you really do want to be familiar with  the laws so that when you do go out in public with   your psychiatric service dog you feel confident  when inevitably you come across some roadblock   and unfortunately that's just a reality of  our society a lot of people don't understand   hidden disabilities and may ask you questions  and it can even come from a storm manager   or a small business owner who's not familiar  with your federal rights and the ada one of the   things to consider too when you have a psychiatric  service dog is that automatically you're going to   have more attention on you than just the general  public people are going to have questions point   at your dog think that your dog is really cute  and even more inappropriately some people will   take pictures without your consent i've had  this happen with a client someone literally   started taking a picture of us training so like i  said one of the cons of self-training is that you   might not feel as confident really standing around  when a employee or someone says that dogs are not   allowed here another thing to consider is state  laws so a fully trained psychiatric service dog   is protected by the ada but if your dog is  in training you still may want to practice in   public spaces now here in colorado you are allowed  to have your service dog in training as long as   they're well behaved and they're potty trained etc  but these laws vary from state to state so it's   really important to be familiar with the laws of  your specific state now you can see there's a lot   other than just the training to really learn about  having a psychiatric service dog which is why   self-training can take up a lot of time so while  it is no financial commitment the biggest con   is going to be the time the second option is  adopting a already trained service dog from a   organization now the obvious pro to this is that  you don't have to do a lot of work they're already   trained by a professional trainer and they've  already been vetted by that organization the   biggest con to this one is the waiting list a lot  of these organizations can have a two-year wait or   more which is a really really long time now the  third option is working with a private service   dog trainer and they can actually help you pick  a dog and help you all the way to passing your   public access test and provide support once your  dog is a fully trained psychiatric service dog the   biggest pro is that you have custom personalized  support but with that comes the con which is   custom personalized support will take up more  of your trainer's time meaning that it's gonna   be a bigger financial commitment now this really  depends obviously on who you work with but prices   can vary and can easily cost tens of thousands  of dollars over time now if you have the funds   for this this is an amazing option but if you  don't then my favorite option will be number four   which is to work with an organization that will  help you self train your service dog so think of   this almost like a hybrid where there's an online  component or a group class component along with   training your own dog i love this option because  number one it's going to be lower cost because   like i said it's a hybrid model of doing some  of it yourself and so the cost is going to be   much lower than strictly working with a private  trader additionally another big pro is that you   have the support of a community so usually it's  the other people that are training their service   dogs along with the actual organization itself  and sometimes it's really nice to have a safe   space where you can vent because it can be really  really frustrating when you're out in public and a   business owner tells you that you're not allowed  to be in that business or an airline gives you   trouble while traveling another big pro is that  they're going to test you out meaning that you're   going to have an unbiased person evaluate your dog  and say whether they're ready to be out in public   so you will have confidence going into stores  or any other public space knowing that your dog   is well trained now the cons of course is that  you are still training your own dog so it is   going to require work it's usually a hybrid model  so you're still going to have to spend some time   learning but it is much easier to go through an  online course where everything is outlined for you   versus starting from complete scratch and  trying to figure out what you even need to   google or research in the first place now shout  out to my favorite organization which is atlas   assistance docs that's where i volunteer and they  make it really really affordable for you to train   your own service dog and they use a combination of  online learning and the support of a facilitator   which is a trainer who volunteers to help you pass  that public access test okay so now that we talked   about the different routes you can go when it  comes to training your service dog let's talk   about exactly what your service dog will need  to learn there are two categories of training   when it comes to training your psychiatric  service dog so the first one is going to be   the public access test which is to ensure that  your dog is ready and well behaved to be in these   public spaces where dogs are normally not allowed  and the second is the actual service dog tasks   that you're going to train your dog to perform  so let's talk about exactly what you'll need to   prepare your dog for for the public access test so  the main things you're going to have to train your   service dog to do and this is not a comprehensive  list by any means if you want a more comprehensive   list let me know in the comments below and i  can make a whole video on that but in general   you're going to have a temperament test which  is making sure your dog doesn't have anxiety   around being touched being grabbed loud noises  children approaching strangers approaching etc   and this is because while it is disrespectful for  people to randomly try to pet your service dog   unfortunately it is a reality that many people  do not understand the last thing you want is   for yourself to be liable because your dog bites a  stranger or a kid because they're overwhelmed and   nervous also it goes without saying basic manners  are going to be really really important so a nice   heel sit down stay etc next is the ability to  ignore distractions like if you pass by another   dog a stroller etc your dog should be able to stay  focused on you next the public access test will   evaluate whether your dog is able to be controlled  and calm entering and exiting a building and then   of course very very important is that your dog  is 100 potty trained and not going to mark on   anything so let's get into the actual psychiatric  service dog tasks that you can train your dog to   do of course these are going to vary by individual  and where you need the most support but these are   the most common psychiatric service dog tasks  so first is deep tissue therapy which is where   you can have your dog lay down on you or even  provide a chin rest for when you're experiencing   major anxiety stress or anything that's going to  trigger your disability to become worse the second   is medication reminders as well as retrieving  medication and this is helpful if you tend to   forget to take your medication that you need  or if you need your dog to retrieve medication   when you need so an example of that would be if  you're about to have a panic attack you can train   your dog to recognize those environmental cues and  go retrieve that specific medication for you the   third one is barrier so if you're claustrophobic  or you're uncomfortable in crowded situations you   can train your dog to become a barrier and stand  between you and the crowd or train your dog to do   an orbit which is where your dog walks around you  in circles as you leave the building provide you   with some space next is the graceful exit you  can actually teach your dog to nudge you and   pretend like they need to go use the restroom so  you can excuse yourself from a group so this is   really useful if you don't feel like explaining  your disability to a group of people and you need   to leave a social situation and you can train  your dog to recognize a discrete signal to get   them to perform this behavior last but not least  is teaching your dog an interruption you can train   your dog to lick or nudge you to interrupt things  like night terrors or self-harm or if you're about   to experience a panic attack if you would like  a tutorial on any of these behaviors let me know   now if you're just trying to focus on the basics  right now i really recommend you check out my free   training on how to get your dog to focus on you  even when you don't have treats this will help   you get started with training your dog to focus  on you with a variety of distractions which is   really the first step of training when it comes  to preparing for the public access test alright   so that's it for today everyone let me know if  you found this video helpful by writing helpful   in the comments below thank you so much and  i will see you in the next video bye for now you

Channel: Lisa Gallegos - Dog Training

Views: 76,189

Keywords: How to Train a Psychiatric Service Dog, psychiatric service dog training, psychiatric service dog training options, ptsd service dog, medical alert service dog, service dog training for anxiety and depression, adhd service dog tasks, adhd service dog training, bipolar service dog tasks, how to make your dog a service dog for anxiety, Anxiety service dog training, Psychiatric service dog tasks for anxiety, can you get a service dog for adhd, service dog training anxiety, service, dog

Id: 3EIYK57_YLo

Length: 11min 46sec (706 seconds)

Published: Sun Jul 03 2022