# "Service dog" homes



## msvette2u (Mar 20, 2006)

Just a question for y'all in rescue.

Do you adopt dogs to service dog situations? Where the potential adopter plans to train the dog themselves (for their own use)?

I personally avoid that because of the high potential for "failure" in the training of the dog and thus the dog being given up or given back to us.

We had a hunting dog, once, for instance. Sweetest Pointer you could imagine. But I didn't want her going to a "hunting home" in case she sucked at it, and her owners would be disappointed in her.

I like our dogs going out to pet homes so there's no chance they can fail at some job they were adopted for.

Thoughts??


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## RebelGSD (Mar 20, 2008)

Good question. 

I avoid "working" homes and have regretted several situations that I tried. I feel that rescue dogs have been through a lot in most cases, and putting them into a situation where they have to satisfy high, sometimes unreasonable, demands is not in the best interest of the dog. Not fair to the dog to set it up for failure.

After interacting with several people from s&r and seeing how they treat and discard dogs, I am particularly biased about letting dogs go to S&R. One woman was searching for a S&R dog to train, she is on a FEMA team and all sounded very flashy. Our dog (luckily) turned out to have insufficient drive, so she moved on. Well, maybe 6 months later she contacted us to surrender her 4yo dog from great working lines, trained s&r. reason: she did not have the time for him. Around that time we had a pretty good applicant who I thought could be a good match for her dog. I talked to the applicant and he was interested, so I sent her an email suggesting that they should talk. She sent me really nasty email that she will not talk to people about her dog because she does not have time and that is my job (for the big bucks she was not paying me). And because strangers have more obligation towards her dog than the loving owner. I wonder whether, when the child is not home, the family should call s&r rather than checking with friend and neighbors first. I also did not like how the group I trained with for some time treated dogs. So I would not place one into a s&r home.

We also have a young pup that was evaluated for police work. After 6 weeks they returned him, told us that he was too young and they wanted a dog who could start working quickly. So we had to start looking for a home all over again. I would not do it again.

We had several cases when people were looking for a service dog for a disabled child. However, the mothers sounded so stressed out and over the edge, that I don't think they would have had the patience for a rescue dog.

I think rescue dogs are better off in pet homes with people willing and able to give as opposed to demand.


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## msvette2u (Mar 20, 2006)

> I feel that rescue dogs have been through a lot in most cases, and putting them into a situation where they have to satisfy high, sometimes unreasonable, demands is not in the best interest of the dog. Not fair to the dog to set it up for failure.


Well said, thank you for the input, that's what I was trying to say, but you said it better


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## Magwart (Jul 8, 2012)

These are very interesting experiences. It gives me food for thought, as we've had some people looking for working dog candidates contact us, but it had just never worked out (as there were always complicated transport issues), and the dogs went to loving pet homes instead. We were open to the possibility at the time, though.

I had no idea people who work dogs are so prone to discarding them. Yikes. Thanks for posting.


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## RebelGSD (Mar 20, 2008)

A fraction of working dogs wash out, it can happen a year into training. You have to make sure that you have a bulletproof adoption contract so that the dog comes back to you if it washes out.
A rescue I fostered for adopted a dog out for police dog training. During a training session the dog bit the trainer's 4yo son. Why a 4yo was near the dog during training is beyond me. The trainer euthanized the dog without contacting the rescue. It was big issue and the rescue created a separate contract for working dogs to prevent this from happening.


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## msvette2u (Mar 20, 2006)

When I worked @ a kill shelter, it was awesome if someone wanted to snag one for a working program.
Now that I'm in rescue I'm a control freak LOL


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## flynbyu2 (Apr 29, 2012)

Although I am not affiliated with any dog rescue, I would hope that all dogs are given a chance to be adopted out to possibly become a working dog.

I work a police K9, and until you see the excitement and yes, even PRIDE that working dogs exhibit, you cant fully understand what you're preventing the dog from experiencing. 

Working dogs are very content and non-destructive after a day of work. We train our dogs at least an hour a day, and trust me it is the highlight of their day. Even though we call it training, the dogs consider it play.

Every dog deserves a chance to have a job!


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## msvette2u (Mar 20, 2006)

While I agree (wholeheartedly) we have a contract that states the owner can't give the dog to anyone else, and also that if they have to give it up, they will give it back to us.
The service dog orgs don't do that; they adopt them out themselves, to someone else, so it would not work in our case.

I do think the service dog orgs should get dogs from shelters. We used to screen them for that when I worked @ kill shelters in fact.


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## Gharrissc (May 19, 2012)

I don't usually adopt out to service dog homes,but have made an exception twice.One lady was looking for a Therapy dog (which I know isn't a service dog) to take to nursing homes. I happened to have a Rottweiler/GSD/Pit mix who had the perfect temperament for it. She was certified and is still working. 

In 2010 one of my Shepherd fosters actually alerted on an adopters son before he had a seizure.This dog was always very calm,but became very unsettled and actually started pacing around the little boy.The parents or I didn't think it would work out,but realized that the behavior was due to her son having Epilepsy. I thought this was a lucky coincidence and didn't think anything of it,but the family wanted to adopt the dog as a seizure dog for their son. After mulling it over for a while,I decided to her in for an evaluation and possible training. 

I actually ran into the family at Walmart and could tell that I made the right choice by allowing them to adopt her. She is the little boy's service dog now, and according to the family has alerted every time her son was about to have a seizure.


I don't usually tell other adopters about these two dogs because they automatically start looking for that,even if they don't need it.

So to answer the question, I would make an exception if I was sure I had a great match,and also be a companion not just a tool.


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## Lauri & The Gang (Jun 28, 2001)

Magwart said:


> I had no idea people who work dogs are so prone to discarding them. Yikes. Thanks for posting.


People who adopt dogs are just as prone to discard.

Getting it right is all in the interview, evaluation process.


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## ILGHAUS (Nov 25, 2002)

When an individual picks out a candidate to raise or train, the odds of a rescue dog becoming a working Assistance Dog are higher for those used as Hearing Dogs or In-Home Service Dog. 

Part of the interview process of adopting out a dog when there is a specific use in mind for any dog should be added questions.
* Do you have a plan if this dog does not meet your desired job requirements?
* Will you keep this dog as a pet or will you need to find another home for it?

The potential adopter also needs to be aware that if they later decide to go with a Program Trained Dog that many organizations will either limit the number of and/or types of pets in the home OR will not allow ANY other pets in the household.


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## RebelGSD (Mar 20, 2008)

Lauri & The Gang said:


> People who adopt dogs are just as prone to discard.
> 
> Getting it right is all in the interview, evaluation process.


There is a huge difference between the two. A shelter or a rescue is in no position to evaluate the probability of the dog passing all the certifications and tests, often over a period of over a year, needed for the dog to be certified as opposed to turning into a "washout" and ending up back with the rescue. The decision making process within a police department or a jail or another "employer" of the dog is not exactly transparent or willingly shared with the rescue. If the dog is owned by a department, rather than an individual, the interview process is more complicated and it is impossible to know how much flux goes on in the department over the lifetime of the dog or who will be directly interacting and be responsible for the animal.

A good pet home carries much less uncertainty for the animal than a department and a lengthy certification process (as attractive and flashy the latter may appear).


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## Lauri & The Gang (Jun 28, 2001)

RebelGSD said:


> There is a huge difference between the two. A shelter or a rescue is in no position to evaluate the probability of the dog passing all the certifications and tests, often over a period of over a year, needed for the dog to be certified as opposed to turning into a "washout" and ending up back with the rescue.


Actually, it's quite simple. It's a single question that the rescue asks the adopter.



> If the dog doesn't work out - are you willing to keep them as a pet?


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## RebelGSD (Mar 20, 2008)

A naive person would think that people give truthful answers to simple questions. The reality is that they don't. If someone wants a particular dog, they will say all the right things to get a dog. People lie when they want something.


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