# Service dogs?



## shilorio (Mar 21, 2010)

Hey, so i am curently training my liver GSD to be a service dog, i was wondering if anyone else has ever known, worked with, or had a GSD as a service dog?
By the way, he is picking up on it FAST for being a stray, and then abused!
SO proud of this boy!


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## Rangers_mom (May 16, 2013)

We raised Ranger from 7 weeks old for the Seeing Eye. They have a breeding facility and they deliver the dogs at 7 weeks. Unfortunately he was dropped from the program when he exhibited a fear of grates. He was great otherwise so it was a real bummer. Now he is ours and he is a wonderful dog. I am thinking of training him as a therapy dog.


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## KZoppa (Aug 14, 2010)

This would be better posted in the service dogs section. There's SEVERAL members on this board who have owner trained GSD SD.


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## Natural Beauty Farm (Jun 20, 2011)

Yeah that

But if you have any questions, I've trained 22 so far and I'm working on 23 and 24 lol


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## Cheyanna (Aug 18, 2012)

I am not training Fiona myself. She has a personal trainer. He is training me along with her. Fiona is GSD.









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## shilorio (Mar 21, 2010)

OH. i didnt see the service dog section! can someone move it for me? Im not to sure how..


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## Wolfgeist (Dec 4, 2010)

My Hunter's littermate Scout is a service dog for a gentleman with Parkinson's disease, he excels at the work. Perfect dog for it!


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## Chicagocanine (Aug 7, 2008)

The school my BIL got his guide dog from, Leader Dogs, also breeds/trains a smaller number of GSDs for their program. My BIL's guide dog is a yellow Lab though.


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## Lin (Jul 3, 2007)

Tessa is my current semi retired SD, and my next SD with be a a GSD as well.


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## KZoppa (Aug 14, 2010)

OP, you can send a message to one of the mods to move this thread.


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## Xeph (Jun 19, 2005)

I have a GSD as an SD, and one in training.

What are you training your dog to do?


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## carmspack (Feb 2, 2011)

start with high exposure to all the environments that your dog will need to perform in . Make sure the dog is sound and secure - no issues , in those environments. Work on obedience so that you have a dog that is reliable in control .
It helps if the dog is "there" by natural inclination the majority of the time. Going to be uphill , next to impossible if the dog is independent , lacks focus , or has issues .


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## Lin (Jul 3, 2007)

carmspack said:


> Going to be uphill , next to impossible if the dog is independent , lacks focus , or has issues .


Ditto that, most dogs do NOT have what it takes to be a service dog. Public access work is incredibly demanding. 

Are you working with a trainer experienced in training service dogs? Service work is completely different from everything else. Alterations need to be made from the usual competition obedience training.


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## ILGHAUS (Nov 25, 2002)

Lin said:


> ... Service work is completely different from everything else. ...


This is an important fact that is so hard to get across to many. Choosing a SD is not the same as picking out a pet. Many people will say they have a loving pet that they have a great bond with and then want to proceed making this dog into an Assistance Dog. It is not so easy and that is why there are so many dogs that just don't make it to a real SD level. 

The best advice is to have someone with experience help pick out a Candidate and then be sure to get proper evaluations done from time to time. For first time SD trainers it is always going to greatly raise the chances to succeed if the owner trainer can work under the guidance of a trainer with SD training experience as even trainers with only pet dog experience will not always be the best choice.


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## Rangers_mom (May 16, 2013)

Choosing a SD is not the same as picking out a pet.Yay, it was interesting when I spoke to the trainers at the Seeing Eye when I was raising Ranger. I was told that they did not want dogs that were strictly obedience trained because their dogs had to think for themselves. If the blind person told them to do something that they perceived as dangerous they had to know to disobey. I have no idea how they train the dogs for that, but I find it fascinating.


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