# 10 week Old Service Dog?? Went Missing Left In Yard? Questions..



## DanielleOttoMom (May 11, 2010)

So I love to read the news online. Yes call me nerdy but I like to know whats going on around the world. So.... I came across this article about a teens missing service dog.  Thought it looked interesting... Well after reading the article and was very disatisfied with what I read. Wanted to know your opinon? I'am not expert by any means on service dogs but things just don't add up for me.

1) Why is there a 10 week old puppy a registered service dog? ( I thought it took years to be trained)

2) Why would a some send a "trained" service dog home at 5-6 weeks old?

3) Why would you leave a puppy that young in a yard unattend? (Service dog or not. She states that he is trained to stay in the yard. That is why she thinks he was picked up?? Really!?!? 

4) Did she go to the media for fast attention to find her sons dog and lie about it be a trained service dog? 

I'm just wondering what your toughts were on the matter. I'm not attacking people who need service dogs. I totally support and appreciate service dogs and all that they do. 

Mesa teen reunited with missing service dog


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## robinhuerta (Apr 21, 2007)

We just placed a puppy at 8 weeks old with it's "handler" for Service Dog work.
HOWEVER;...the "handler" is also the special needs person, who actually trains service dogs for the organization.
This puppy is living with the handler/owner and will be trained "hands on" for the work/functions that this puppy will need to eventually perform.
This is her 2nd puppy from us in the past 10 yrs, that will also be her Service Dog.
She is wheel chair bound, and he will need to provide the daily assistance required.
I will post pics of him in his "tiny puppy vest" when she comes to visit.....
His name is: *XX Dos Equis von Huerta Hof* _(a teeny tiny brag)._


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## GSDGunner (Feb 22, 2011)

Did you read the comments? The mother, Tanya Ruth was commenting on people's posts. Most questioned how a 10 week old is a service dog.
Her response:
_no kugo isnt completly trained yet but he has learned so much and he can already sense symthoms of my son james without james telling me this picture was taken at 6wks old he is the size of a lg chiuhaha now but he is great at his training and helps james and learns more and more everyday he is registered as a service dog with the *service dog regrestry* but yes it can take up to 2yrs for complete training which he does train 3x a day to get a more traing_

This dog was donated to them at 5weeks old.


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## DanielleOttoMom (May 11, 2010)

Interesting. I didn't think that was how things worked. I thought you had to apply for a dog/ puppy. Then basied on your needs and personality a dog/ puppy was them matched for you then sent home after the dog/ puppy graduatied from school after it was 1-2 years old. I can understand why someone who already does train service dogs and need a new service be sent a young puppy. I'm just want to educate my self for on the topic. Thank you for your reply. Robin I love to see pics of your little brag  I bet he has made you very proud.


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## Lin (Jul 3, 2007)

That poor puppy taken from its mother so young.

There is no such thing as a service dog registry. They are scams where people send in money to get certificates saying their dog is registered, and they're completely meaningless. Though most of them still do require you to sign that your dog meets federal requirements to be a service dog, which no puppy could possibly meet. Those requirements are what takes 2 years of training.

You can acquire a dog through a training organization, or owner train. But in an owner train the puppy should not have been taken from its mother before 8 weeks old, and the dog wouldn't even be a service dog in training at 10 weeks, best would be a service dog candidate.


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## onyx'girl (May 18, 2007)

I think if the dog was a seizure alert type dog it could go to the home at 8 weeks and form a bond with a child. Along with working with a SD trainer specifically for the childs health issues. 
Some people I use to train with had a litter of Mals and one pup was going to a home with a diabetic child/the dog was going to be trained as an alert dog. Not sure how it ended up training-wise, or if there was success.

The comments below the article tell me this mother is not very intelligent or responsible. To say the pup was ready at 5 weeks? And knowing the pup wasn't trained, yet letting it out repeatedly in front to run away, almost getting hit by a car?
:thinking:


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## robinhuerta (Apr 21, 2007)

We have known the "handler/owner" of our puppies for over 12 yrs now.
She trains dogs for a non for profit organization, that trains Service Dogs.
No dog through the organization is placed with their new handler/owner before the dog is completely trained and of adult age....there is a waiting list and an application process. (they mostly utilize Labs & Goldens).
OUR puppy is owned by one of the trainers...who is also a needing candidate of a Service Dog. We placed *XX* with her at 8 wks, because she wanted him that young...and she is the person who will be training him.


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## Dogaroo (Mar 4, 2003)

Don't reputable service dog organizations also train the _humans_ in the care & keeping of their service dogs? I can't imagine a reputable organization approving of leaving _any_ service dog unattended in a yard, much less a puppy-- or, for that matter, taking such a young pup away from its mommy & littermates.


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## Lin (Jul 3, 2007)

Dogaroo said:


> Don't reputable service dog organizations also train the _humans_ in the care & keeping of their service dogs? I can't imagine a reputable organization approving of leaving _any_ service dog unattended in a yard, much less a puppy-- or, for that matter, taking such a young pup away from its mommy & littermates.


A reputable organization would have strict rules and not approve leaving the dog unattended in an unfenced yard. However a reputable organization would not place a 5 week old puppy, or even a puppy period as a "registered service dog."


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## DanielleOttoMom (May 11, 2010)

Lin said:


> A reputable organization would have strict rules and not approve leaving the dog unattended in an unfenced yard. However a reputable organization would not place a 5 week old puppy, or even a puppy period as a "registered service dog."


This is exatly what I thought the rules for creditable organization.


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## robinhuerta (Apr 21, 2007)

BTW...I believe his "tiny vest" says....._puppy in training_._...._and I also believe that it was "made" to discourage pedestrians/people, from approaching the puppy while the handler is doing any type of work with it......even if it's simply walking in crowds, traffic..etc...etc.
I think the puppy is too young to be taught much more than how to walk alongside the wheelchair, sit for reward, focus and be exposed to new sights and noises.
His training will be constant over the next couple of years.....right now, he is just a wonderful prospect for her!


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## onyx'girl (May 18, 2007)

robinhuerta said:


> BTW...I believe his "tiny vest" says....._puppy in training_._...._and I also believe that it was "made" to discourage pedestrians/people, from approaching the puppy while the handler is doing any type of work with it......even if it's simply walking in crowds, traffic..etc...etc.
> I think the puppy is too young to be taught much more than how to walk alongside the wheelchair, sit for reward, focus and be exposed to new sights and noises.
> His training will be constant over the next couple of years.....right now, he is just a wonderful prospect for her!


You forgot to add the bond that he is forming with his girl! That really is most important and getting him young will strengthen it. I can see the point of placing a pup vs an already trained dog with a young child for that reason alone.


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## GSDElsa (Jul 22, 2009)

I think the stupidest person in this whole story is the reporter for going along with these shenanigans and actually doing a story.


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## GSDGunner (Feb 22, 2011)

Geez, now the mother and the woman who found the dog are fighting in the comments. 
The mother claims that someone tried to steal the dog two weeks ago. And still thinks someone "stoled" her dog this time and must have just left it in the street, because he was trained to not leave the yard. C'mon! This woman needs to buy a clue!


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## Dogaroo (Mar 4, 2003)

Good grief, I can hardly decipher the woman's comments! I wonder if she attended school at all after about second grade? Spelling & grammatical errors aside, she really doesn't seem all that bright.


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## Lin (Jul 3, 2007)

Oh god the mothers typos are killing me. I'm so tempted to say she needs a service dog to step in and get her away from the keyboard...


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## onyx'girl (May 18, 2007)

She was probably typing from her Iphone....lol no excuse for the grammar


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## ILGHAUS (Nov 25, 2002)

Ten week old pup is not even a SDIT but a SD candidate. Health tests (not even old enough for all puppy vacs), temperament evaluations, and basic obedience completion (which will be later) will bring it up to a SDIT level where it will remain for advanced obedience, public access training and evaluation, and task training. During all of this time there are goals to reach at which a dog may *wash out* at any point. Nationally known and respected training facilities with very knowledgeble trainers have an expected average of dogs not going through the whole process so it should only be expected that small organizations and owner trainers will face that possibility also.


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## ILGHAUS (Nov 25, 2002)

> I think the stupidest person in this whole story is the reporter


You know the news media love stories that bring warm fuzzy feelings to their readers or viewers. What does it more than a child and their dog and then to top it off a *special dog* and a disabled child? Let's not cloud this issue with any facts or common sense!


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## Dogaroo (Mar 4, 2003)

ILGHAUS said:


> You know the news media love stories that bring warm fuzzy feelings to their readers or viewers. What does it more than a child and their dog and then to top it off a *special dog* and a disabled child? Let's not cloud this issue with any facts or common sense!


:hammer: :thumbup:


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