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SERVICE DOG
TRAINING

Training a service dog...

Here at Profoundk9 we focus on all of the most important aspects, such as socialization, confidence building, fundamentals and task work.

The amount of things a dog can do to help mitigate someones disability is limitless.

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Dogs are so much smarter than people believe. They are able to learn complex commands and make decisions on their own. We teach dogs how to go find help, throw away trash, retrieve medication, alert to an alarm, respond to a medical condition and so much more!

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Every dog is taught tasks that are tailored to their handler. Below are some examples of tasks we have taught in the past!

Types of tasks that can be taught...

Mobility Assistance 

  • Retrieving dropped items

  • Turning the light switch on/off

  • Closing the bedroom/bathroom door

  • Counterbalance

  • Pushing buttons on the wall to open doors for handlers in a wheelchair

  • Pulls clothes off handler to help un-dress

  • Finding help on command (specific caretaker or even someone in a public area) 

  • Retrieving medication bag on command

  • Retrieving water from the fridge on command 

  • Throwing away trash 

  • Assisting with laundry if handler is unable to bend down  

  • Follow a specific person in a crowd (family member, etc.) 

  • Guide with momentum pull on command

Psychiatric Assistance 

(Not to be confused with emotional support animals, Psychiatric assistance can be for PTSD for both veterans & non-combat, Autism, Bipolar Disorder, OCD, Panic Disorders, etc.)

  • Interrupting anxious behaviors (leg shaking, lip biting, skin picking, hair pulling, etc.) to re-direct the handler from whatever they’re thinking about

  • Finding an exit during a dissociative episode if out in public 

  • Deep pressure therapy (releases serotonin and dopamine which are happy hormones in the brain when people with autism, panic, anxiety, etc. release cortisol, the stress hormone)  

  • Recognizing the sound of hyperventilating/crying even from another room 

  • Waking handler during a night terror 

  • “Grounding” when the handler is having a PTSD flashback (licking, nudging or even bringing a toy) to re-direct and bring the handler back to reality 

  • NOT GUARANTEED: Scent training to alert when blood sugar is dropping/rising before the handler feels symptoms 

  • NOT GUARANTEED: Scent training to alert to chronic migraines before they hit full-force so the handler can medicate 

  • NOT GUARANTEED: Scent training to alert to rising cortisol 

Medical Responce

  • Responding to someone who passed out by going to find help 

  • Responding to someone who had a seizure by automatically lifting their head up or positioning their body in a preferred way 

  • Alerting to stoves/microwaves/smoke detector/other alarms for the hearing-impaired 

  • Alerting to phone alarms for someone who takes medication daily and responding by going to automatically retrieve the medication 

  • Deep Pressure Therapy(DPT)  before the handler panics to prevent it from escalating 

  • Any action that is a symptom or cause that needs to be interrupted

    • For example: Some people start to scratch before going into severe anaphylaxis; if a dog is being placed with someone who has allergic reactions, we can teach the dog to recognize scratching as a response signal - and to automatically respond by retrieving an epi-pen or IV Benadryl. 

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