Here is another trainer's experience in the service dog industry. I have permission from the trainer to post this, however, the owner's names et have been taken out.
About a year and a half ago, I was approached by the [Local Foundation for Autism Service Dogs]
and asked if I would help train one of their pups to be an assistance/service
dog for an autistic 5 year old child. They explained that this family was so
in 'need' of a dog for this child, and it was also believed that the mother
of the child was possibly in the autistic spectrum. They lived with her
mother who was legally blind, and her father, who worked very erratic hours.
They told me that this family had already started a program with another dog,
but they were unable to get it trained well enough to be of any help. The
Foundation removed the first dog from the home.
I told them that I would be more than happy to have their new pup attend my
group basic obedience class (which I allow folks to repeat for free as long
as I have a slot available), and if the family did their homework and if the
family and pup were ready, they could also attend my CGC and Therapy Dog
classes. I told them that this was no guarantee that the dog would be suitable
for the 'job', nor would this certify them to have an assistance/service dog.
This pup was a 12 week old goldendoodle 'hand picked' for this service by the
organization. They assured me that the only thing they wanted was a well
behaved dog for the family, specifically for [Child].
[Local Autism Service Dog Foundation] personnel contacted me every other day, to explain that they
wanted a dog who would focus on [Child]; they called to ensure that there was a
spot available in the class; again to ensure that I 'remembered' that this dog
would be for an autistic 5 year old; they called to pay for the class via
check; they called to tell me that [Mother] might need some extra help; they
called another day to say that the ENTIRE family would be attending training to
make sure everyone was on the same page. They assured me that they would be
following up and following through with this family because they didn't want
them to fail again with one of their pups.
First class started, only the mother attended my mandatory orientation,
which was fine as long as she was able to implement the homework and have her
family follow through and do the same things. The second week, [Mother], [Child]
and Grandmother (Grandmother uses a cane to assist with her blindness) came to
class, which was very uneventful as it seemed things were going well, and
[Child] was fine being with the Grandmother. He was not disruptive at all, sat
quietly, but never made eye contact with me, which I know to be a symptom of
autism due to having worked with an autistic child about 10 years ago. One of
my 'homework' assignments for class is a 'focus' or 'watch' command, and the
mother commented that this exercise actually helped [Child] to be able to
make eye contact with them! By week three, and at least 7 phone calls to me
from [Mother] about the biting, puppy crazies, chewing, jumping, and no one in the
family able to control the situation, I spoke with [Local Autism Service Dog Foundation] to voice my
concerns. [Child] would not go near the puppy unless it was sleeping, which
they
allowed him to do, but as soon as the dog woke up, [Dog] started acting like
a puppy, which NO ONE in the family wanted him to do......vicious cycle.
Fast forward - class was completed - they got a 'certificate of
participation' - not of graduation - as they clearly were not doing the
homework, they
were not confining the dog, they admitted there was no consistency, the dog was
jumping, still having potty training issues, only performing commands 'when
he felt like it', [Child] was not going near the dog because of the sharp
puppy teeth. However, [Mother] was totally enamored of [Dog], and liked him
greeting her by jumping up, liked having a semi-large puppy that brought her
attention when or if she walked him the in the neighborhood. Every antic he
pulled in class (and he was a real ham!) she laughed and rewarded by stroking
and
talking to him.
[Local Autism Service Dog Foundation] called to ask if the family could attend again - which I agreed
to, as long as it was only [Mother] that attended to ensure that she could focus on
the exercises and to enable me to work a bit closer with her. Of the 6
scheduled classes (she said she did not need the orientation again, which I
disagreed with as I didn't believe she actually absorbed everything the first
time), she only attended 4 of them, and with very spotty results. Still
laughing at [Dog's] inattentiveness and pulling, jumping up and wrapping her up
in
the leash, and on and on.....
I spoke again with [Local Autism Service Dog Foundation] - advised that they needed private sessions to
enforce in a real life scenario what needed to be done with [Dog]. I
declined the job at that point as the client was over an hour away, and I felt
that
they needed to hear from someone else what they MUST do to ensure that the
dog was not removed from the home again. I recommended a friend of mine who
lives closer to the client, and she did the sessions, telling them exactly the
same things that I did, the only difference was that it was in their home.
She commented to me that there was no structure, discipline, follow through or
leadership in the home - not only for the dog, but in the family as a whole.
My friend followed up with them one more time, and she was told that things
were 'getting better, but were by no means perfect'.
My point in this entire long saga is that even if the DOG was of a nature to
be a service/assistance dog, who is ensuring that the organization is doing
right by the DOG and setting it up to be successful? Where are the people
who so wanted this to 'work' for this family?? Why is the FAMILY allowed to
be responsible for getting, or not getting, this dog ready to be the help they
are looking for? I am in no position to know all that is going on for them,
but it was pretty clear that this was not a family that would be able to
manage this large energetic and intelligent dog, especially on their own!! I
tried to explain what their goals were for [Child] and the dog, and [Local Autism Service Dog Foundation]
said that they were the one's that were to follow up and ensure compliance, not
me.
[Local Autism Service Dog Foundation] has not ever followed up with me or my friend about this dog and
family. Hopefully things did get better, but I am not too hopeful that
they'll have this dog where it needs to be for [Child]. [Mother]a seemed to use him
to
take the focus OFF of [Child], which I believe was not the point of the
training.
About a year and a half ago, I was approached by the [Local Foundation for Autism Service Dogs]
and asked if I would help train one of their pups to be an assistance/service
dog for an autistic 5 year old child. They explained that this family was so
in 'need' of a dog for this child, and it was also believed that the mother
of the child was possibly in the autistic spectrum. They lived with her
mother who was legally blind, and her father, who worked very erratic hours.
They told me that this family had already started a program with another dog,
but they were unable to get it trained well enough to be of any help. The
Foundation removed the first dog from the home.
I told them that I would be more than happy to have their new pup attend my
group basic obedience class (which I allow folks to repeat for free as long
as I have a slot available), and if the family did their homework and if the
family and pup were ready, they could also attend my CGC and Therapy Dog
classes. I told them that this was no guarantee that the dog would be suitable
for the 'job', nor would this certify them to have an assistance/service dog.
This pup was a 12 week old goldendoodle 'hand picked' for this service by the
organization. They assured me that the only thing they wanted was a well
behaved dog for the family, specifically for [Child].
[Local Autism Service Dog Foundation] personnel contacted me every other day, to explain that they
wanted a dog who would focus on [Child]; they called to ensure that there was a
spot available in the class; again to ensure that I 'remembered' that this dog
would be for an autistic 5 year old; they called to pay for the class via
check; they called to tell me that [Mother] might need some extra help; they
called another day to say that the ENTIRE family would be attending training to
make sure everyone was on the same page. They assured me that they would be
following up and following through with this family because they didn't want
them to fail again with one of their pups.
First class started, only the mother attended my mandatory orientation,
which was fine as long as she was able to implement the homework and have her
family follow through and do the same things. The second week, [Mother], [Child]
and Grandmother (Grandmother uses a cane to assist with her blindness) came to
class, which was very uneventful as it seemed things were going well, and
[Child] was fine being with the Grandmother. He was not disruptive at all, sat
quietly, but never made eye contact with me, which I know to be a symptom of
autism due to having worked with an autistic child about 10 years ago. One of
my 'homework' assignments for class is a 'focus' or 'watch' command, and the
mother commented that this exercise actually helped [Child] to be able to
make eye contact with them! By week three, and at least 7 phone calls to me
from [Mother] about the biting, puppy crazies, chewing, jumping, and no one in the
family able to control the situation, I spoke with [Local Autism Service Dog Foundation] to voice my
concerns. [Child] would not go near the puppy unless it was sleeping, which
they
allowed him to do, but as soon as the dog woke up, [Dog] started acting like
a puppy, which NO ONE in the family wanted him to do......vicious cycle.
Fast forward - class was completed - they got a 'certificate of
participation' - not of graduation - as they clearly were not doing the
homework, they
were not confining the dog, they admitted there was no consistency, the dog was
jumping, still having potty training issues, only performing commands 'when
he felt like it', [Child] was not going near the dog because of the sharp
puppy teeth. However, [Mother] was totally enamored of [Dog], and liked him
greeting her by jumping up, liked having a semi-large puppy that brought her
attention when or if she walked him the in the neighborhood. Every antic he
pulled in class (and he was a real ham!) she laughed and rewarded by stroking
and
talking to him.
[Local Autism Service Dog Foundation] called to ask if the family could attend again - which I agreed
to, as long as it was only [Mother] that attended to ensure that she could focus on
the exercises and to enable me to work a bit closer with her. Of the 6
scheduled classes (she said she did not need the orientation again, which I
disagreed with as I didn't believe she actually absorbed everything the first
time), she only attended 4 of them, and with very spotty results. Still
laughing at [Dog's] inattentiveness and pulling, jumping up and wrapping her up
in
the leash, and on and on.....
I spoke again with [Local Autism Service Dog Foundation] - advised that they needed private sessions to
enforce in a real life scenario what needed to be done with [Dog]. I
declined the job at that point as the client was over an hour away, and I felt
that
they needed to hear from someone else what they MUST do to ensure that the
dog was not removed from the home again. I recommended a friend of mine who
lives closer to the client, and she did the sessions, telling them exactly the
same things that I did, the only difference was that it was in their home.
She commented to me that there was no structure, discipline, follow through or
leadership in the home - not only for the dog, but in the family as a whole.
My friend followed up with them one more time, and she was told that things
were 'getting better, but were by no means perfect'.
My point in this entire long saga is that even if the DOG was of a nature to
be a service/assistance dog, who is ensuring that the organization is doing
right by the DOG and setting it up to be successful? Where are the people
who so wanted this to 'work' for this family?? Why is the FAMILY allowed to
be responsible for getting, or not getting, this dog ready to be the help they
are looking for? I am in no position to know all that is going on for them,
but it was pretty clear that this was not a family that would be able to
manage this large energetic and intelligent dog, especially on their own!! I
tried to explain what their goals were for [Child] and the dog, and [Local Autism Service Dog Foundation]
said that they were the one's that were to follow up and ensure compliance, not
me.
[Local Autism Service Dog Foundation] has not ever followed up with me or my friend about this dog and
family. Hopefully things did get better, but I am not too hopeful that
they'll have this dog where it needs to be for [Child]. [Mother]a seemed to use him
to
take the focus OFF of [Child], which I believe was not the point of the
training.
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