Training A Puppy Dog

What standards are there for training a puppy or dog to be a service animal?

I live in Massachusetts, and I want to train my lab puppy so that I can take her into nursing homes to visit residents as a service/therapy dog. Any information about certification in MA would be helpful.

She will go to obedience training and be taught basic commands like sit, stay, down, off, heel, and stop.

Thanks!

As the others have said, a service dog and a therapy dog are completely different things.

To qualify to have a service dog, you must be disabled. The dog must be trained to do something to mitigate the disability, and to behave properly in public. There is no certification, registration, or licensing requirement for service dogs in the US, and they are allowed in just about any public place that the general public is allowed with very few exceptions.

Therapy dogs are pets that go with their handler to bring joy to others. Therapy dogs are not certified but are normally registered and licensed with a therapy dog organization. There is not a legal requirement to be with a therapy dog organization, but most places will not allow independent therapy dogs because those with organization are insured.

My service dog is also a registered service dog with TDI. We had to take a short test that was given at a dog festival. We had to do a sit stay, the test examiner approached, shook me hand, pet him, brushed him. We then did a down stay, walk on a loose leash, walk with a friendly dog approaching, walk through a group of people using medical equipment (wheelchairs, crutches, walkers). We had to demonstrate a "leave it" command where they put a sausage in a bowl on the ground. We had to walk within 3 feet of it and he had to leave it. Then we did a 3 min thing where I left him with the examiner and I had to go out of his sight for 3 min.

For us, it wasn't a difficult test at all.

Puppy dog training clips 犬の訓練


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