 Service dogs aren’t robots…but they also aren’t pets.
There’s these two camps in the service dog world - the one who believes Service Dogs must be perfect and if they look at anything for more than 0.2 seconds then they must be a “fake”. And then there’s the other camp, who excuses dogs’ misbehaviors and trainers’ failures, saying that no dog will be perfect and essentially anything goes. But just like everything in life, there’s a balance! So here’s just a video of Birdi on her walk this morning demonstrating service dog behavior, even though she was off duty and we were just going on our morning walk. (Insta is full of perfect still photos - so a longer video is sometimes nice to see actual reality!) Her leash is loose and never taught but she’s also not glued to my leg, she’s paying attention to me but she isn’t staring up at me constantly, and she stops when I stop but isn’t perfectly sitting and staring in wait for my next utterance. She just waits for me to continue walking. I don’t even require her to have a formal halt and sit in this scenario (she’s off duty). This is exactly the behavior I want. It’s focused and relaxed, not obsessively attentive but certainly not unruly. It’s how I want her to walk with her future handler - whether on or off duty - and this is how she walks for 3 miles every morning. So no, it’s not “impressive” or “jaw dropping”. But it’s what she was trained to do and is designed to be low maintenance for her future handler yet still professional and “service dog” appropriate behavior, because while I love her as my own - she’s not a pet and shouldn’t act like one. (Disclaimer - there are some amazingly well trained pets out there, this is just a general concept referring to the vast majority of pets, at least the ones we pass on our walks!) #MyGoodnessYourLegsAreLongMahm #HaDatsGottaBeDaOnkyTimeYouEverHeardDatHuh #ShortJoke #ICanSayDatCauseIizMuchShorter #IIsEvenShortCimlaredToOderDogs #IGotsToTakeSoManySteps #PutYourAppleWatchOnMe #IllBlowEvwyoneOuttaDaWaterOnDeirStepGoals #TeenyLegsForTeenyDog #PocketRocketDough #englishscocker #servicedog #workingdog #intraining #diabetes #cockerspaniel #spaniel #diabeticalert #alertdog
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 Birdi came into Kroger with me for a super short trip to get an item I needed to pick up. But I used it as an impromptu evaluation trip!
Since I am the one who puppy raises, task trains, and graduates the dogs, it’s easy to just go about my days and not look at the big picture sometimes. Birdi doesn’t have to ever be evaluated by a third party to enter task training or to see if she’s hitting her milestones, as  Advocate for your puppy. Because if not you, then who?
Olaf was a gem at the vet today. He waited oh so patiently - exploring the table but then laying down calmly as we waited for the vet to come in. But then the vet came in, and I failed Olaf. I knew there was a risk with this vet so I don’t know if I wanted to see how things went, or I’m just conflict averse, or  Guess who went on a field trip to Home Depot yesterday! Little O!
And I was so proud of him as he showed confidence and enthusiasm about all the new sights and sounds, and not a single hesitation. I carried him around as I find that is a nice way to introduce a puppy to an environment without overwhelming them. (I could do a whole post on this as my views have changed!). As I walked in I received comments about his tail going a million miles a minute as he was tucked under my arm. We walked around to the fasteners and he helped  “My dog knows how to do their commands now - when can I stop carrying treats?”
Good question! Say you’ve been in the same job for a year now - you know how to do it and you are good at it. Can your boss stop giving you your paycheck yet? If not now, when? Oh - never? Well, welcome to the mind of a dog :-) I *love* my real person job (working for a pet tech startup). But if they stop paying me,  Rooney’s alerting accuracy continues to be astounding!
Rooney’s person, Curtis, is still keeping track of every one of Rooney’s alerts, false alerts, and missed alerts in a google sheet that I can check. This is a part of the transition training process I require to ensure the dogs are adapting to their new home and alerting as accurately as possible and on the right track. I check this google sheet obsessively - significantly more than I check Instagram or my emails to be honest… But this dog STILL has yet to give an incorrect alert or miss an alert - which is absolutely crazy given  Olaf is 12 weeks old!
Some things he’s been learning: sit, down, touch, spin, luring, Olaf, come, sitting before I open his kennel, sleeping in the kennel in a different room from me, and relaxing on his back in preparation for grooming. Some things I’ve learned about Olaf: he already likes swimming (as of yesterday!), he’s quite independent for a spaniel, he will cross the road |
aboutThis blog is a duplicate of the MD Dogs instagram posts, following the dogs in training as they grow from puppies into Diabetic Alert Dogs Categories
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A Service Dog is an animal and is not intended to replace any medical care or device(s) provided by medical professionals. A diabetic alert service dog is never 100% accurate and should never replace regular blood glucose level checking.
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