Dog Breeds

» bebob51 - Self-training my puppy

Have a 1 year old Gold Lab (still a puppy I hear...), I have
'balance' issues and would like to try him as a Service Dog.
Also at this time I've become 'jobless' so $$$ is also an issue and I would like to try and train him myself, which could be tricky since he weighs more than me....would appreciate any advice. Thanks

-- posted by bebob51

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» Joy Butler - Self-training my puppy

In response to Self-training my puppy posted by bebob51:
Not every dog is suitable as a service dog and most service dogs begin basic training well before a year old but then again, some dogs are smart enough to overcome our shortcomings. The very first dog I ever obedience trained was so smart he went out and earned all three legs of his Companion Dog title in his first three shows and all within 3 weeks time....despite my inexperience and awkward training.

I don't know if you have any experience with training dogs but it does require a lot of time and patience. There are two books available which are designed to help disabled people train their own dog. They are Teamwork and Teamwork II, available at Amazon. I believe the first one covers the basic foundation training and the second one covers actual assistance maneuvers. Along with the books, it may also be helpful if you could find out the name of a dog trainer near you and let them know what you're doing. They may offer to give you some pointers at no charge. A shelter or veterinarian's office would probably be able to recommend someone.
Here are the links to those books. They also appear to be available in DVD.
http://www.amazon.com/Teamwork-Lydia-Kel...
http://www.amazon.com/Teamwork-II-Stewar...
Good luck. Please keep us posted on how this works for you.

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