SolveYourProblem.com
Article Series: Dog Adoption
How Do I Adopt A Dog?
How
To Adopt A Service Dog
If you're lucky enough to be purchasing a
dog that was trained to provide a service for people, or a
least adopting a dog that was accepted for such training but
did not make it for some reason, you are in for a special treat.
Most people aren't even aware that such dogs exist.
What type of pets are we talking about? Any dog that was trained
for or actually worked a “career” by leading the blind and
helping other disabled people is a prime example.
You Have 3 Choices Of Service Dogs To Choose From
When looking to adopt a professionally trained career dog,
your choices come in three different forms: dogs that are retired
from being guides, “career changing” dogs, and finally, there
are the canines that for some reason did not make it through
the training program, or simply put - flunkies.
Guide
Dogs No More: Just like people, service dogs cannot
work their jobs forever. As these animals get older, they become
slower and are no longer effective in helping their owners.
The average amount of time that a service dog can work is approximately
8 years. At this point they become prime candidates for adoption
by people like you and me.
Dogs
That Had Multiple Careers: Many dogs can be taken out
of one service job and then trained for another. The reasons
for this can vary. It may be because of temperament issues,
medical concerns, or perhaps a dog was just not a suitable
match for its owner. For example, a dog may be retired from
guide service and then prepared and transferred to work at
a rehabilitation hospital or a nursery home. Sometimes these
types of animals are even assigned to children's homeless centers
in order to play with the kids.
Just
Didn't Make The Cut: Finally, we have our flunkies. Now
before you consider a flunky to be a negative thing, reconsider
that notion because quite the opposite is true. Thousands of
dogs are trained every year by organizations which lead them
into service jobs.
Not all of these dogs make the cut and move on to work with
people. They are considered flunkies for whatever reason, whether
it is from temperament problems, health problems, or perhaps
were a little too excitable for service work. However, the
important aspect to remember here is that these dogs are still
a cut above any other pet you may find elsewhere.
Just to get accepted into these types of programs for training
preparation means they already had natural first-class qualities
and characteristics which made them ideal candidates. These
dogs are typically between the ages of one and two years old.
Most are very gentle and loving and have had some type of extensive
obedience training during the beginning of the program. #
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SolveYourProblem.com
: 2009
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