Pepper is technically an OTSD, but I really can't take the credit. My first hearing dog (also a chi) came to me when I was 14. I had no intentions of him being an SD, but over the years I noticed he would alert me to stuff and I began to see the potential as a hearing dog. So all I really had to do with him was reinforce what he had already started doing and basically fine tune it. When he was 11, he had a stroke and the vet gave him 6 months to live. At this time I had just moved out on my own and was living alone for the first time and was terrified of not having him to alert me, so I got Pepper when he was 4 months old, with the intentions of training him when he was old enough. However, Joe beat me to it! Pups have a natural tendency to imitate older dogs and before I even really realized what was happening, Pepper was imitating Joe and alerting. Joe knew what was going on (isn't it amazing how smart dogs are!) and he would give Pepper a chance to alert before he did. If Pepper alerted, Joe didn't. If Pepper took to long, Joe would step in and alert. Till eventually, Joe just stopped altogether once he felt confident that Pepper could do the job. Joe ended up living another 3 years, but was crippled from the stroke and basically just spent his retirement laying around. So I guess you could say Pepper is a SDTSD, lol (Service dog trained service dog!) Marsha
----- Original Message ----- From: dasha48 To: [email protected] Sent: Tuesday, December 12, 2006 11:08 PM Subject: RE: [Chihuahuas] Re: Pebbles Shopping Trip Thanks. One of the reason I ask is because of my hearing loss. I spoke with an organization that trains SD and you can't use your own dogs, the dogs are ones they have chosen and worked with and the cost of a program like that is way out of most people's reach. I mean it is something like 24,000.00 to get a trained SD. And yes that is what I meant by training. I figured if a dog was going to be a therapy dog then he had to be trained to do what he is suppose to, just like a sd. I would not even know where to begin to train my dog to alert me to things that I can't hear. Sheila ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ From: [email protected] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of marsha Sent: Tuesday, December 12, 2006 9:22 PM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [Chihuahuas] Re: Pebbles Shopping Trip depends on what you mean by training. Dogs used as therapy dogs are NOT just dogs that a person feels comfortable having them around or that the dog makes them feel good. They actually are trained to notice things that are causing a stressful reaction, they pick up on body language, even pulse and heart beat, ect and react accordingly. Most of this comes natural to a dog, but the training is the part that fine tunes those natural tendencies and teaches a dog how to put those tendencies to work. Let me give an example to make it clearer. Dogs are now being used to detect certain kinds of cancer. Now this detection comes naturally to a dog, but if we take our run of the mill dog into a cancer ward, while they may detect that something isn't right, they do not know how to convey that to someone or even consider that it needs conveyed. But a dog that has been trained, knows they are there to detect that cancer and knows that they need to alert the proper person to that fact and they know HOW to alert them. The same goes with therapy dogs, seizure alert dogs, and even hearing dogs, ect. It is so much more than just bringing comfort....it is a matter of acting on the natural tendencies. "Hey my person is suddenly showing signs of extreme distress, I need to make sure they know how their body is reacting and then I need to do my job of leading the person from the area or holding the person still, or even causing the person to focus on my eyes to distract them from what is going on around them" So yes, training is necessary to fine tune those skills and to make sure that both SD and handler knows what is being conveyed, but that doesn't mean that a professional dog trainer has to be the one to do that. Many people with a disability choose to train their own SD because they can be more specific to their own needs than to what is generally needed by a person with the same disability. And ALL SD's need to have proper obedience training of course, Man, get me started on the subject of SD's and I will talk your head off, lol.... Marsha ----- Original Message ----- From: dasha48 To: [email protected] Sent: Tuesday, December 12, 2006 8:28 PM Subject: RE: [Chihuahuas] Re: Pebbles Shopping Trip ok certification aside, which is really just a piece of paper. Do They do need special training to be a therapy dog like they do to be service dogs? Sheila ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: [email protected] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of marsha Sent: Tuesday, December 12, 2006 8:24 PM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [Chihuahuas] Re: Pebbles Shopping Trip You can certify a therapy dog, but it is not required. In fact, certification is not required of any SD under the ADA. Some states do have a cert requirement, but if those cases are ever taken before the Supreme Court, the state will loose because ADA is federal law and trumps state and the ADA says that all that is required is that the animal (not even required to be a dog) meet a legitimate and recognized need to enable a person with a legitimate and recognized disability to fully participate in things that a non disabled person can participate in. OTSD's (owner trained service dogs) are as a legitimate as a certified one. Bottom line,...is the person disabled and does the dog assist with that disability? Marsha ----- Original Message ----- From: dasha48 To: [email protected] Sent: Tuesday, December 12, 2006 7:45 PM Subject: RE: [Chihuahuas] Re: Pebbles Shopping Trip Can you just certify a therapy dog? I mean don't they need special training like a service dog does? Sheila (My daughter has actually been looking into getting Rein "certified" so that I would have proof as to what she does.) I can understand how angry the "fakers" make you and I would take a stand against them also, but I assure you I'm not one of them. Mindy .
