Alert and Response FAQs

The Alert and Response Tasks course covers the process for training service dogs to perform hearing alerts, scent alerts and response tasks including getting help from a caregiver, bringing medication and retrieving medication and an emergency phone. 

Course outline:

• Introduction to alert and response tasks
  • Alert and response overview
  • Selecting an appropriate alert
  • Training the alert behavior
• Hearing alert training
  • Training a one-way hearing alert
    • Training a hearing dog to alert to the handler’s name
  • Training a two-way hearing alert
    • First method to teach a two-way alert
    • Second method to teach a hearing dog to lead the handler to the sound source
• Scent alert training
  • Review the research on scent alert training
    • How to read and interpret research
    • Seizure alert research
    • Diabetic alert research
  • Train a dog to search for the target odor
    • Training supplies needed
    • Getting the scent sample
    • Preventing contamination
    • Teaching the dog to search for the target odor using clicker training
    • Identifying body language indicating that the dog is sniffing and has found the target odor
  • Using a scent wheel
    • How to make a scent wheel
    • How to train the dog to work on a scent wheel
    • Using the scent wheel to build fluency and reliability
  • Pairing the alert behavior with finding the target odor
  • Generalizing the skill
    • Incorporating associative learning
• Response task training
  • Response task overview
  • Training a service dog to retrieve a medication bag
  • Training a service dog to retrieve a cell phone
  • Training a service dog to automatically lie down next to the handler if the handler has a seizure or falls
  • Training a service dog to get help from a caregiver

 

You can take this online course on your laptop, pad or smartphone. When you sign up, you will receive an email to log in. It is very user friendly and straight forward! The course includes a combination of video presentations, training demonstrations, written materials and links to relevant websites. The last lesson includes an “open book” quiz which you can take multiple times.

The course includes a multiple choice quiz at the end. If you complete the quiz successfully, you will receive a certificate of completion that you can download or print. You can retake the quiz if you need to.

This course can be completed in a few afternoons. However, you have access to the course for a full 90 days. Handouts are included in PDF form so you can print and refer back to them for your personal use.

You will need to be comfortable using a computer, the internet and email. You will need access to an internet connection.

Yes, the video presentations in our courses are all close-captioned.

Click here to sign in. Make sure you use the same email you used when you purchased the course. If you are having technical problems email [email protected].