Cooperative Paws
Service dog education for dog trainers
While service dogs are trained to assist in many ways — retrieving items, performing alerts, opening doors and turning on lights — helping a person safely get up from a fall involves some unique risks …
Continue Reading about Falls and Service Dogs: Essential Considerations for Trainers →
An anxiety alert is an important service dog task for some people with mental health conditions. This task serves as an early warning system: The dog alerts their handler to their increasing anxiety …
Training a service dog often requires unique tools and gadgets—not just for task training but also to accommodate the handler’s disability. Below are some of my favorite tools and gadgets that help …
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I’ve been training professionally since the early 1990s, and much has changed in the industry during that time. When I first started, positive training methods were largely focused on lure-reward. Of …
Continue Reading about Barking Up a Different Tree: How My Training Has Changed Over Time →
Pulling is a service dog skill that is commonly needed for tasks ranging from opening doors to assisting with removing clothing. Like many service dog tasks, this is one that requires more precision …
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In a rapidly advancing world, smart technology can offer solutions for various challenges faced by people with disabilities. This raises some interesting questions: Could technology replace some tasks …
Continue Reading about Service Dogs and Smart Technology: A Dynamic Duo →
