When we think of basic training for service dogs, we often think of teaching cues like sit, down and coming when called — in short, the same behaviors taught to many pet dogs. In many ways, basic training for service dog candidates is very similar to that provided to pets. However, there are a few important aspects that are different.
House Training
House training is as foundational as it gets! From a practical standpoint, handlers need their dog to relieve themselves outside of shops, in airports and so on. Handlers may even need their dogs to relieve themselves on paper in certain settings, like on a long flight. For this reason, the expectation for a finished service dog is that the dog will eliminate quickly on a wide range of surfaces in various settings.
Training a dog to eliminate under these circumstances can be challenging in an older dog if the concept hasn’t been introduced from puppyhood. Even puppies can be selective about where they will relieve themselves. Because of this, it’s helpful for house training to be performed with attention to detail. Encourage and provide opportunities from the outset for the puppy to relieve themself on different surfaces outdoors, and reward with a high-value treat afterward. A cue can be introduced once the behavior is reliably offered. It is important to work slowly to build the pup’s confidence in a range of settings.
Name Recognition
Most pet owners teach their dogs to respond to one name, or perhaps a primary name and one (or more) “pet names.” Some service dog handlers teach their dogs to respond to one name and then choose another name when answering questions from the public about what the dog’s name is. This helps prevent the public from distracting the dog by calling the dog’s name. While this isn’t a basic skill the dog needs to learn, handlers will benefit from practicing answering this question enough times so they answer the question fluidly and without stumbling.
Sits, Stands and Downs
Pet guardians don’t usually care about the specifics of positioning when it comes to sits, stands or downs. For instance, it usually doesn’t matter to them whether the dog offers a rock-back sit or a tuck sit, or whether the dog rolls on their side in a down. However, some service dog handlers may need more precision with these cues.
For example, if the dog is assisting with balance, a tuck sit — where the dog’s front legs remain in position but the back legs move toward the front when the dog sits — ensures the dog’s shoulders remain in the same location next to the handler when the dog transitions from standing to sitting. The kick-back stand, often thought of as a competition obedience exercise, can also be useful for some service dogs. Here, the dog’s shoulders remain in the same position while the dog’s back feet move backwards (or “kick back”) during the transition from a sit to a stand. In both of these cases, the dog’s shoulders remain in the same location relative to the handler when the dog changes position. This can be important for service dogs who wear a balance harness that the handler holds.
Service dogs may need to lie down for extended periods. Service dog handlers often teach their dogs to lie down in several different ways. Teaching a dog to move into a down under a chair or under the handler’s legs, or to curl up, is useful in cramped public spaces. Training a dog to roll onto their hip, rather than the dog being ready to spring up quickly, is a beneficial skill for long downs. Some handlers will need separate cues for these behaviors. Additionally, handlers may teach their dog to tuck their tail in on cue when lying down. All of these variations on the basic “down” behavior will need to be trained thoroughly and in the contexts where they will be needed.
Stays and Waits
Service dogs usually remain with their handlers, so they generally don’t need to perform long stays at a distance. However, there are situations where the dog might need to perform a long stay out of the handler’s line of sight, such as during medical appointments for scans or procedures, including dental work. In these cases, the dog needs to perform the behavior for an extended duration with various distractions.
While a structured stay isn’t often required, a default waiting behavior is. This involves rewarding the dog for calmly waiting when the handler isn’t focused on the dog. For example, the handler might be engaged in conversation with a friend and intermittently reward the service dog in training for quietly waiting at their feet.
Trainers also need to remember an important exception to a “solid” stay: If the dog is being trained to do any type of alert, the alert behavior always overrides the stay. This means that, if a hearing dog is in a stay but the dog hears a fire alarm, the dog needs to break the stay and alert the handler. Similarly, if a dog is trained to do a medical scent-based alert, the dog may need to break the stay to perform the alert.
Leave It
Service dogs need to ignore food, dropped medication and other potentially unsafe items on the ground. Like pet dogs, service dogs are typically trained to respond to a “leave it” cue. However, it’s not practical for the handler to be cuing “leave it” constantly in a supermarket, so the dog needs a default “leave it” behavior. Trainers can work toward this goal by rewarding the dog for behaviors incompatible with sniffing or grabbing items, such as paying attention to the handler and walking on a loose lead.
Recall
Even though service dogs work on lead, a strong recall is essential for them, just as it is for pets. The training needs to account for the handler’s disability. Some handlers may move more slowly when securing the dog or may have trouble putting the dog’s leash back on. Teaching the dog to come and then wait until the handler has secured the dog is important. My simple approach to this is to reward the dog with many treats delivered one after the other for upwards of 15 seconds, so the dog learns to come and then wait. Trainers can help their clients by practicing in a range of contexts and with different types of leashes and harnesses.
Get Dressed
The same way securing a dog’s leash or fastening a collar may take a handler with a disability longer, putting on the dog’s working gear can also be a challenge. Service dogs can be trained to voluntarily move into their equipment and then remain still to make it easier for the handler to fasten the gear. For example, the handler may hold the vest or harness and lure, shape or use targeting so the dog moves their head into the harness to make the process smoother. Behaviors like long chin rests and nose touches can all be used to facilitate this training. These simple behaviors make a big difference in the ease of putting on and fitting the dog’s equipment.
Task Foundation Skills
In addition to behaviors like sits and downs, service dogs need foundation skills for future task training. These skills can be used in various ways as building blocks for tasks and public access behaviors. Some of these include:
- Target Training: Teaching a nose touch to the hand is useful for positioning the dog around the handler and helps with loose leash walking. The nose nudge is also a foundation for alerts, pushing buttons, closing cabinets or doors and other similar behaviors.
- Paws-on-Platform Training: Training the dog to place their front or back paws on a platform is useful for positioning the dog around the handler, particularly for leash walking, but it can also be used to teach the dog to block or increase space around the handler, or to pull (in a straight line). In addition, it may be needed for dogs that need to stand on a stool or other surface to turn lights on and off, or to retrieve items if the dog cannot easily reach.
- Chin Rest Training: This behavior is important for deep pressure therapy, and for holding or retrieving items, and may also be used for alerts.
Loose Leash Walking
Training the dog to walk on a loose leash without pulling is essential for public access work. This skill must be more fully generalized than it would be for a pet dog. It involves teaching the dog to maintain a loose lead throughout various environments, even with distractions present. Service dogs need to focus on their handler while ignoring potential distractions, such as food or other people, and remain calm while walking on leash. Rewarding frequent check-ins is important. As with all skills, this needs to be practiced in increasingly challenging situations. Dive deeper on this topic on my blog.
While basic training skills may seem simple at first glance, for service dog handlers, they often involve more complexity and require training with more precision. These foundational behaviors must be taught to fluency and well generalized to a wide range of settings. This training is about more than firming up acceptable manners — it’s about preparing the dog to be a reliable, supportive partner.