I want to train my dog to be a service dog and certified

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but im not sure how to go about it, any suggestions?

google "service dog certification."

http://www.ada.gov/qasrvc.htm

What kinds of things do you need your dog to do for you? Are you good at advanced dog-training already, or will you have to learn how?

Not all dogs are capable of becoming service dogs. A service dog needs to be good at learning, calm, and hard to distract from a task. It may be that your dog--though a wonderful pet--does not have the ability to become a service dog. Don't force your dog to try to become a service dog if that is not something the dog can do, or if the dog would not be happy doing it! Be sure this is something your dog will be happy doing.

Some people with disabilities do train their own service dogs. Some professional service dog trainers are disabled people who started by training their own dogs. However, it's pretty complex training--it's not just teaching a dog to sit and come and walk nicely on a leash. Since you're autistic (presumably), you'd be training the dog for psychiatric service dog tasks--things like keeping you from thoughtlessly walking into a busy street during sensory overload, or leaning on you to ground you when you are starting to shut down. The dog needs to learn how to do those things, which means lots of practice and reward. And of course the dog will also have to learn how to be polite in public; for example, not to be distracted by squirrels while you have the dog in a service vest.

Try to find some people who have service dogs, and try to talk to some service dog organizations. There are dog-training classes you could take--not obedience classes for pets, but classes in animal training meant to teach you to become a good handler for a working or service dog. If it turns out your dog is not a good candidate to become a service dog, it's still possible to have a service dog trained for you. Your pet dog would become a companion to your service dog--after all, service dogs need to relax, too, and a doggy companion is nice to play with.

By the way, there's another related option if your major goal is to have a pet which is beneficial to you emotionally. An ESA (emotional support animal) is a pet, not a service animal, but ESAs are therapeutic for people with disabilities or mental or physical illnesses. An ESA cannot go into no-pets areas with you like a service animal can, but if your pet is an ESA you can legally expect to be allowed to have the pet--assuming you pay for any damage, as with any other pet--even if your housing does not normally allow pets. Having an ESA is just a matter of having a letter from your doctor, which you can show to your landlord if necessary, and so it is a good option for those whose service animals do not leave the house with them. My cat Tiny does some minor service tasks--he can nudge me out of a shutdown and get me out of bed--but he would not like going out with me, and I don't need a service animal with me when I go somewhere alone. So Tiny is simply an ESA, and there's no need for him to be any more than that. Most ESAs do not perform any service tasks at all, but they are still a major positive influence on their owners' lives.

I wish you well. Service dogs can be a really big improvement in independence for many autistics. For quite a few of us, a service dog can make the difference between being able to go out alone, and needing an aide. For those who are socially anxious, a service dog can help keep you calm. Many find it is easier to communicate when we're in contact with an animal. Whatever you decide, whether to train your dog, obtain a service dog, or just have your dog as an ESA, I hope it is helpful. I know my cats make my life much better than it would be without them.

Callista, I love your kitty! She makes me really happy and bouncy and stimmy. What type of kitty? Is she the black one in your avatar?

(I totally came to post a reply, but am now way distracted by your post and your cat and you said most of what I wanted to say anyways)

I also have an ESA cat. She is in training for some tasks to do at home for me, but does a lot of behaviors beyond normal cat behaviors naturally. Other awesome ESA cats make me really excited, they're probably the biggest thing to make me lose all ability to function on anything other than their existence.

I am looking at a service dog in the future still as a possibility, but either way, my cat is absolutely huge.

I would love n ESA cat.

This is Tiny. He's awesome.


And this is Christy, who knows exactly how cute she is and has appointed herself the official lap warmer.


The black cat in my avatar is a generic image pulled off the Internet. I do like black cats, but unfortunately I don't have one.

^^^
awww, your kitties are beautiful, Callista. Maybe I'll get an ESA when I finally move out on my own. I'll probably be desperately lonely and depressed without my mum (we're really close) and need one. I didn't know such a thing existed.

They are gorgeous Callista. And you can really see how sweet they are in the photos.

Cats aren't traditional service animals; dogs are much more trainable. (Not smarter, necessarily--just more trainable. A dog is a pack animal and thus driven to pay attention to its companions, and to please humans, which makes them very good at service tasks.)

When a cat becomes a service animal, it's often because the cat has an unusually strong bond with its owner, and essentially teaches itself to do things that help the owner. Tiny is, as I've said, not fully a service animal, but he knows me very well and understands when I am acting oddly. When that happens, he gets concerned and nudges me. Since I reward him by petting him and telling him how nice he is being, that behavior has been reinforced, and if he happens to be nearby when I start to shut down, he will nudge me because he knows that this will help me act normally again. He's very sensitive and anxious, and my getting stuck or shutting down makes him anxious, too. So it's rewarding for both of us when he helps me.

Getting me out of bed is a task I taught him. I simply kept some treats next to my bed, and every morning I would feed him one if he came to greet me when I woke. Soon he learned that the bed was a nice place to be, and now he makes sure that I get up when the alarm clock rings because I pet him when he jumps up and feed him when I get out of bed. I give them their food in the morning so that they're ready for their next meal around the time I get up. He doesn't need treats anymore.

Very few cats become service animals; they're creatures of habit and often don't like traveling around with their owners, but I know of one such cat--Amanda Baggs's cat Fey. Fey rides around with her on her wheelchair, and I think the two of them have a very close bond. Cats have good senses and can learn to detect seizures or diabetic crises, and more than a few autistic people find that it's easier to communicate when they are touching a cat or dog.

I don't think you could explicitly train a cat to become a service animal. It has to be more something that the cat itself wants to learn how to do. For Tiny, waking me up and nudging me when I'm upset are both rewarding activities that he naturally does because he likes to do them. If he were a dog, following commands would be intrinsically rewarding for him, because dogs are happy to know that they have a job and are appreciated. But Tiny's not a pack animal, so he does things because he likes me to be calm and knows he will get snuggles if he wakes me up in the morning, and food after I get up. A cat has to have a reason to do something beyond just "My pack mate will be happy with me."

I wouldn't rule out cats entirely. Odder animals have become service animals. I've heard of one pet rat who can alert her owner to health problems (muscle spasms, I think?) and a lizard one WP member carries to help with agoraphobia and social overload. There are guide horses and helper monkeys. If your animal enjoys the tasks, can be quiet and polite in public, and offers you assistance, I see no reason why it should not become a service animal. There are more legal protections for dogs than for any other species, but most people tend to be nice about well-behaved service animals, even if they are cats or lizards.

I never had to train my cat to wake me up, he just wants to eat his breakfast!

I take him outside sometimes and he acts a little nervous but then he's all proud of himself when comes back in.

Do you have your cat on a harness when you take him out? If he's nervous about it (despite seeming to enjoy it), you should probably make sure you have a hold on him so he doesn't get scared by something and bolt.

A cat on a leash might seem weird, but in many places it's not safe to let cats out at all, so a harness and leash is one way to let them enjoy the outdoors safely.

Yes always a harness. Too much traffic around to risk it.

Things that are relevant here.

1. Cats are not covered under the ADA. Service dogs are covered in public access. Cats are not. There is good reason for this. Some places will allow people to bring their cats which aid them in anyways, but cats are not covered under the ADA.

2. In order to be a service animal, an animal MUST be trained TASKS that are not natural behaviors of the animal or of the species and which aid in your disability. It is not things the animal learned to do themselves to help the person. That's great, it doesn't make it a service animal (Ada has a HUGE number of those, she's not a service animal, she's an amazing ESA). Carrying an animal because it makes you feel better does not make it a service animals. Alerting to muscle spasms or migraines is not a service animal. These are huge bonuses. They're not service animals.

Cats make Amazing ESAs despite the fact that they don't go in public. And ESAs are way undervalued by many people.

Anyways, on the topic of the trainability of cats.

Many cats are not very trainable but are somewhat trainable. I have a very unusual cat. She is the most trainable cat I've ever met. She has a lot of traits that are combined in the same cat to get what I have in her. She's a migraine alert cat - she tells me 20 minutes before my migraines occur that they're going to occur (and does this naturally, with no training). I've trained a recall in her strong enough that I can call her away from a can of wet food in order to tell her to follow me, that we're going upstairs.

She's a very human oriented cat, very trainable cat (not just intelligent but intelligent in a way that humans can interact with), and such. I can train her, I have trained her, and I am training her. I just have to train her in her way, not thinking of her as any old animal. But if you're training a dog properly you have to do that too, all animals are individuals. Ada learns well with luring, as well as by me physically blocking her from things she's not allowed to have. She gets primarily food rewards, but not entirely. I use a clicker with her.

It's just that I started by training my cat manners and obedience before training her tasks.

And yes, my cat has a harness and leash. She prefers it over a carrier. She gets out of carriers.

But, no, cats are trainable. They have less of a pack drive, but pack drive isn't the only thing you use when you're training. You have other drives to take advantage of too.

But I have the advantage of a cat that is a bit unusual here. And she's awesome