Service dog

[Seshat]

We're considering making our next animal companion a service dog.

We're planning this as a long-term exercise - we don't want to get another animal until our current pair die (of natural causes/old age/a vet's mercy). Both are getting up there in years, so unless they hang on as long as ElderlyKitty (18!), this is likely to happen in the next three to five years.

We've narrowed it down to the toy breeds, because one of the services we want is a cuddle-dog for my anxieties, and another is a 'heat pack'; where I tell her which part of me needs to be warmed and she makes herself comfortable there.
Both will require a lightweight dog, ergo, toy breed.

A... ah, Bast ... is willing to take responsibility for grooming the little darling, so we can afford furry beauties like the papillon or the havanese.
But we're ruling out the Maltese terrier. Delightful little darlings, yes, but one day without grooming and they can mat up. And we've shaved too many Maltese and Maltese crosses when we were helping at the shelter - seen too much damaged skin from matting.

Another part of the plan is for me to take a correspondance course in service dog training; ideally one focussed on training the disabled person who will be the dog's primary handler. (Me, duh.)
We'll be using Violet, our current dog, as the dog-being-trained while I do the course. Vi will ADORE the attention and the mental exercise, and especially the being-loved part of it all.

So what do I want from you all?

Advice.

* What breeds can you think of which suit the criteria? (Criteria to follow)

* How do I identify good breeders, vs 'okay', vs bad?

* What are good events to attend, to meet the type of dog I need?
I have the Victorian Kennel Club's event calendar - it's online - but I'm still fairly ignorant of what to attend.

* What else do I need to know, to help me get a good dog for my purposes?

(Don't worry about vet care for the dog - we have a family vet. The same one who gave Elderly Cat her mercy needle. He's caring, and his patients are an extended family to him. He did a home visit for Elderly Cat, just so she could die in familiar surroundings.)


* On a totally different topic, what ideas do you have for 'tricks' or 'services' the pup could learn to help me?




Criteria for the animal:
- Lightweight, ergo toy. Doesn't need to be chihuahua-small, but on the lightweight end of the 'toy' category of dogs, rather than reaching into the 'small' category.

- Intelligent enough to learn services, and eager-to-please enough to want to learn them and do them. I want this to be a happy life for the dog.

- Grooming: A thorough weekly bath and brush, potentially with me petting the dog and periodically running a comb through tangles midweek. Daily thorough grooming is too much. During the weekly groom, nails and ears and eyes and sanitary area will be tended. And during daily lap time or 'next to' snuggle time, there'll be an ear check and teeth cleaning.

- Exercise need should be low or moderate. A delightful exercise partner who can help me with the short walks that I can manage - great! A dog who needs an hour a day of vigorous walking? No can do.

- Playtime, however, is fine. Playing fetch with improvised things (crumpled up paper, old toilet roll core) will help reinforce the 'bring me that' service.
If the dog can entertain herself for hours with a treat ball (filled with her dryfood), that's even better. Some days both Bast and I are sick, and Toth has to tend to us. If he can give her a few toys and she's fine, that will help immensely on those days.

- Most days, I'm expecting to spend several ten to fifteen-minute sessions of service training with her, reinforcing tricks or teaching new ones. That, plus light grooming time, playtime, and time spent with her performing services for me or being a living heatpack, PLUS time spent with her for sheer affection, is what she can expect in human-interaction with me.
Bast and Toth will also interact with her, and probably take her for walks. Their walks usually max out at about an hour.



Services I've thought of:

- Picking things up for me.

- Living heatpack.

- Detecting when I'm anxious, and alerting me. (if possible)

- Being a cuddle-toy for when I'm anxious - mostly, just sitting in my lap and getting adored. But being there for as long as she's willing to be, or until the attack passes. Ideally the latter.

- Alerting me to certain environment cues I might miss; eg the doorbell, or my medication alert on my phone.


Anything else?

[Gravekeeper]

Dachshund.

Small, intelligent, affectionate, short haired for easy grooming, don't need super long walks for obvious reasons. They're very good with therapy applications. But especially for anxiety and other related disorders and unseen disabilities which they pick up on very well. They also make good signal dogs so they can still catch the doorbell, etc.

Plus, their long, tube like nature can be easily applied as a heat wrap. >.>

A good breeder should have certifications and paper trail demonstrating the lineage. They should also have no problem with you coming to check out the kennel conditions and the animals sociability, etc. If there are any local showing/breeding societies they should have information on reputable local breeders as well. If not have said breeders at the show itself.

[Seshat]

I've heard & read that dacshunds need a lot of exercise & activity during the course of the day. But I'll certainly keep that in mind - it does sound like a good match.

And yes, my state kennel club is a branch of the Australian one, which does all the certifications for breeders, manages breed standards, and so on.
Some of the breeders have websites, with links from either the Australian or the state club site: they usually seem to say that their breeding dog/bitch/both is tested for <disease A> and <disease B>, offer to show the veterinary certification of same, and assorted other paperwork....

Part of why I want to attend events is to meet the dogs and find out which breeds I actually LIKE.
The other part is to meet the breeders, and find out which ones 'feel' honest/caring/etc.

[NecessaryCatharsis]

The only worry I would have with a dachshund is with the long back they don't jump very well, into your lap, the car, wherever, and if you don't pick them up just right you can hurt their back. I'm not sure the limits to your abilities but if you have less upper body strength or some loss of motor skills in the arms that could be dangerous for the dog.

As for another breed I would recommend a pug, if you can find one with small enough parents. Originally bred as lap warmers they also need less exercise, minimal grooming other than wrinkle dusting , and are more than happy to cuddle for hours if that's what it takes. They are more tolerant of noise, children and general busyness than most toy breeds, and are pretty tough if you do accidentally hurt them a little.

The only real concern with them is they don't handle heat that well, so if it is really hot in your part of the world, and you live without A/C, a pug might not be great.

Another place to find good breeders is to ask your vet for recommendations.

[CoffeeMonkey]

the first time I ever heard of a dog serving as a heating pad, it was a mexican hairless named Toaster.

http://pawsforcomfort.com/site/node/6

[Gravekeeper]

I've heard & read that dacshunds need a lot of exercise & activity during the course of the day. But I'll certainly keep that in mind - it does sound like a good match.

Dachshunds only need a moderate amount of exercise, and it has to be leisurely and low impact because of their little weiner dog legs. So short, slow / leisurely walks are best for them. Any faster and its hard on their joints.

They can get a lot of their exercise indoors, provided you've got stuff to fetch. They like having stuff to do. Hence they make good therapy dogs because it gives them a variety of tasks. But like I said, they're one of the best dogs for anxiety and other disorders, if that's what you need help with.

As for pugs, well. They're pugs. My sister in law has one.

They're adorable, needy and kind of borderline insane. If you want a loving, stalker like minion that will glue itself to your leg everywhere you go, that's a pug. They need a ton of attention, though they'll return just as much. Don't need a ton of exercise either and they're pretty intelligent.

They are however difficult to house train and will eat absolutely anything. Edible or not. They have low tolerance to hot or cold weather though. So he'll need a little sweater in the cold and AC in the heat.

Part of why I want to attend events is to meet the dogs and find out which breeds I actually LIKE. The other part is to meet the breeders, and find out which ones 'feel' honest/caring/etc.

Yep, any good breeder should have no problem with you seeing them, their dogs and their facilities. A good breeder has just as much vested interest in finding good homes for their dogs as you do. They're not in it to just offload their dogs like retail products.

[Sunshine]

Poodles would be a good option in that they are easily brushed out or maintained in a short clip and they were originally bred to be retrievers. They are also soft, cuddly and like to snuggle.

[mathnerd]

I'll add my approval for dachshunds. I'm currently watching two of the little boogers roll around on the floor with each other. They *are* active, but they're perfectly content to be active with toys. As long as you've got toys for them to play with and blankest for them to burrow under, they'll be happy. Neither of the two in this house have any trouble getting up onto the couch. My friend does have to help one of them (one has slightly shorter legs than the other) get into the bed, but the longer legged one has no issues. What's funny is the difference is less than a quarter inch, but the younger one just can't manage that leap. Anyway, these two dogs are incredibly snuggly. When their mama comes home, they glue themselves to her. When she's not home, they snuggle with each other or me, or anybody else who's home. They seem to have a sixth sense for when their mama isn't feeling well.

Also, don't discount mixes and shelter dogs. You might have to do a little work to find one with the right personality, but I have this Jack Russel/Rat Terrier/Chihuahua mix who's a delightful (if strange looking) little dog. Now, she does require a lot of activity, but she's also content with toys. A ball on a stick, similar to a cat toy, is great. I can sit on the couch and have her jump for the ball without me having to move an awful lot. She wouldn't be good for your uses, but if you were to judge her based on her breed mix, you probably wouldn't get anywhere close to her real personality. It might be worth the effort to spend some time playing with various shelter dogs to see if any of them might have the personality you're looking for, despite their breeds/mixes.

[Teysa]

My dad had a pug as a service dog for a number of years. The dog is enjoying a well earned retirement now, but he used to help with my dad's anxiety as well as detect if his blood sugar was getting out of whack. Daddy is currently training a Boston Terrier to perform the same function. He had planned on training a pug/pekinese mix he'd rescued but decided that dog was more family pet than service dog material. So in the meantime, they have three dogs and three cats living in relative harmony with each other.

[jedimaster91]

the first time I ever heard of a dog serving as a heating pad, it was a mexican hairless named Toaster.

http://pawsforcomfort.com/site/node/6

Came here to mention the Xolo. Pretty sure their primary purpose is to be heating pads.

Not sure I would go with a dachshund. Of course, my experience with them has been with my friend's dog who is an absolute brat, so YMMMV. But she's food/toy reactive and not good with other dogs. However, if you get one young enough and train it not to be holy terror, it might be ok. They are tenacious little buggers.

[Seshat]

Thank you all for the responses - I promise I am reading them all and thinking about them. I'm down with a sore throat that seems to be a major symptom of a flu-like thing right now, so fuzzythinking.

Some points:

* Shelter dogs and mixes are under consideration, but in our area, the toy dogs go fast.
* Rescue dogs are okay, but would need to be comfortable with my walking stick and walking frame, and happy to learn to ride on my scooter. The younger the dog, the easier it will be to train them that these things are part of every day life.
* Hm. Daschund, Pug, Xolo ... I'd discounted the Xolo because as far as I can tell, there's no Australian breeders of Xolos. But I'd not known the Daschund or the Pug were good with anxiety and other such issues. If they come to alert me over blood sugar as well, that'd be GREAT.

Jedimaster, because Daschunds are working dogs, they're even more susceptible than the companion breeds to 'small dog syndrome'.
Small dog syndrome happens when the dog doesn't perceive its humans as pack leaders. Lacking a pack leader, the dog tries to be the leader: which means it does all sorts of things that the humans interpret as brattiness.
Small dog syndrome happens to larger dogs as well, but is less common: it's actually a failure of the humans. And humans fail to be pack leaders for small dogs much more often than for large dogs. Small dogs have the 'cute' factor going for them, and humans see the first signs of the dog being pack-leader as 'harmless' and 'awww, how cute, he's herding the children'.

[mathnerd]

Granted my experience with dachshunds is limited, but I've found (all two) of them quite easy to manage. My friend's dogs definitely have small dog syndrome with her, but it only took a day or two before their behavior with me started changing dramatically, and some of their more irritating habits in general lessened or stopped. I treat her dogs like I treat my mastiff and my little mutt (they're spoiled, but well trained), and they've responded beautifully.

[Tama]

I had two dachshunds, one was rather tame and lovable...

...the other was also lovable and sweet but would bark at you if you shouted/argued aloud in the house. She hated it.

[ArcticChicken]

Purely anecdote, but I've never met an ill tempered cockapoo. The several I know are all sweethearts, with a poodle's intelligence, so you can train them to do more complex things. They're pretty active, but seem content to exercise themselves with toys/fetching. The ones I've known also seem light for their size, but I don't have that much experience with small dogs.

[Moogles]

I'm interested in this as well. I'll be getting a service dog myself in the near future, for epilepsy and depression. It would also need to be a small breed (they tend to be better for detecting seizures), and I have a small backyard.