10 Ways to Be a Better Service Dog Team in 2019
As the holidays wrap up, it's a great time to reflect on your 2018 and resolve to do better in 2019. Here are ten simple steps that will help you and your Service Dog become a better team. Happy New Year! 2019 Service Dog Goals: Check Your Gear Is your Service Dog gear clean, serviceable and still relevant to your needs? Now is a great time to sit in a warm house and clean gear, spruce up those leather harnesses with some saddle soap, and make sure that that really nice backpack doesn't chafe your partner's underarms. Check the fit of collars, boots, coats, and other working gear. Make sure ID tags are up to date. Since you're probably working on taxes or your budget for the coming year - now's a good time to consider if you'll need to replace or upgrade any gear in the coming year. 2019 Service Dog Goals: Make a Service Dog Binder This is more important than it sounds. Include things like a current vaccination record, microchip information. AKC, breeder, trainer, or even rescue information could be included also. A list of all of the tasks your dog performs for you, and a list of all of the commands and behaviors that your dog has mastered could be included too. Other ideas include a current series of photos that show your dog both dressed and from the front and side, in case you ever need them. There are lots of ideas, these are just a few. 2019 Service Dog Goals: Do a Service Dog Skills Check It's a good idea to evaluate your partner's skill set multiple times per year, but a large scale audit is good at least once per year. This is a good time to see if you need to focus your training anywhere specific, or to simply update your list of what your dog knows. Getting video is a good idea too. 2019 Service Dog Goals: Update Your Service Dog's Task and Behavior List Now is a good time to update their Task/Behavior list. Cell phones make it so easy to get good quality video these days too. It's a really great way to log that your dog can demonstrate a skill when needed, just mak sure that there is sufficient lighting and the behavior is visible with minimal cues and distractions. Storing these files on a USB Drive or even a SD Card makes life a lot
2018 Service Dog Goals: 10 Ways To Be a Better Team
It’s a great time to reflect on your 2017 and resolve to do better in 2018. Here are ten simple steps that will help you and your Service Dog become a better team. Happy New Year!
Service Dog Quest: Log Your Learning
It's well known that logging performance is one of the keys to continual growth and progress. Whether it's a fitness program, painting, academic classes or dog training, you can't figure out where you're going if you don't know where you've been. When it comes to Service Dogs, though, a training log is even more vital, both for your safety and that of your dog.
10 Ways to Be a Better Service Dog Team in 2017
It is once again that time where people buy gym memberships and go for about a week or two before they lose steam and stop. This is a great time to pick out ten simple steps toward making ourselves a better Service team, and to be sure that we leave nothing but a great impression. Here’s to 2017 being great for Service Dogs and handlers everywhere!
Ten Ways to be a Better Service Dog Team in 2016
It's the season for thinking about New Year resolutions for 2016. Most people think about the usual things: losing weight, learning to live in the moment, etc. but our mission is to encourage disabled individuals who use Service Dogs to leave nothing but an excellent impression. Here are 10 ways to be a better Service Dog team in 2016!
Service Dog Quest: Intro and Goals
New Year's resolutions are a time-honored tradition but we're all familiar with how difficult it is to keep up with them. If you're like many Service Dog and working K-9 handlers, you may have a couple dog-related items on your list, like "train more" or "socialize" or "learn new things." In order to help you and your Service Dog learning, growing and bonding all year long, we're proud to announce the 2014 Service Dog Challenge!