How To Certify A Service Dog

narrator: it's common for peopleto confuse therapy dogs with service dogs butthere's a distinct differencebetween the two. margaret peterson is aninstructor with canine companions forindependence, the world's

How To Certify A Service Dog, largest organizationraising and training assistance dogs forpeople with disabilities margaret: a therapy dog is adog who is typically a pet dog and they are trainedand often they are

certified throughsome organization. and they may be invited toa specific location such as a hospital or schoolto provide some sort of therapy there. they don't have publicaccess so you can't just take your therapy dog tothe grocery store because the dog does not have atask or a job to do there. their job isworking with people where they are invited.

a service dog is a dog thatis trained to do a task. so they are helping somebodywho has a disability. they have access to taketheir dog with them because that dog isassisting them to live an independent life. narrator: today margaret and herteam are training these pups the essentialcommands needed to one day become a service dog. trainer: get up!

that's a girl!good job! margaret: so definitely, thegoal is to help people become moreindependent. we have had people whohave had to rely on people all their lives and theyget a dog and all of a sudden, they'renot alone anymore. they don't have toask their neighbor or their friend tocome in to help with pickingsomething up.

narrator: picking up an itemis just one of the many commands thesedogs can do. margaret: they can pull somebodyin a manual wheelchair, they can tug opena door or a drawer and some people usethat command to tug a laundry basket or somesort of container. pushing thingswith their nose whether it's pushinga door close or a drawer. turning off andon the lights.

margaret: good! narrator: one of the hardestthings and most important is keeping the dogsfocused at all times margaret: training distractionis a big part of it. the graduate dogs whenthey go out in public they have to focus on whattheir commands and tasks are. they can't be looking atsomebody else walking down the street. if the persondrops something right then, they need that focus.

narrator: not all the dogsend up making the cut. >> about 50% of the dogsmake it through and graduate, there are somerelease dogs that don't make it and they mightbe released for a medical reason or a behavioralreason, and some dogs choose that's not for themand they'd rather be a pet.

narrator: but for the dogs thatsuccessfully complete the intensive training programit's on to the next step in their journey, beingmatched with a person who

will rely on themday in and day out.