AnnArtisan--I'm gonna be really clear here.
1) I have THREE children. I know how they are give to speak at times. I also know how teenagers are. I'm not trying to be insulting, however coming back at someone with insults isn't the best way to deal with the situation either. I also wasn't trying to accuse you or your child of anything. Be literal if you like, but it was an attempt at education.
2) As for my dog, Lilly. I love her and my life has been blessed with her, but I don't recommend just training a pup to work for you as a convenience. If it weren't for Lilly there are a miriad of things I WOULD NOT be able to do normally if at all. Life as a Service Dog is hard. The responses aren't just conditioned, but REQUIRED. Service Dogs have to have the right temperament before they can get the right training. Boxers have a tendency to have the right temperament.
3) The flunk out rate for a hearing dog in training is 98%. You are teaching the dog to not only alert you to sounds that you cannot hear, but need to know about (such as my children crying, ppl saying my name, the doorbell or someone knocking on the door, the telephone, emergency sirens while driving my car, when someone approaches me on my deaf side etc etc etc...), they are also taught to ignore sounds that a regular everyday dog would naturally respond to (car horns, other dogs, smells etc etc etc...). We teach them to ignore other dogs completely, other ppl to the extent that they only respond/alert when the ppl are directly involved with/to you or are a threat to you (NOT TO BE CONFUSED WITH PROTECTION TRAINED), as well as be completely focused on you and your needs. I love my Lilly Bear, but her life is a hard life. Yes, she gets to go everywhere with me, but she does not get to experience it the same way a normal dog would. She is expected to behave appropriately AT ALL TIMES.
My husband will tell you that Lilly is a family dog (she loves my kids and hubby), but she's MY dog. Service Dogs bond VERY DEEPLY with their handlers. It is necessary for the kind of work they do. I am constantly defending her in the outside world. She has days where there are things I need to do, but don't do because I want her to have a day off to just be a dog, but those days are at home. Anytime she leaves the house with me, she's on duty. If we go to the beach or the park...she's working. PPL are NOT allowed to pet my dog without asking permission, they aren't allowed to talk to or otherwise distract her because that makes it more difficult for her to work. In all honesty, its against the law to disract, touch, harrass, or otherwise keep a Service Dog from working. If convicted, there is a $500,000 fine and up to 15 years in prison. These dogs are federally protected.
The reason that I said it is unfair to train the dog for that kind of work is because it is hard on the dog. A regular trained behavior is considered effective if the dog does it 80% of the times you give commands, but for a service dogs training to be effective, it must be 98% effective. Especially for hearing and guide dogs. These dogs not only hear/see what what we cannot, but they are capable of saving our lives with their training (as Lilly has done for me several times)!!! Lilly is two years and 5 months old and has spent nearly everyday of her life training to work for me. The behaviors you are talking about training Atticus to do will take a lot of time and effort on your part. Even if you get a trainer (or do it yourself), it will take several weeks of consistent, daily training sessions for the behavior to be learned on a rudimentary level. Then it will take several months for it to be fine tuned enough to be considered remotely effective. You can only train one behavior at a time and most Service dog training doesn't start until the pup is 18 months old (if you go by the typical recommendations from a training school).
I'm not trying to be insulting, I'm trying to be realistic. I thik that if you really want an S.D., then you should get a dog (from or school or one that you can train) for yourself. This is advice from a trainer AND SERVICE DO HANDLER!!!
Liz and Lilly
