Solstice Service Dogs

A much deserved Spotlight post for a previous Solstice Service Dog Program Graduate, Jake, who is now living life with his girl, and helping her mitigate her disability and work towards thriving in the world. He quickly became a fan favorite at the school where he attends classes with his girl. Congratulations to this team who will no doubt accomplish amazing things🖤. •••photo ID: a yellow lab is performing a variety of commands for their handler. #servicedogs #servicedogintraining #labradorretriver #lab #puppyraiser #dogconfirmation #showdog #dogsofinstagram #forcefree #cooperativecare #malinois #belgianmalinois #goldenretriver #Retriver

✨Intelligent disobedience in service dogs✨To most people, this looks like a video of a dog who isn’t quite sure what is being asked of it, but that isn’t actually the case. Service dogs are incredibly obedient dogs trained to perform highly advanced behaviors at the drop of a hat. However sometimes they need to be able to think independently about what tasks need to be prioritized. For example: If a handler asks their service dog to lay down, but they can sense that the handler is about to have a panic attack, we ideally want a dog that will prioritize the alert and corrective task rather than laying down as asked. Cyn appears to be disobeying his handlers command of “place”, and that’s because he is, so that he can successfully alert to a seizure. Such a smart boy! •• #servicedogs #servicedogintraining #labradorretriver #lab

He’s just a silly goofy boy🖤 #dogtrainer #dogtraining #Servicedog #servicedogs #servicedogintraining #labradorretriver

SDiT solstice working on his heel with autosits!. #dogtrainer #dogtraining #Servicedog #servicedogs #servicedogintraining #labradorretriver #lab #puppyraiser #dogconfirmation #showdog

Solstice went on an outing this weekend to work on learning directional cues! So proud of how well this boy is doing, and we can’t wait to see what he accomplishes. •#dogtrainer #dogtraining #Servicedog #servicedogs #servicedogintraining #labradorretriver #lab #puppyraiser #showdog #forcefree #cooperativecare

Jake is officially making his way to Illinois! While we will be continuing to help train him to reach his full potential, He’s going to be training with an awesome program to see if he will be matched to help a disabled student with a progressive disorder be able to mitigate their disability He will be continuing to work on his current task that he learned here, like item retrieval, medication retrieval, and deep pressure therapy, and he will be learning some new task, like retrieving his handlers mobility assistance devices, and guiding to an exit. Jake is such a solid, fantastic, easy going, smart boy and I can’t wait to see his progress. Jake will still need to work on building confidence, some impulse control, and proofing public access skills, and he will have to pass evaluation again later in the year, but everyone involved has high high hopes for his future🖤 We are so proud of Jake and can’t wait to see him reach his potential. Everyone say “Good luck Jake” #servicedogs #Servicedog #servicedogintraining #labradorretriver #lab #dogtraining #dogtrainer

Did you know some dogs can be trained to alert for things like elevated heart rate? These dogs are Often called “Cardiac Alert Dogs” and they can be trained to detect changes in heart rate and blood pressure. I’d make a longer caption diving into them, but as you can see Jake is currently alerting to a change in my heart rate, and trying to do his job so I don’t pass out🤣#Servicedog #labradorretriver #servicedogs #dogtraining

Jake was introduced to Anise for some scentwork fun a few weeks ago, we’ve been building distance and doing blind runs and he’s picking up on it very quickly. the nose knows! #servicedogtraining #scentwork #labradorretriever #lab

If you’re like me, and you struggle with short term memory loss, and dissociation, this task can make a monumental difference in seemingly simple things like grocery shopping. Jake is in the process of learning how to guide his handler to find their car. One day the goal will be him having the ability to differentiate his handlers car, from other cars in a busy parking lot! #Servicedog #Servicedogintraining #lab #dogtraining #servicedogs #workingdog

Working hard or hardly working? Jake is working on proofing his task work, and he certainly makes it look easy. Service dog training is definitely no easy feat tho, it takes multiple years, thousands of hours of training, and a stable, solid, confident temperament in the dog. The majority of dogs don’t make the cut for service dog work, because having high standards is crucial for such an important job. In the video below Jake it working on Retrieving medication from another room at a distance, increasing the duration of holding an item, and turning off the lights! #servicedog #dogtraining

One thing we focused on during yesterdays dog training session with Jake is working on the distance and duration of his downstays! Not only is holding a downstay a requirement for the canine good citizen test, which is something all service dog teams should aim to take, but it can be very useful for pets in real life applications too. Typically it isn’t a good idea and can be dangerous to leave your dog in a downstay out of sight, however this command can also be useful in many ways during In home situations such as having them stay out of the kitchen when you’re cooking, or when you have guest over!

Have you ever wondering what different kinds of things service dogs can do to help their handlers? Jake is here to show you one of the many helpful task we teach some service dogs here! He is learning the differentiation of the names of certian items, and how to get his handlers water, and his handlers medication. This is often called “Item Retrieval” Item retrieval is an incredibly beneficial task for anyone with a disability that may make mobility difficult, and emergency medication necessary. This task can be life saving for individuals who have seizures, individuals with Ehlers Danlos, Dysautonomia, panic attacks, and more. Right now we are working on increasing the distance of Jakes “item retrieval” Task so that he will eventually be able to retrieve his handlers emergency medication, and a drink from anywhere in the house.