Service Dog Training
The Americans with Disability Act (ADA) defines a service animal as “any guide dog, signal dog, or other animal individually trained to provide assistance to an individual with a disability.” The key to this definition is TRAINED. A TRAINED service dog has public access rights provided under the ADA.
Disability
The ADA defines a disability as: • “a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more of the major life activities of such individual; • a record of such an impairment; or • being regarded as having such an impairment”
Major Life Activities
Major life activities include: • caring for oneself • performing manual tasks • walking • seeing • hearing • speaking • breathing • learning • working • sitting • standing • lifting • thinking • sleeping • eating • concentrating • interacting with others
Emotional Support Dog
While there is no official government definition of Emotional Support Dog it is generally thought of as a dog that provides emotional support to a person with a medical condition that is not necessarily disabling.
Psychiatric Service Dog vs. Emotional Support Dog
Unlike emotional support dogs, the psychiatric service dog is TRAINED to mitigate the symptoms of a disabled person. An emotional support dog is NOT TRAINED and is typically used to assist a person with a medical condition that is not to the point of being disabling to the handler.
Service Dog Trained Task
Service dogs must be TRAINED to mitigate the symptoms of a disabled person. The key to it qualifying as a trained task it must be something the person would otherwise have difficulty performing on their own.
Examples of Service Dog Trained Tasks: • Retrieving dropped items • Finding help when incapacitated • Reminding to take medication • Bracing for going down stairs • Waking from sleep
K9Specialist.com provides service dog training in the Michigan and Ohio areas, with services available in the Holland Michigan, Muskegon Michigan, Grand Rapids Michigan, Detroit Michigan, Flint Michigan, and Saginaw Michigan areas among others.
Policies
After 3 visits and/or 1 week or more at our training facility, no refund may be obtained. This is only valid on Basic training programs. This is not applicable to any Intermediate, Advanced, Aggressive Behavior Modification, or Personal Protection Training Programs.
For clients protection as well as ours, all evaluations are subject to being recorded.
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Aggression – K-9 Specialist will not take on any dog that shows aggression toward any internal family member. This goes for daughter, son, nephew, niece, uncle, aunt, father, mother, In Laws etc. We only deal with aggression that comes from the outside in. We will teach the dog to be put under control by the handler to stay on their property at their side while being out doors. This means under complete client contained supervision!! Client must specify clearly at the signing of contract on what type of aggression they are dealing with and understand what we will not take on.
All training comes with a lifetime guarantee for the life of the pet.
Note: Please understand that K-9 Specialist LLC can only teach you and provide you with the proper tools to control any unwanted behaviors your dog may have. For example, if you have a Hound and you dislike that he or she chases birds, K-9 Specialist LLC can help you control that unwanted behavior while you are in your dogs presence only. We cannot stop your dogs natural given drive, nor can we control it if the dog is unattended. However, as long as you are trained by us and follow the proper procedures on how to maintain control of your dog while in his or her presence, you will have a well behaved dog. Please note that this applies to all behavior modification courses. Do not be fooled by others who claim they can “cure” a problem that is a natural instinct to your dog. There is no cure for a bird dog wanting to chase birds for example, but there are ways to control them. Please do not waste your time or money on K-9 Specialist LLC if your expectations are to “cure” your dogs natural instinct. If your expectation is to have full control over your dog while in his or her presence, we are the team for you. This same concept also applies to aggressive behavioral issues.
Special Example: I, owner and operator of K-9 Specialist LLC, owns a naturally aggressive Pitbull. My Pitbull is ONLY aggressive towards other dogs or animals in general, not people. As long as I am with my dog, whether I have her on or off a leash, she will respect and obey my authority. For example, if another dog walks by and I am present with my Pitbull, she will remain in her place and not move or react to that dog because I am there to control the situation. However, if I walk away and leave my dog unattended, she will most definitely advance towards the other dog because I was not there to control the situation. I am giving this very real scenario to provide the public with the knowledge that just because a dog is well trained, the training does not take the natural instinct out of them at all. It would be like taking the “dog” out of the dog…completely impossible. That’s why I offer training to help teach and educate you as well as give you the tools to maintain proper control and behavior with your dog, as long as your in his or her presence. That’s the key right there. You MUST be in his or her PRESENCE to have complete control.