{"id":7111,"date":"2020-05-23T14:16:00","date_gmt":"2020-05-23T21:16:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/puppyintraining.com\/?p=7111"},"modified":"2023-11-09T17:55:18","modified_gmt":"2023-11-10T01:55:18","slug":"what-commands-do-you-teach-a-service-dog","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/puppyintraining.com\/what-commands-do-you-teach-a-service-dog\/","title":{"rendered":"What Commands Do You Teach A Service Dog?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Have you ever wondered or thought to ask: “Colby, what commands do you teach a service dog?”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As guide dog puppy raisers we teach our puppies 9 basic obedience commands<\/a> before they start their formal training.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Adelle’s service dog training manual lists 30 commands<\/strong>! That’s right THREE – ZERO!!!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We’ve been raising and training guide dog puppies<\/strong> since 2006 and we have the privilege of working with these puppies from the time they are 8 weeks old until they are 18 months.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"What
What Commands Do You Teach A Service Dog?<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

During this time we do our best to make sure they are rock solid with a handful of commands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When our pups move on to guide dog college they learn many more commands as well as advanced skills and intelligent disobedience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

QUICK RECOMMENDATION:<\/strong> Unfortunately, if you’re not a puppy raiser then you likely do not have access to a service dog training manual. However, there are many good puppy training books available. One of our favorite books is Puppies for Dummies<\/a>. We read Puppies for Dummies several times before we adopted our first puppy, Linus.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

What Do We Teach Our Service Dog Puppies In Training?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

As a puppy raiser, we do not teach our puppies everything. We have three main goals as puppy raisers:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n
  1. Teach our pups good house manners.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. Socialize our puppies.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  3. Teach them basic obedience.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    The basics are the same whether you are a guide dog puppy raiser or a service dog puppy raiser. As mentioned earlier the big difference is we have to teach our service dog puppies 30 commands vs only 9 for our guide pups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    That’s right!  Canine Support Teams has a list of 30 commands we are tasked to teach our service dog puppies in training.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    In fact, learning how to teach these different commands is one of the main reasons why I was interested in raising a service dog puppy vs. a guide dog puppy.<\/p>\n\n\n

    \n
    \"Training<\/a>
    Adelle taking a nap during training?!?<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

    Lucky for us our puppy raiser manual gives us a list of commands that we are to teach our puppies including what our pup’s physical response should be, application, and notes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    So, now you’re wondering exactly what commands you teach a service dog puppy in training.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    QUICK NOTE:<\/strong> When we first started training everything was referred to as a command. However, over the years many trainers now refer to “Sit”, and “Down” as cues and not commands.<\/em>

    We recognize these two words are very different however, for the purposes of this article we will consider a cue and command synonymous. If you want to read more check out this article:     commands vs cue in dog training<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Take a gander at this list:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    What Commands Do You Teach A Service Dog?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    UPDATE:<\/strong> 5 years ago we followed CST’s standards to teach 30 commands, but guess what? We expanded our list to teach our current puppies even more skills (check out the bonus section). We also included a little more detail about each command.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Our future puppies in training will learn all of these skills. At the moment we are working with Raven, Mother of Puppies <\/strong>(Yep, I watch Game of Thrones) on all 45 commands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    QUICK TIP:<\/strong> For several years we’ve been clicker training<\/a>\u00a0our puppies. Stay tuned for more blog posts on how to clicker-train your puppy.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    0. NAME<\/strong> – to get your puppy’s attention.<\/p>\n\n\n\n