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Selecting A Service Dog Candidate – A Personal Journey From a Professional Perspective is a 90 minute webinar, live online on March 2, 2016 and then recorded for OnDemand purchase and viewing. In this lecture, Barbara Handelman will cover the four most common resources through which disabled individuals find dogs to assist them with the challenges of daily life. A disabled person might apply for a dog through a service dog training organization; buy a puppy from a reputable breeder; adopt a puppy, adolescent or adult dog from a shelter or rescue organization to train for themselves or with the advice and support of professional trainers; apply to adopt a career change dog from a service dog training organization. She will then discuss the pros and cons of each of these options.
Selecting a service dog candidate for service dog careers is risky business. Dogs change as they develop, and who they become is influenced by temperament, puppy enrichment experiences, early socialization, and innate breed predisposition to certain drive patterns. Approximately 50% of dogs who enter training as assistance dog candidates do not ultimately enter the workforce or retire early for a variety of temperament, stress, or physical health related reasons. These are daunting statistics.
Join Barbara as she weaves together twenty years of professional work in the service dog field and her personal journeys with the extraordinary dogs who became her own assistance dog partners and those who were simply wrong for the job.
A question and answer session will follow this webinar that will be moderated by Monique Udell, PhD.
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