Training to Be a Service Dog

Sonia Holwegner has seven kids. Aside from her motherly duties, she also trains puppies to be service dogs. One of these puppies she trains is a Golden Retriever named Shep. At Shep's young age, she trains him to be obedient and nice. She also trains him to greet people politely, do escalators, and be sociable as to not get scared in public places and around strangers. 

Holwegner will have Shep for about a year and a half. After initial training, Shep will be sent to more advanced training with an organization called B.C. and Alberta Guide Dogs.

In the organization, Shep will learn things like how to push buttons to open up wheelchair doors for his person. During training, treats are also not encouraged as it is important for the dogs to listen without them. Not all dogs get to pass training. Those who failed to pass get put up for adoption.

Article and photo source: calgaryjournal.ca

Do you own an assistance animal? Register your pet. 

The Service Animal Registry of California invites you to have your assistance animal registered in order to designate its status. We also encourage you to take our online classes so you can be fully aware of your rights and gain more knowledge about your support animal.

Finally, we present to you our book entitled, “ASSISTANCE ANIMAL LAWS: LEARN YOUR RIGHTS REGARDING SERVICE ANIMALS, EMOTIONAL SUPPORT ANIMALS, THERAPY PETS, AND OTHER DOGS, CATS, AND ASSISTANCE ANIMALS” to provide you with a complete education on assistance animals.

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