Owner Training - A Novice's View

People seem to think OTing is easy. In reality it's a crapshoot. There are some guide schools that have been breeding dogs from their own stock for 60+ years, yet the percentage of dogs born that go on to be full working guide dogs average at about 50-60%. This is from programs who have puppy breeding, puppy rearing, puppy raising, puppy training and furthered training down to as much of a science as you can possibly have with living, breathing animals. When you switch over to owner training, add in a dog who may or may not have been from healthy genetic lines, both physically and temperamentally, and you add in a handler who may have no idea what they're doing, with potentially no outside support, the chances go from crapshoot to lottery win.

I'll go into my own experience about the process of training my own service dog. I met up with a trainer when I was 17 and soon after my 18th birthday began to live with her. She promised she could get me a service dog trained and I, in all of my naîveté, believed her. The idea was that she would help me pick an appropriate SD candidate and I would train it under her watchful eye. (Jeanene's interjection - The trainer in question was dubious at best and much of what follows could have been avoided. The trainer was not mentally and physically stable enough on their own to properly support a novice first time owner trainer, and lacked the follow through and stability on their own to actually make service dog training work. All the more reason to be careful how you pick a trainer for Service work)

My first attempt at training a service dog began with me at 17 with my very sweet Border Collie/Corgi mix, Rocko. I had gotten him as my first dog, my pet, but decided he would do well as a service dog. I did not have him evaluated, I just decided he would do well since we bonded and he learned quickly, he enjoyed being with me and being out and about. I bought him a "Therapy Dog in Training" vest that he wore, and I was proud of him. We at that point met up with the aforementioned trainer and she took us on. Not long into his training the trainer beckoned a mother and child of about 10 over and asked the child to pet Rocko. The child bent down and hugged Rocko around the neck. Rocko bit her just above the eye. I was horrified and he never worked again. He is still my pet at now 10 years old, and doesn't go out often anyway, rarely without a muzzle, and never around children.

My first purchased prospect was a Cardigan Welsh Corgi female, Scout. I wanted something smallish, blue merle and cute but smart. I liked Corgis because Rocko was part Corgi. I found Scout online on Puppyfind. There were 3 other females available from the same breeder. I liked Scout best because she had the nicest markings. I asked the breeder the questions that my trainer told me to ask. I'm not sure exactly how I asked them, but I am positive they were leading. She stated that the best one for what I was looking for was Scout. My parents and I wired her the money and she shipped me a puppy sight unseen. The puppy was horrendously anxious and (I say this now having worked with quite a few more dogs than I had then) not that bright. Overall she did not have anywhere near what I was looking for for a service dog temperament.

My next SD prospect I switched around what I was looking for. I was now looking for something small, easily held, fluffy, and intelligent enough to cue into my high levels of anxiety and overall stress (being 18 and away from home for the first time is stressful!). I found on Puppyfind, again, a breeder who was kind and said all the right things to make me feel comfortable and happy. I went to her house and picked out a cute squirming little cotton ball pup. Kismet was a Havanese x Cavalier King Charles x Toy Poodle pup. She was very sweet and exactly what I'd wanted. She bonded to the point of severe separation anxiety, and she picked up on my anxiety and fed into it. I had her in vest, her little pink vest, several times and she just couldn't handle it.

It was at this point that the trainer and I had a sit down talk about what I wanted and needed. We decided a Rough Collie would be ideal. We spent the morning looking at breeders online, found one 4 hours drive away and met her. The puppies were 6 weeks old, dirty and in the stalls of what looked like a run down two stall horse shack. We were there at 12am and it was cold, pouring rain and there was no evaluation, just pick a puppy, pay and run. Phina actually likely could have become a service dog if I'd had the training ability I do now and the support I was lacking from the trainer I had. She was fearless and easily trainable, excitable and intrigued with the world. I was struggling though, and instead of offering me support, the trainer suggested I abandon ship, so I found her a new home.

The next dog was also a Collie, this time a smooth coat. I found her on my own and met the breeder in the parking lot of a Walmart to do an assessment. I performed an adapted Volhard Puppy Aptitude Test since Ona (the Collie) was 2 years old. I was desperate for a service dog prospect that would work out, that I could start training with. I, in theory knew how to perform the test but saw what I wanted to. I took her home, she was a nightmare with separation anxiety, drooling to the point of dehydration since she refused food and water, and would not sit. I now look back and think she had hip dysplasia, possibly severe, but the breeder didn't disclose that, and I didn't know to ask or to look for it either. She stayed with me 2 days before I begged the breeder to meet me and take her back.

Then I went to an AKC Responsible Dog Ownership Day to meet the breeds and reassess what I wanted. I got to chatting with a lady with a Dalmatian. Mandy, the Dal she had with her was adoptable and we bonded. I met up with her many times and tried the dog out. She was a little spooky before I took her home, but I was convinced that bond, time and training would settle that. She quickly evidenced herself as extremely dog aggressive, and as I had other dogs, she had to go back.

Then came Mateo. Mateo was a super sweet guessed Giant Schnauzer x Standard Poodle from a rescue. He was energetic and cheerful, excited to be with me but not overly attached in any negative way. He likely also could have made it through to being a service dog if I'd had the proper supports. The trainer, who I was still living with, decided that he would never really be good for me and so she got my parents on board with that idea and found him a home.

At this point I was very frustrated and at the insistence of several friends with lived service dog knowledge and experience, including my co-blogger Jeanene, I decided to apply to a program. Things progressed well and the trainer at the program seemed to think things were going great. On the website it advertised that Team Training would be 2 weeks long. I was told 1 week on the phone. The matching process was supposed to be me coming up to meet with several eligible dogs, but instead I was told I lived so far away that I was not going to be required to do so. Instead I was asked about my lifestyle, the animals in the house and their sexes, and was told the trainer was thinking of two black Lab brothers. She asked if I liked serious or silly. I went with the goofy dog. That is how I was matched with Echo.

Jeanene and SDIT Loki, who was at the time under a year old, went to New Mexico with me. The trainer was unhappy Jeanene had Loki and segregated us whenever possible. At the end of 4 days the trainer graduated us. We were officially a team! We flew home and began life in suburban North Carolina, a stark difference from nothing but desert for many miles on end. I was told Echo would adjust, and he perhaps could have if I had not had battling input on how to retrain some of the issues he was exhibiting from my original trainer and another service dog handler. I was confused, Echo was developing separation anxiety and I was getting no support from the program trainer in New Mexico. His anxiety grew as mine did, he quickly wanted nothing to do with me and would balk when I'd ask him to work as my anxiety spiked. Ultimately I returned him to the program after he growled at a child who ran out in front of him and the program trainer told me to comfort him. I just couldn't do it anymore. (Jeanene's interjection - Overall a lot of issues with this dog were likely caused by a mix of his lack of proper socialization, and the 'support' of Ariel's trainer who with the help of another friend convinced Ariel that Echo had been abused during training and needed a full retraining with her methods.  It is my personal feeling though that this dog was just a bad personality match for Ariel and would have been better suited for a handler without mood instability) 

While still trying to make Echo work my current trainer took me with her to look at a small terrier type mix, prospect for her possible service dog program and I fell in love. Mochi had no interest in the trainer, but curled up in my lap and shook. I took her home and began working with her. She quickly began waking me from nightmares and doing unprompted behaviors that were quite useful for some of my psychiatric symptoms. She was 12 lbs of everything I'd never wanted in a dog, much less a service dog. She taught me how to be a real service dog trainer, how to start learning to problem solve. She was my first true working service dog, that actually worked with me and for me. Although Mochi never worked at full capacity and ultimately did have to retire due to a reappearance in her fear issues and associated skittishness, I don't regret a moment of working with her.

I was offered by the trainer I had been living with for almost 3 years at this point, to purchase a Newfoundland male she had bred. I met her right as the litter was born, actually. Nova had been sent to a neglectful home, wasn't too healthy, had questionable hips, and I was too desperate to care. When she told me she would help me train him I believed her. When she told me he was healthy, I believed her. He didn't have half the training she said he had, and he wasn't the right dog for me anyway. He was too big, too lumbering, too slow. I gave him back so I could try and find a dog who I did mesh well with.

At that point, I found a wonderful breeder of Silken Windhounds and I ended up with one of her pups. There wasn't a thing in the world wrong with Astra, yet I didn't "click" with her and I didn't enjoy training a sighthound nearly as much as I thought I would. I contacted the breeder and we discussed finding her a show home, and that is exactly what happened.

I had moved home and was going without the help of the trainer at this point, so I went to the local animal shelter and picked out a super sweet pittie mix, Jada. She had been there several months before and had been returned and none of the shelter staff or myself could figure out why. She was learning well, I was enjoying her, I was enjoying playing with her and getting out to pet friendly places to work with her. Things were looking up, and then she started growling. First at things outside of the car, then at men, then at people in uniform, and then she bit me. I'm looking at the puncture scar on my hand as I type this. She bit me and then bit me again harder. Ultimately it was decided that she was not a good prospect for re-homing, and her increasing issues made her unsafe for myself and the other dogs in the house and we opted to have her euthanized.

That brings me to my current service dog, Saxon. Jeanene and I had been looking ever since I made the decision to retire Mochi because I needed a true working service dog more urgently than ever. We contacted dozens of people and looked at hundreds of dog ads. I had turned the search over to Jeanene, as I had finely broke with the trainer I had been working with. Jeanene convinced me that what I needed was a green or started dog. Jeanene found Saxon's ad, an 11 month old green Chesapeake Bay Retriever female from a reputable breeder who health tested their breeding stock, in the hands of a trainer with credentials from a training school she trusted. I contacted, and after many days of back and forth I went to meet her, and she was mine. She stayed on with him for a few more months so he could instill the confidence I didn't have the ability to at the time. She came home a fairly confident and exuberant pup, but ready to work and learn. We've been working side by side for a little over a year now.

Saxon is the epitome of everything I needed in a service dog, and in many ways the exact opposite of what I wanted and thought I needed. She is right about 52 lbs. She isn't 6 lbs, she isn't 106 lbs. She is gorgeous, but she isn't flashy. She isn't blue merle, she isn't small with flowing curls, she isn't huge with a giant ruff. She's goofy, but she's dead serious when she needs to be. She loves to exercise as much as I can but is happy to lay on the bed if I'm not feeling well. She is very bonded to me but doesn't internalize any anxiety or emotions that I may be feeling. She is full of quirks, some that I like, some that are annoying, just like any dog, but she is an absolute lesson that THE RIGHT DOG ISN'T ALWAYS THE ONE YOU WANT, IT'S THE ONE YOU NEED.

The trainer I worked with was not at all helpful, and in most situations to some degree detrimental, but this is the real world. Just because someone talks a good talk or is able to prove their ability in one facet of dog training doesn't mean that they can assess or train service dogs. Like many others, I learned the hard way. If you are looking for a trainer, particularly one that trains service dogs, I would ask for credentials and client referrals. Any trainer with either of these should be happy to provide them to you. It is also important to make sure the trainer is experienced in training dogs for your disability or your disabling symptoms. You're not going to want someone who has experience training Diabetic Alert Dogs to be training your hearing dog, and vice versa, you don't want a hearing dog trainer to train your DAD. People tend to specialize, so be wary of trainers who feel confident they can do it all.

I have heard time and time again that OTing is far less expensive than programs. There are plenty of programs for most disabilities that provide no or low cost (less than $5000) service dogs that have happy clients saying the dog they received is well trained. While I have had quite a time finding a temperamentally sound, physically healthy working partner that was able to do what I needed, I can't imagine others haven't had just as much difficulty if not more. I'd love to play the "what if" game, and think, well, what if I had known what I wanted from the beginning, what if I hadn't been so set on breed or physical appearance, what if I'd not had crappy trainers and people trying to undermine me with their egos and talked up inexperience. Ultimately though, what happened is how it is, and I've learned much more about myself and my actual needs by being able to say, "Well that didn't actually work..." as well as how to find an appropriate trainer and how to become a better trainer myself.

Because Echo was my program dog I'll use him as my monetary guide for a program dog cost. He came to me at 2 years old and this was the entirety of the cost I had to pay of him for those 2 years of training and raising. Also, a leash, collar, vest, some food, some toys and grooming supplies were also provided:

Round trip plane tickets: $800

Rental car (4 days): $300
Hotel (4 days): $350

Food in NM (4 days): $200

Echo's full cost: $5000

TOTAL: $6650

I'll now use Saxon. Everything figured will be from when I bought her through the 16 months it took to finish her public access and task training for her to be a full service dog.

UPFRONT
Gas to meet her (NC to OH):                                     $150

Hotel (2 days):                                                           $250

Food in OH (2 days):                                                 $100
Saxon + boarding/training + delivery                      $8000
                                                                                 $8500

(Dog from Health tested parents, evaluated by a proper trainer with experience this can be more or less depending on your criteria)

VET COSTS
Spay:                                                                           $300
Post op medications:                                                   $120
Routine vet visits:                                                       $240

Rabies shot (2 over 16 month period:                          $60
Microchip:                                                                    $20
Heart worm test:                                                           $40

Flea and tick medication                                             $400
Emergency Vet bill:                                                    $375
                                                                                  $1555

FOOD
Balanced Diet:                                                             $600

Water/Food bowls:                                                        $10
Edible chews:                                                              $400

Training treats:                                                            $300
                                                                                   $1310

MISCELLANEOUS

Education cards:                                                            $25

ADA law cards:                                                             $20 

Toys:                                                                            $320

Poop bags:                                                                      $85

Crate:                                                                              $80

Collapsible travel bowl:                                                 $10  
                                                                                      $540

TRAINING

Treat pouch:                                                                     $15

Training classes:                                                             $500
Private sessions:                                                             $600

CGC testing:                                                                    $10                 

CGC-A testing:                                                                $10
Place bed:                                                                         $60
                                                                                      $1195

GROOMING

Shampoo:                                                                          $60

Brush:                                                                                $10

Ear cleaner:                                                                       $10
Nail clippers:                                                                     $15

Dremel:                                                                              $30
                                                                                         $125

GEAR

As for gear I'll include one thing of the cheapest price as she has multiple leashes, collars, harnesses and vests.

Vest:                                                                                  $30
Patches:                                                                             $20
Harness:                                                                           $375

Leash:                                                                                $20

Collar:                                                                                $15
ID tag:                                                                                $10

Boots:                                                                                 $60

Coat:                                                                                   $50

Mutt Muffs:                                                                        $45

Leash wraps:                                                                       $30
                                                                                          $655

TOTAL:                                          $12570

Again, most of this is low end approximate. I'm positive the actual cost is far higher. This is just Saxon though. Assuming I had started with Saxon she still would have come out well more expensive than an average program dog, and far more than a low cost one. Unfortunately she was not my first attempt. I am going to guess at an overall number because I want people to know that because of the nature of OTing and that the first and sometimes next few subsequent attempts of most first time OTers will fail and be washed out, the cost of training is exponentially higher. I'd guess there has been over $25,000-30,000 spent on dog purchase prices, travel/shipping expenses, dog training classes and dog supplies between my first SD training attempt and Saxon. Some of it did not come out of my pocket or my parents pocket and was graciously donated, yet it is still an incredible amount of money.

Trainers are expensive. Dogs are expensive. Supplies are expensive. But so too, is failing. Failing is very expensive. With a program dog you will be receiving a fully trained dog who has already theoretically succeeded in jumping the physical, temperamental and training barriers associated with becoming a full fledged SD. Owner training can be heartbreaking as there is a high washout rate to begin with, and that is with the deck already stacked in your favor (health tested dogs from good genetic stock, enriching upbringing, early training, knowledgeable handler OTer and knowledgeable back up trainer(s) for opinion(s) ). If you don't have all of that or possibly any of that your road could get very tough very quickly. This post is not to discourage OTing, more to give an actual taste as to what the opposite side of "It's great, it's quick, it's easy and then you can have a dog with you all the time!" is.

Do what's right for you, but don't sit in a corner alone. That never helps anyone, and had I been able to turn back the clock, I'd have put a respectable trainer right alongside me. Asking for help is not dishonorable and it doesn't reflect poorly on you. ALL owner trainers should have a trainer helping them, so there is no shame in admitting you'd like a second opinion. Surround yourself with people who want you and your dog to succeed, yet be prepared that some dogs don't. In that case, pick yourself up and keep on moving forward. If at first you don't succeed, try, try again (and again, and again and again) and then try something else (like a program or a board and train situation). The ethereal creature that is a working service dog absolutely does exist, and while it isn't always an easy road to find it, rest assured it can be found, and you too can find it as well.