PonderEthereal

Previously : Deciding if a Service Dog is a Good Fit - And How

Different dog breeds have different temperaments and different dogs have different personalities. The dog you choose will be your constant companion for the next seven to ten years, at least. If you keep him or her as a companion after his/her service is over, even longer.

1) Now that you’ve got the list of tasks you need a dog for, do a once over disqualification or prequalification of particular types of dogs. Does anything in particular stick out about the task list that might speak to particular requirements in the dog? For instance, if this dog will continuously herd an autistic child back to home turf, a herding breed might be a good fit. If this dog will perform smelling tasks, a hound or other tracking dog might be a good fit. Sometimes it’s just common sense. If you will need a dog to brace you during dizzy spells, don’t choose a chihuahua. If you need a dog to push a panic button around your neck, don’t choose a Saint Bernard.

2) Research breed groups and what the dogs in that group do. The breed groups are Sporting, Hound, Working, Terrier, Toy, Non-Sporting, Herding and Miscellaneous.

3) With some breeds eliminated and some pushed to the top of the list, the next step is to research specific breeds and their requirements and temperaments. Look for dogs that mesh with your personality and lifestyle. For instance, if you are not active, choosing a very energetic dog that needs lots of exercise, might not be a good fit. Try starting with a site like the following (below) to narrow down what breeds might work best with your lifestyle.

Jot down the breeds that would work well in one list and the ones you absolutely don’t want in another list. The reason I suggest you write down the ones you DON’T want is because if you’ve made a decision against a breed, it can be hard to remember that later on when you’re looking through hundreds of breeders or dogs.

AKC Breed Selection Criteria
Breed Selector
Animal Planet Breed Selector
Iams Breed Information

4) You should have a list of dog breeds that you want, now. The next step is to meet the breeds. Go to pet stores and breeders and ask to meet a dog of the breed you are looking for. Compare personalities between different individuals to get a feel for the range within the breed. Talk to breeders and read up on the breeds you’ve chosen. Although I don’t recommend you purchase from a pet store and buying a dog from a breeder might be out of your reach, these are great ways to just get to know the breed a little better. If you meet a particular breed and decide you either want to bump it up on your list or off of your list, you’re one step closer.

5) Find THE dog. You might still have a few breeds on your ‘yes’ list and that’s ok. It’s down to finding the individual dog that works for you and having a few breeds to choose from gives you some wiggle room to find the perfect dog.

Purebred dogs can be very expensive - sometimes into the thousands of dollars. But they don’t HAVE to be. There are several ways to find a dog of the desired breed for little or no money. However, here is one of the times when time, patience and effort are replacements for the money you would have spent. Be prepared to spend lots of all of the above in order to save money.

• Do daily searches of petfinder.com and craigslist.org. Both sites often feature shelter dogs as well as breed rescue dogs along with private owner dog sales or adoptions.
• Talk to your local shelters and get your name put on a wait list for a particular type of breed. Tell them you are using this dog as a service dog to give them a reason to bump you up on the list, if possible. Make frequent trips (2-3 per week) to the shelter to check (if you are able). Purebred dogs are often snapped up quickly by individuals or breed rescues.
• Find the breed rescue organizations in your area - or if the breed is an expensive breed, so much so that paying for travel for the dog would be worth it, you can even check into breed rescues nationwide. It’s safe to say that most breeds have a breed rescue program, if not several. A breed rescue program is usually funded and run by an individual person - with or without non profit status. The breed rescue rescues dogs of that particular breed from owners who can no longer take care of the dog and from shelters, when the dogs come in. However, a breed rescue, because it is funded by an individual, usually charges upwards of $100, depending upon the breed or the rescue for adoption to cover their cost.
• Talk to the breeder or rescue owner. They are people, just like you! Tell them your situation and tell them that the dog will be trained as a service dog. Offer them updates and/or references or publicity if they would be willing to part for the dog for less money. They just might be willing to do it! If they have pictures or a story of how their dog was used as a service dog, that is one more angle to attract potential adoptive families or customers in the future.
• Check in your area for non profit organizations involved in service dogs that might have a program to help with the cost of the dog.

I had the experience of researching a friend’s dog recently, only to find out that the dog had come from a puppy mill with deplorable conditions. This particular puppy mill was investigated and there were publicly accessible reports of the conditions there at exactly the time that his dog was a puppy there. A google maps satellite image showed a shabby environment. Other dogs from that breeder were known to have hereditary defects that a reputable breeder never would have allowed to enter their bloodlines. The sign at the pet store where he bought the puppy clearly stated that their dogs were not bought from puppy mills.

So, although I will spare you the lecture on puppy mills, do be very careful about where you acquire your dog. Steer clear of puppy stores because they often have no idea what the background of the breeder or the pup is and if they do, they will still lie because their business is making money.

6) Spend time with the dog and don’t make a rash decision. Dogs are sweet critters and will kiss and wag their way right into your heart. Sleep on your decision.

7) Have your new dog fully checked out. Take him or her to the vet and get the vet to check for hereditary defects, heart worms, temperament and any other health problem that could be present. If possible, do this prior to the actual purchase of the dog. Otherwise, make arrangements to return the dog if anything is turned up.

And finally, as an example, here’s why I chose Cody :

I’ve done research on breeds several times over the last ten years. German Shepherd came up over and over as a breed that is compatible with my lifestyle and personality.

• protective but not vicious
• affectionate with it’s Person but not too lovey dovey with other people
• playful and semi-active but not super active and can be content laying around a lot
• Meshes with a human family pack very well and is good with kids
• smart and very trainable and obedience-minded
• a working dog that could be trained to do more complex tasks
• big but not giant
• sheds… but otherwise, doesn’t require extensive grooming

I’ve owned a German Shepherd before and adored the dog so this time, when I was looking for a good, protective but family dog, that was the breed that jumped right up to the top of the list (along with a mastiff, which is too much for me).

I chose craigslist as my medium of choice - because that’s how I roll. I trolled it daily, watching for dogs. Finally, one popped up that sounded exactly like what I wanted. I emailed back and forth with the owner, saw pictures, heard about the dog and finally went and met Cody.

When I met him, I watched how he interacted with the people around him. I watched how attentive and responsive he was to the people around. He was social with the other dogs and with us and although he wasn’t very playful, he was interactive in other ways. The other German Shepherd dog on the premises was begging to play fetch with every rock she could drag over. I remember when I got my first German Shepherd puppy, when we picked her out, she was chewing on the metal ball hitch on the truck. That should have been a warning… she was a CHEWER! That just goes to show that within that breed, there are very different personalities.

I touched Cody all over and took a good look at his overall condition. Cody was underfed and his coat wasn’t in the greatest shape but both looked like malnutrition issues that could be worked out with better and more food.

I brought him home. Turns out he had a really bad case of tape worms which was causing or contributing to both the underweight and coat issues. He was also not housebroken as the last owner said. He puked for the first few days until I figured out he needed to eat from an elevated dish, or he needed to lay down to eat. So even after being very careful, there were a few issues getting the dog integrated into our family. But since then, he’s got the houstraining thing down, he’s put on weight and gotten a pretty coat in and has fit right in.

Next : Step 3 : Basic Obedience