Dream City Christian School is participating in a fabulous Working Dog Program for Service and Therapy Dogs. This program is called Paws 4 Purpose. The students will be assigned a dog to take care of for over a course of a year. They are to care for the dog, train the dog and eventually had the dog off to a handler in need of a service dog. The students are committing over a year of their time to raise these dogs and take them everywhere they go. They will attend special obedience classes, public access classes, task training classes and service or therapy dog certification testing. All of these dogs will go on to serve a person in this community in need of a medical alert, hearing alert, mobility or psychiatric service dog. Trainer Julie Brewer will be their Service Dog Instructor. This program is sponsored by The Fetch Foundation Homeless 2 Hero Program.
Obedience, Tasks and Public Access Training Levels:
Level I
Beginning obedience training with goal to earn AKC Canine Good Citizen (CGC) Certificate
Level 2
Intermediate obedience training with goal to earn AKC Community Canine (CGCA) Certificate
Level 3
Introducing Service Dog Task Work that the dogs will be trained for tailored to an individuals needs
Level 4
Public Access Class and continued Task work with goal to pass AKC Urban Canine (CGCU) certificate
Level 5
Concentrate on refining and adding task work and increasing obedience skills in different public settings
Level 6
Take the Service dog pre-test, work on any issues you are still having with dog and take the final Public Access Test
Reading Modules for Learning & Understanding Animals; how they learn and how to train them, Semester 1:
Module 1
Pet Psychology
Module 2
Animal Behavior
Module 3
Basic First Aid
Module 4
Concept Learning
Train your brain....
What is Temperament?
What is Temperament? Temperament is an individual’s natural predisposition to react in a certain way to a stimulus. This is their makeup, disposition and personality. We can use behavior modification to tackle many kinds of temperament issues to improve those reactions to stimulus.
What is the difference between a Therapy and Service dog?
A therapy dog is a well trained dog that enjoys socializing outside the home and engaging many different people. They visit others to lift up their mood or brighten their day. A Service dog is trained specifically for one individual to provide tasks for that person to mitigate a disability and help them live their daily life.
Different Types of Service dogs
There are several types of service dogs; Medical Alert, Mobility, Hearing Assistance, Psychiatric and Guide Dogs for the Blind. All of the dogs go through extensive training to become very obedient and well versed in their job and the tasks they provide their handlers. Some dogs take longer to train depending on the tasks they are learning to perform and the age they began their training.