A young Service Dog in Training can be demanding and very often misunderstood, because he or she is learning, and beginning to work out how to assist you.

A Service Dog is not a pet and their position by your side is not just an accessory like a handbag or a jacket that you can choose to do without and toss aside.

A service Dog is a necessity and is as much a part of you as your leg or arm is, and as such, moves in unison with you wherever you go.

There have been a lot of questions lately about separation anxiety in Service Dogs.

While it is true that some dogs can suffer from separation anxiety, there is also a lot of confusion between what is, and is not separation anxiety, and what is in actual fact, a Service Dog performing his duty and doing his Work.

For instance, I will give you an example, I once had a client with a German Shepherd Psychiatric Service Dog in Training who believed that his SDiT suffered from seperation anxiety and should be crate trained.

He purchased a crate and the Shepherd suffered what appeared to be separation anxiety. The dog lay in the crate while his Handler was nearby however, almost every time that the Handler left the room the dog began to go frantic.

The 10 month old Shepherd proceeded to dismantle the crate and make his way to the room where his Handler was. The Handler suffered a severe anxiety attack, which he concluded was brought on by his SDiT's behavior, and the destruction of the crate.

The Shepherd attended to his Handler all through the anxiety attack.

The Handler persisted with the crate training. Each time he left the room the dog dismantled the crate until at last he came to me in desperation seeking help.

I very firmly believe that a Service Dog should not be crated, so we began instead to teach the Shepherd to remain within the confines of a predetermined area, without bars or locks while the Handler left the room.

The fact is that a well trained Service Dog should not need to be crated behind bars or a closed door, and the confines of a crate can often of itself be what causes your Service Dog to get stressed, rather than separation anxiety.

Teaching your Service Dog to be apart from you for short spells is a part of your Service Dog's training, and is something you can work on together. It is all part of the training of a Full Potential Service Dog.
For more details on how to train your Service Dog in a manner that prevents him from being srressed by a crate, please check out the lessons in Training Game 7 and Training Game 8 in your book, "Training Your Own Full Potential Service Dog(R)" by Lelah Sullivan.
(Please click on the link if you are wishing to purchase the book) please click on this link
https://www.amazon.com/Training-Your-Own-Service-Dog-ebook/dp/B015SJ32AM

The Handler's training went well until one day the Shepherd refused to remain in his position in the room alone on cue. On that day the Shepherd broke free without being cued to do so, the SDiT opened the door not just to the next room but also the exit door and made his way down the street to his Handler.

The Handler immediately called me on the phone. The dog was being a pest nudging him constantly and blocking him from proceeding forward, and when that didn't get his Handler's attention, the Shepherd began to pull on his clothes to prevent the Handler from taking a forward motion step, and after that the Shepherd began to bark at him and misbehave.

At this point he Handler was even thinking that his SDiT was nolonger a good fit for him and that he should rehome him.

The Handler was at a total loss to understand why his SDit was behaving in such a manner. My response was, "listen to your dog and go home".

The Handler replied that he felt like going home anyway because he had not been feeling well that day, and that he just had to get out of the house for a walk because his dog was getting a bit needy, and he just wanted to get away from the dog and his home for a while, and be on his own, however, that was not to be, because his SDiT followed him.

The Handler was in the process of telling me that he wanted to resume the crate training using a solid steel, escape proof crate, when he stumbled and fell and cut his knee so badly that he needed to go to the ER.

While in the ER he felt extremely weak and tired. The Nurse was concerned about him and accompanied by his faithful Service Dog in Training, he was given priority.

Upon examination, they immediately admitted him to hospital where it was discovered that he had suffered a heart attack earlier that day.
His Service Dog in Training knew it and had alerted to it, however, the Handler had no idea until he was diagnosed.

This Shepherd, as we proved later, with alert after alert, which were all accompanied by recorded abnormalities in his Handlers heart rate, did not suffer from separation anxiety, he was on duty and working.
At 10 months of age he had learned to work, and had performed not one but several intelligent disobediences, and during one of those intelligent disobediences, the Shepherd left his Handler's side and went in search of the timely help that saved his Handler's life.

A Service Dog, in particular a Medical Alert Service Dog should not be crated, and indeed should not need to be crated if trained correctly.

Please check out the lessons in Training Game 7 and Training Game 8 in your Training book, inorder to unlock the secret of teaching your SDiT to remain in one spot without having to crate him or interfere with his ability to work.

Thank you and Happy Training ♡