Service dogs are such a blessing to so many people. They have been taught how to perform basic and complex tasks that those who are disabled have a difficult time doing for themselves. I have learned so much from observing training sessions and teaching in my partnership with New Horizons. 

One of the major lessons I have learned is just how important it is for a dog to have a job. As I say in all of my sessions, a dog with a job is one happy dog. Obedience is a great tool for mental stimulation and relationship building with your dog, but many of us stop at the basics. 

If your dog is smart, why stop at the basics? If your dog is not so smart, why leave him that way? Sometimes dogs with a shorter attention span can actually be stretched in their attention span by being given a job that comes more naturally to their genetic disposition. 

Goldens and labs are great service dogs because we have engrained in them the desire to please their masters. Once they learn which behaviors are pleasing and which aren't, teaching them becomes like clock work combined with skilled profile pairing. 

I have seen service dogs be mind bogglingly obedient, and I've seen some struggle to keep focused. So socialization plays a huge role, too. The more a dog is trained to ignore everything that is not pertinent to pleasing it's master, the better that dog does when working with his next master.

It's so important to be able to pass off the baton to the new owner, so training sessions are done in groups and individually to ensure the best chance for success. The trainers who actually work for New Horizons have done a fabulous job and have observed what works best over many years of working with dogs and people. 

I'm grateful for what I have learned from this organization, and I continue to teach the importance of mental stimulation, physical stimulation and socialization in my one-on-one sessions with my clients.