Training
Service Dogs Alabama has approximately 50 dogs in training at various levels at all times. This number grows annually.
Our breeding program breeds for healthy dogs especially clear hips and joints as well as nine temperament factors. We do accept puppies from other breeders who meet our requirements.
The process for training is individual depending on a puppy’s progress as he moves through training levels. Most puppies will start training at our Training Center. They may go to trained socializer homes or into full-time training at our prison facility.
Each puppy is different. Our goal is to find the exact right job for each one so that he loves his job. We will never try to fit a square peg into a round hole!
Even though we are thorough in our assessments of puppies, we still have puppies that make it through partial or full training and are not suitable to be a Service or Facility Dog. SDA has a 100% adoption rate to excellent homes of all dogs that do not make it through our program.
All service dogs placed by SDA are 100% guaranteed to work for their recipient. We will take any dog back within the first year of placement and assign another dog to that recipient. (This rarely ever happens.)
Prison Training
Training Service Dogs in prisons gives inmates consistent responsibility for the care and training of a dog with the ultimate purpose of helping a child or Veteran with a disability or a school full of children.
Depending on the length of their sentence, inmates may be part of the Service Dogs Alabama training team for two years to a decade. During this time, the inmate changes their habits, their routines, and the way that they think in order to be an effective Service Dog trainer..
In a prison, time can stand still for the incarcerated inmate. They can stay stuck in the moment that they were incarcerated. However, the Service Dog Training program stops the prisoner’s stagnation (and time warp) and initiates the formation of new habits- new thoughts, responses, actions, and expectations.
Training a Service Dog in prison over a period of time translates into these life skills:
Better parenting
Increased self-control
Anger and emotion management
Communication Skills
Teamwork
Compassion
Purpose
Recidivism rates are reported extremely low for inmates who participate in our dog training program.
The cost of arrest, jail, court costs, attorney fees, conviction, and imprisonment for a felony conviction can easily add up to $500,000 of taxpayer money. The savings to taxpayers are substantial, totaling in the millions of dollars. But to Service Dogs Alabama, we saved somebody’s mother, somebody’s daughter, somebody’s sister, somebody’s friend, and somebody’s mentor. That is why we are so proud of our work in prisons.
Today, we have 52 incarcerated inmates who are dedicated to training dogs for Service Dogs Alabama. We are working to rehabilitate them through the consistency and efficacy of our program.
We believe everybody has a purpose. We are working to allow people to find their own strength.
Seizure Alert Dogs
Seizure Alert and Assistance Dogs will attempt to rouse their handler and/ or alert to a seizure. Dogs are trained to stay with their person in public areas if they should fall and have a seizure. At home, they can be trained to either press an Alarm Button OR go and get help.
Facility Dogs
SDA Facility Dogs are trained for intervention tasks and to work with multiple people. They are chosen for this particular training when their personalities are confident enough to work off-leash without direction. They must be able to act independently of their handler when they seek out the children/people who need them.
Facility Dogs are awarded to schools, youth facilities, Juvenile Probation Officers and Judges as courtroom and interview dogs, and State Agencies where stress is prevalent daily such as Police Departments, Fire Departments, and departments managing crime or human trauma.
Mobility and Wheelchair Assistance Dogs
SDA trains service dogs for disorders that require assistance for balance, walking, and wheelchairs such as MS, Dysautonomia, joint and muscular disorders, and Spina Bifida. Mobility and Wheelchair Assistance Dogs can open and close drawers and doors, retrieve items that are out-of-reach and turn on lights. They are proficient in fall alert, assistance with walking (with a harness), balance, and stability. Their support allows a person with mobility issues to live an independent life and lessens their dependence on others, giving them new security and confidence.
PTSD Intervention Dogs
Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) impacts veterans, first responders, abused children , victims of violence, accident victims, victims of bullying, etc. This devastating psychological/neurological disorder affects every aspect of a person’s life. It is an unescapable state of anxiety, anger, and hypervigilance, which can lead to isolation, depression, panic attacks, and even suicide. PTSD Intervention Dogs recognize anxiety through body language, heart rate, and hormonal changes (like adrenaline and cortisol spikes) and interrupt their escalation. These dogs will wake their person from a nightmare, disrupt a flashback, and help to facilitate social integration. With more than 60 Public Access commands and behaviors, these dogs give the client their independence back.
Autism Intervention Dogs
SDA trains Service Dogs for children diagnosed with certain types of Autism, including Asperger’s Syndrome. Service Dogs for Autism are proficient at intervention techniques. These highly skilled intervention dogs alert to anxiety and stop the progression of escalating thought patterns that lead to disruptive behaviors, undesirable stem patterns, and panic attacks. Patterns that are consistently disrupted and unable to complete their cycle cause the brain to rewire itself to produce different outcomes. These consistent interventions can create sustainable change.