What types and ages of dogs can be trained to be Service Dogs? That totally depends on the dog.
Older dogs are normally not considered simply because they will probably not live long enough to truly be able to give years of service.
In the photo at the left, Lucy, was a 4 month old Pyrenees/Lab puppy being trained by our Training Director, Beth Levine, & Past-President and Founder Charlie Campbell, who recently become an amputee. She entered Phase One at only 8 weeks old. As you can see, Lucy was already in public working for Charlie to assist him in a class given to a local elementary school classroom discussing the purpose of Service Dogs. By only 8 months, Lucy assists Charlie to get up when he falls, pick up items he may drop, carries items from room to room, being a messenger between rooms for both Charlie and his girlfriend, gets items from puppies when they grab something they shouldn't like a good shoe, as well as performing several tricks for the public whenever they're out & about. Starting at this young age, and working side by side as much as they could, assured the
bond between Lucy and Charlie that is so important to her
wanting to assist him when he needs it rather than simply obeying a command. In contrast, most Service Dog organizations feel a dog must be trained for a full year or more, and be at least 1 1/2 years old before they can go into service for a handicapped individual. By beginning training at such an early age, Charlie is preparing for a future with cancer that he knows is going to get worse and the need for a superior working dog will be of the great importance and for the longest time possible. Many times, dogs are about 1 to 2 years old when they enter our program, but Lucy is an example of what can be done to accommodate what the person who will eventually own the dog needs or wishes for their own personal lifestyle and disabilities. It is important to not just consider what the person's disabilities may be at this time, but also how they will affect him or her in the future as they grow older themselves. What will they need their dog to do then as well as now? Because of this, our program is not a specific regime of training each dog the same way, or to do all of the same things, or to waste time, effort, and money to train the dog to do many more tasks that it will ever truthfully be called upon to perform. Each instance is considered as its own case and a training regimen is customized to fit the person as well as the dog. It must be explained here too, that many Service Dog Training organizations refuse to train puppies because they say that you cannot know what the dog's temperament will be once it is grown. We do not agree with, or even understand that philosophy simply because it is during this time that the puppy's adult personality and temperament are formed. A qualified trainer can use this time to form the puppy into the dog he or she will want it to be. Aggressive or meek, loud-mouthed or quiet, cowardly or well socialized, and on and on. What we're saying here is that if given a preference, we prefer to train puppies from as young as possible.
We do however train adult dogs when they come to us and match to a certain person's needs and this too can work out very well for both the person and the dog. For instance, Reggie. Reggie was a Golden Retriever only about 8 months when we were first introduced to him. He spent about another 4 months in a foster home learning most of the basic commands he would need to know. Once with us, he worked well with basic obedience commands but so desperately wanted a human partner that at times he was nearly out of control. Rather than call him unacceptable and remove him from the program, we continued to work with Reggie until we received a phone call from a young woman who was a physically disabled veteran who also suffered with PTSD. After talking with her, and all of our staff who were still working with Reggie, it was decided, "Let's see if he settles down if we put him with her." We did so. The bond was immediate. Reggie had found his calling. He adored Karen and all of the training that had gone into him was suddenly very evident. One day, while shopping, Karen's wheelchair hung up in a doorway and she could not get herself through. Reggie fell back to follow her through the narrow opening and quickly decided she needed a push. Karen immediately rewarded him as she had been taught and now, Reggie consistently pushes her chair through doors, up small hills, and anywhere she asks him to. This is a result of the bond developed between Karen & Reggie. On his own, through no training, Reggie saw a need his partner had. He thought it through and developed his own solution. One that now has been realized as a much needed task for Karen as her faith in her dog grows with each day and each excursion outside of her home. Reggie loves to work for Karen as he now provides her notice of coming seizures, and reassures her self-confidence as she has rejoined the community through volunteering and actively assisting others in our support group.
The breed and/or age of the dog is not as important as the bond.