LMAO Tara!! Can you just see little Rio? I would have to get 2 service dogs, one for me and one for him.

On a more serious note, I would never MAKE one of my yorkies be my service dog, I too would be more inclined to get a trained dog who already knows his job.
I also think it would be very difficult to MAKE a yorkie be anything it doesn't want to be. ;)
At this point my two are pampered, spoiled and rotten and I cannot see changing things on them now or ever. I believe I will just enjoy them and pray that I never need a service animal.JMO.

The answer to this question of course depends on the type of disability the owner has. Some dogs are naturally "service dogs" for people with slight, moderate or severe emotional problems and very little training other than the standard safety, obedience, and good behavior in public is required. They give un conditional love and support and that is all that is required of them!

There are also dogs who simply detect certain signs in their owners' physical makeup and not much training is required of the dog in that case, but rather the owner must be trained to "read" the signals the dog is putting out when those "physical signs" are present. Examples of this are impending seizures, migraine headaches, low blood subgar, high blood pressure, etc.

On the other hand, a dog who is assisting a physically disabled person and needs to learn to push buttons and retrieve items for his master needs a little more training obviously.

I wouldn't say any "Joe Blow" coud train a service dog needing extensive training due a severe disability, but anyone with moderate intelligence who can read, take direction and has the time to spend daily with the animals could learn it.

The American's with Disabilities Act does not require "proof" of any special training for the animal to fall within it's guidelines, but it does require that the animal be "trained" to assist the owner with his/her disability. You is perfectly proper for the trainer to be the owner, a professional trainer or, more commonly, some combination of both.

This is a quote from the "Little Dogs: Training your pint-sized companion" by Deborah Wood. Not only does she believes that a small dog needs to be trained for it's own safety, but that it will only benefit your experience as a pet owner and your dog's experience since they thrive on learning just as humans do.

You already love your dog, and he loves you, but after you follow the training suggestions in this book, you'll find yourself more bonded and attached than you could have ever imagined before. This kind of training will open doors of communication and joy between you and your dog that you've probably never experienced before.

Whether you train your dog to be a service animal or just to prevent a tragedy when he doesn't "come" when he needs to, I believe from my own personal experience from training 12 of my own family pets, three of whom are yorkies, that those who are the most trained are the happiest. Obviously, this is just my opinion.

Ha! I've just barely gotten mine potty trained...finally! I couldn't imagine having to train them to do anything else, but sit pretty and look at me with those loving eyes!

Ahhhh, come on Kimberley~

Have faith!

I know how great you are with your babies. They will be jumpin'through hoops for you in no time and "bringin' you your slippers". Why CartersMom has got Carter alerting her to the computer just from being around and "understanding" what was important to her! I bet you have your dogs "trained" too and you just don't recognize it! lol

Kim,
I just don't believe everything i read. Rio and Mignon are well suited to be what they are, happy, bossy, spoiled little pets. And from everything I have read on training a service animal is they are not pets, they are working dogs. Of course this is just something i have read. Dawn

Obedience training and service dogs are certainly not for everyone and I can accept and respect that.

I probably wouldn't train my dog as a service dog b/c I don't need to. Now if I ever need it I may then regret not having training her before. But as far as just basic obedience I believe it is necessary and I also believe there is a bond formed from that that isn't there otherwise. My sisters dog, who I have now, is a loner he hasn't really found his person yet and we never really trained him. He knows sit and only when he wants. "My" first dog I trained by myself no school and he is geniunely my dog he follows me around, he sits by me when I stop, seeing us you know he is "mine". Then came my husbands dog. If we hadn't taken her to school and I hadn't worked with her I don't believe we would have the relationship we do today. I think with training you learn who your dogs is and furthermore you dog learns who you are. I'm not saying that without training you and your dog don't bond, but its a different kind of bond with training.

Hickey007~

I am total agreement with you. I am glad you are not in need of a service dog at this time.

In my opinion, being a service dog who is allowed access to public places where most animals aren't is a definite benefit to the dog as well as the owner for obvious reasons. They get to be with their owner more instead of home alone, being boarded, with a neighbor, or a pet sitter or sitting in a car or out on a sidewalk when the owner is inside.

I can think of emergency situations where it would definitely benefit the dog to have access where it is usually denied.

I saw lots of service dogs at the show today and Delta Society was there. It was great. I learned some new things.