Service Dog Public Access Test
[Music] okay guys so of course first things first service dog needs to be able to be safely loaded and unloaded from a vehicle so as the handler pulls into the parking spot here they’re going to be judged on three things first the dog has to wait in the vehicle until they’re told that they can release the dog from the vehicle so here I’m instructing them to go ahead and put their leash on and then when I tell them to release the dog then you can see the dog comes out nice and safe just like that next the dog is in control when outside of the vehicle so I like to look for a couple of things I like to see that they can put the vest on and off appropriately while they’re outside I also like to see that they can get something out of the vehicle again so here I asked the handler to go get something out of her trunk with the dog and again we’re just looking at the dog stays under control at all times isn’t you know trying to go see traffic isn’t trying to go run around or think that it’s playtime or anything like that now the next part of the test I’m going to ask the handler to place their dog on this white line and then we’re going to walk another dog past so obviously things like barking or lunging at another dog would be a failure on the part of the service dog so here I have my assistant walking a dog pass several times and they have to be within six feet of the service dog team now obviously the service dog can look and check things out but again no barking no lunging anything like that next we’re going to test the approach of the building what we’re looking here is that the dog stays in a relative heel position that they’re calm around traffic now we don’t get any traffic at this point but we do just a little bit later and that the dog stops whenever the individual comes to a halt the third test that they’re evaluated on is whether or not they have a controlled entry into the building so we want to see things like the dog waiting until being commanded to enter and also maintaining control once they enter the building just like you see this team here doing so well up now as we’re walking around throughout the rest of the test we’re going to be looking at five different things we want to make sure that the dog is within the prescribed distance of the individual at all times that the dog ignores the public and remains fairly focused on the individual that the dog readily adjusts to speed changes the dog readily turns corners and does not need to be tugged or jerked to change directions and that the dog readily maneuvers through tight quarters now what you see me checking out here this is where I’m really emphasizing that the dog can handle those tight quarters and here I’m also emphasizing that the dog is able to remain focused without being distracted by the general public as the handler and the service dog have to pass a stranger [Music] you [Music] the next part of the test that you’re going to see here is called the noise distraction or startle test now here I’m going to drop a clipboard unbeknownst to the handler and the service dog and it’s going to start off and that’s okay we don’t expect them not to be startled but what we can’t see is a dog that shows major fear aggression or continues to be affected by the noise after it occurs the next test is called the off-lead portion of the test now a service dog team should never be off lead unless there’s a medical need however in the event that the leash gets dropped we want them to be able to demonstrate that they’re not going to lose control just like you saw here throughout this test you’re going to notice several times that the service dog team is asked to sit this sit is testing that they’re not going to be too distracted or distraught about my assistant walking back and forth several times with a shopping cart and that they’re able to stay in that command as long as they’re told to along with the sit command we’re also expecting that the team is able to do down commands at will here we asked a couple of children that the dog is never met before to just simply walk by and say hello to the team and the dog should demonstrate that they’re not going to pull or lunge at the children next we want to see how well the dog does at waiting for things in life such as elevators and doors and things like that and then we also want to see the dog be able to ride on the elevator those is a good example of being able to get out of the way quickly there again everything throughout the test is just little things that we’re watching so that we can critique and help make sure that this can be a successful team while they’re riding the elevator of course we don’t want to see anything like anxiety or fear as they’re riding we want to see a nice calm and relaxed dog and a dog that’s ready and willing to exit as soon as the doors open the next thing that the team has tested on is whether or not the dog is able to maintain its sit and composure when a stranger approaches now we all know that strangers should not try to pet a service dog out in public it’s not something that should ever happen unfortunately it does because people just don’t know any better so here we want to show that in the event that it does happen because it’s inevitable it will happen once in a while that the dog isn’t going to act aggressively or get out of control jump up and scratch somebody bark at somebody or anything like that that the dog is able to maintain their composure handlers able to maintain control we also during this portion of the test decide to go ahead and test the stranger taking the leash now this is something that might happen in the event of a medical emergency if the handler has to leave the dog so what we’re doing is we ask this stranger to hold on to the leash and then we ask the handler to walk away 20 feet for 20 seconds and we want to test to make sure that the dog not showing major anxiety or fear but one thing we do like to see is that the dog stays pretty focused on the handler the whole time you can see that this person holding onto the leash is not really a big distraction the dogs still maintain maintains that focus on their handler the next portion of the test is testing the dog around food and in a restaurant setting we’re really looking for two major things the first is that the dog is unobtrusive and out of the way of patrons and employees as much as possible the second is just that the dog maintains proper behavior ignores food and stays quiet now as part of that we want to see good protocol for things like when you’re sitting down where the dog goes method iagnosed how to behave while you’re eating and things like that so this portion of the test we didn’t film all of it but this is actually where we actually sit down and have a meal together for about 40 minutes to see how the dog does the entire time that you’re eating this particular service dog team has taught the dog that they need to go under the table while the handler is eating now of course a really difficult part of this test is that when the food is dropped right in front of the dog that can be a huge challenge for many dogs [Music] next we’re going to continue to use that same food distraction in a sit test to see if the dog can walk up to a food distraction that’s on the floor and do a sit as well as a sit stay within two feet of the food without trying to steal it or getting overly distracted and you can see that the team does a really really good job [Music] stairs are actually not a part of the test that gets critiqued however it is good practice for service dog teams that are going to be navigating stairs to make sure that they’re able to do so appropriately this next portion of the test goes back to testing their healing abilities here you’re going to see the team walking faster slower stomping all under my direction so that I can see that the dog is paying close attention to the handler at all times and is able to make those changes quickly and without needing lots of guidance [Music] next we’re going to see a basic recall we asked the handler to step six feet away from the dog and to call the dog to them the dog should come directly to the handler and be under control at all times now as we finish up inside the building they’re going to be tested similar in the way that they were tested as they headed inside at the beginning of the test we want to see that the dog waits appropriately at doors and gates and things like that and doesn’t try to lunge or pull towards people as they’re exiting now here we finally get to see how the dog responds to a little bit of traffic the dog should not pull away from or shy away or bark at cars and trucks as they pass by and should maintain focus and an appropriate heel position at all times with the handler [Music] next the team will be judged on how well they’re able to load the vehicle again just like with the unloading we want to make sure that the dog is waiting until commanded to enter the vehicle and that the dog readily enters the vehicle upon command if they don’t have to be dragged inside or anything like that well folks thank you so much for watching I really hope that you found this useful and enjoyable to watch because it really truly is a big responsibility for everyone that has a service dog to make sure that they’re training to lease this minimum standard so that dogs out in public are not causing a nuisance or being a problem if you did enjoy it please do me a favor like and subscribe one other thing we’re going to do to help you out is if you’d like a copy of the evaluation form all you need to do is check the description box down below and there will be a link that you can subscribe and you’ll get a copy of that evaluation form emailed to you if you have any other questions or concerns as always you can contact us through our website at top dog Texas comm thanks again [Music]
