Service & Therapy Dog Training Flashcards

A service dog in training (SDIT) has public access rights under federal law in which situation?

Answer: Only when accompanied by a licensed trainer in states that extend public access to SDITs

Federal law does not grant SDITs public access rights, but many individual states have laws extending limited access when a professional trainer accompanies the dog.

The 'deep pressure therapy' (DPT) task taught to psychiatric service dogs is designed to:

Answer: Apply calming body weight or pressure to interrupt anxiety or panic attacks

DPT involves the dog applying pressure (e.g., lying across the handler's lap) to help reduce anxiety, panic, or dissociation.

Assistance Dogs International (ADI) recommends that member programs place service dogs only after the dog demonstrates a minimum public access pass rate of:

Answer: 90%

ADI's Public Access Test requires a 90% or higher pass rate across all skills to ensure dogs placed are reliably trained for public settings.

During a hospital therapy dog visit, a patient grabs the dog's ear tightly. The dog freezes and shows whale eye. The handler should:

Answer: Tell the patient to let go and immediately redirect the dog away from the patient

Freezing and whale eye are stress signals indicating the dog is near threshold; the handler must intervene immediately to prevent escalation and protect both dog and patient.

Which temperament trait is MOST critical when selecting a candidate for therapy dog work in a pediatric hospital setting?

Answer: Tolerance for unpredictable handling by strangers

Children in hospital settings may handle dogs roughly or unpredictably, so a high tolerance for unusual physical contact from strangers is the most critical trait.

A guide dog trained under the 'intelligent disobedience' principle will:

Answer: Refuse a command when obeying would place the handler in danger

Intelligent disobedience means the dog is trained to override a handler's command (e.g., 'forward') when doing so would result in harm, such as stepping into traffic.

When proofing a diabetic alert dog's low blood sugar alert task, a trainer should vary which of the following to ensure generalization?

Answer: The location, handler position, clothing, and distraction level during alert trials

Generalization requires training the alert across many contexts — different environments, handler positions, clothing, and distraction levels — so the dog responds to the scent cue regardless of setting.