Vino the Rottweiler

This is Vino. In a training center where all the dogs are special, to both their owners and myself, he is just a little extra special.

I had trained a traumatized dog for an owner that was close to being put down for behavior. The dog responded well.

A couple of months later the same owner came to me and asked if I trained service dogs. The answer is sort of.

The law that allows service dogs is not very precise on what exactly a service dog is. And there are lots of places that train service dogs. But many of them do not let you pick the breed or provide your own dog. And the dogs are very expensive.

I do not certify service dogs. If I certify them then I have to buy very expensive insurance. That in turn means I would have to charge thousands of dollars to train the dog and would have to train X number of dogs each year to make sure the insurance costs are covered.

So I decided not to certify service dogs. However there are ways you can certify and insure the dog yourself so I will train a dog to be a service dog.

The owner wanted me to train a Rottweiler as a service dog. And since her mother breeds them she wanted to pick her own puppy to train. She had approached several of the big providers all of whom either said they would not train a Rottweiler for that job, or would only sell her one of their dogs.

I agreed to do it.

She has twins. The little boy is autistic, and his sister has grand mal seizures.

We started preparing months before she got the dog. First I had her wipe down the children whenever there was a seizure or an episode. The gauze pads were to be sealed.

In November then nine week old Vino came in for puppy class. He was taken through the basics and imprinted by Tag.

The next couple of weeks were critical. Vino could not be allowed to become a silly indulged puppy. He needed to understand from the start that he was the lowest member of the pack and that he was there to work.

We used a Manners in Minutes technique of the steady point to teach this to him. Three days later he came into Neighborhood Pack. And at his first pack experience he was a loud, demanding, and obnoxious little puppy. And he quickly found out that this did not impress the human or dog members of the pack.

The puppy that came back a week later was quiet and observant. He no longer demanded attention. But he did sit and watch the adults and by seeing how they acted, began to figure out how he should act.

At twelve weeks he could go to a cub scout meeting or the kid’s school where he would always sit respectfully and just watch.

At fourteen weeks he could go into the big pet chain stores and every time he did, he was so well behaved that someone who saw him would call about me training their dog within a day or two.

The plan was to start his adult training at 4 months and his service training at 6 months.

Vino did not want to wait. From 12 weeks on Vino has consistently been ahead of the lesson plan.

Before he was 16 weeks old he had alerted for three seizures. He had also intervened in one autistic episode where he pushed the child away from the wall where he was banging his head and sat with him until he calmed himself. We never had to use the pads. He decided on his own when he needed to alert.

Because he had never been allowed to be a silly puppy, and because all dogs want jobs, he watched the family. He figured out on his own what they needed him to do, and then started doing it.

We did his adult training and he flew through it.

At 5 months he took his Canine Good Puppy test. He passed it on the first try with excellent on every section.

His owner called me recently and told me he has received regional recognition from the AKC due to his performance in CGP.

Vino is also a big asset in Neighborhood Pack. He gets along with everybody, human and canine. If a fearful dog confronts him, instead of backing down or letting the dog know he will fight, Vino just gives them a doggy grin, play bows, and barks to invite them to play. The result, instant de-escalation and another dog has learned that he does not have to fear big dogs. Then when the other dogs see how well he does with his owner, they are motivated to do as well with theirs.

This is not a brag. I take little credit for Vino. What makes him so special is an owner who cares enough to train in a way that the dog understands, and a training method (Manners in Minutes) that works.

I’m just the traffic cop, directing the two of them to the road to success.

Doug