Our first "official" post for Teacher's Pet! Why isn't Promise a Certified Service Dog, and then, What Is He Actually?
I took a big step today, personally, regarding Promise's training. I bought a special vest and two "Service Dog in Training" patches to go with it. I can't wait until it arrives and I get to see how Promise reacts to the vest. We will incorporate this into our training so that he realizes the vest equals the expectation of specific behaviors. I feel it's important to post a disclaimer here: I will never present Promise as a certified service dog unless, by some bizarre happenstance, he ever happens to be actually certified. Promise will upon reaching the appropriate age, be required by me to pass a therapy dog evaluation. He will then be an "Evaluated Therapy Dog" and a "Owner-Trained Facility Assistance Dog", with the latter term one that is made up simply to help people we meet understand what he does. Service Dog certification is a lengthy process that requires an exceptional dog and then gives that dog an exceptional purpose and expec