​Therapy Dog or Service Dog? How to Tell Which You Need. Does it really matter?

THERAPY AUSTRALIAN COBBERDOG

 It matters a great deal, because if you ask your breeder for the wrong one, you could  end up falling in love with a dog who is totally unsuited for the purpose you got him or her for in the first place.  All Australian Cobberdogs are highly intuitive to human emotion and have a great sense of fun, are goofy clowns who love to make us laugh, and who are always ready for play or activity, for they are naturally athletic and exuberant.  But here we are focusing on the subtle differences between the unique traits that are inborn and which make them best suited to one destiny or the other.

Australian Cobberdogs have become extremely popular across the world and this has attracted a lot of brand new breeders, some of whom have never bred dogs before of any breed.  Your breeder may or may not understand the difference between  Therapy  and Service Assistance dog temperament so it's important for you to be clear when you describe what you need in your own particular situation.  Therapy temperament is the most often asked for, but in many litters there will be a couple of puppies better suited to Service careers than they are to family homes especially where owners are inexperienced with dogs or have very young children.  Many of the problems posted on social media, are due to square pegs being forced into round holes.

THERAPY AUSTRALIAN COBBERDOG

Another name for Therapy Dog could well be 'Comfort Dog' for these caring souls yearn to snuggle close to you and soothe your anxiety with their doggie empathy and loving presence.  When you're feeling down, or unwell, they won't leave your side.  If you're visiting hospice or homes for the elderly, they intuitively know which person in the room needs them the most and will make a bee line for that individual to stay near to them in benevolent silence and with an undeniable sensitivity to what that person is experiencing, whether it's physical or emotional pain.

R.E.A.D. Dogs or in Australia Story Dogs have Therapy Dog Temperament, as do School Dogs, and Australian Cobberdogs  who work in Doctor's surgeries, Court Houses or a range of Phsychology Clinics across Australia and the world.  They are intuitive and they love to gaze into your eyes to determine your state of mind, then they act accordingly.

​Therapy Australian Cobberdogs are wired for the job.  It's in their genes and things like eye contact don't need to be taught.  The only training they need is the basic obedience training that every puppy of any breed needs in order to be a well mannered member of the community.  Certified Therapy Dogs have different requirements for accreditation,  So mention your intentions early on to your breeder, so that they are clear on your requirements when they are selecting your best match puppy for you from the litter.

WHEN YOU'RE UPSET YOUR AUSTRALIAN COBBERDOG WANTS TO STAY CLOSE AND COMFORT YOU.

Therapy Australian Cobberdogs. How to pick one from the litter.

Most Australian Cobberdogs are innately - born Therapy dogs for a multitude of personal and family situations and require nothing beyond the usual basic training that any puppy needs to be a sociably acceptable member of the community.  This should be no surprise, because, after all, this is the precise reason that I developed the breed in the first place! 

To Recap on THERAPY COBBERDOGS
​For Family dog, kids' dog, housebound illness, comfort in sad times, anxiety, depression, selective mutism in children, a range of confidence issues, emotional support,  then THERAPY temperament is the way to go.  

​ASSISTANCE DOGS sometimes referred to as SERVICE DOG or 'working temperament'

ASSISTANCE DOGS NEED A JOB TO DO.
​They have the same intuitive and loving nature as Therapy Cobberdogs but-and it's a very important 'but', their temperament is underpinned with a strong desire to work.  This means an intense desire or even a need to be always actively learning something new as youngsters.  As puppies they are often 'mouthy' because it is in their nature to learn to do so many things that require them to use their mouths, such as 'Fetch me my Black shoes'!  ​As an adult they need to be actively doing something  that they've been taught, on a daily basis  They are wired to serve.  It makes complete sense when we consider some of the tasks they will be required to perform.

TASKS AN ASSISTANCE COBBERDOG MIGHT HAVE TO LEARN:
Learn several hundred words & relate them to objects: i.e.

• ​"Get me my RED shoes,
• "Bring me a BEER from the FRIDGE". ​
• Learn dozens of actions like turn off the lights, open and close doors, notice dropped objects and retrieve them whether asked to or not, bring their work vest or harness, put dirty clothes into the washing machine, and empty the dryer, leave their owner in public with an SOS Tag to run for help, alert for a coming seizure or diabetic high or low, just to name a few.

ASSISTANCE DOG LEARNING TO TURN OFF A LIGHT SWITCH

PRESENTING THE CREDIT CARD TO THE CASHIER

BRACING DOG

Rutlands Levi. Bracing Dog in Arizona.

Another task a Service dog may be asked to do, is to be a Bracing Dog.  This requires the dog to be large and strong, and he/she should never be asked to brace until completely mature.  The larger the dog, the longer it takes to mature and this could be as late as two years of age. 
When someone has balance issues, has trouble standing up out of a sitting position, or is worried about falling, their Assistance Dog wears a special harness with a handle on the top.  The owner grasps the handle and leans on the dog to get up or to give confidence when walking.

BRACING DOG HARNESS (MOBILITY HARNESS)

BRACING DOG WEARING MOBILITY HARNESS

​Caution

Many people push down on a puppy's back end when teaching it to sit.  This is NOT GOOD!  But it's an especially bad thing to do with a puppy who is to be a bracing dog.
 It's important to teach a puppy to resist against any pressure on its back or rump when it is to be a bracing dog later on.

Therapy temperament cobberdog placed where Assistance/Service Cobberdog was required may look like this!

Because Cobberdogs all have receptive minds to training and puppies often pick up what's wanted after being shown just one time, this puppy's unsuitability for what's expected probably won't be recognized until thousands of dollars have been spent on training.  As advanced training progresses, he will lack the enthusiasm to go further.  He'll simply flunk the course because he's satisfied with what he's already learned.  Because he's clever, he might even have worked out his own ways to avoid some of the tasks he's not interested in pursuing. This could lead to you thinking he's dumb but it's actually the opposite!

Assistance/Service temperament placed where Therapy Cobberdog was required may look like this!

This puppy is so bored that he does anything and everything to get attention.  In his mind even negative attention is better than what he perceives to be not enough!  So he chews, destroys things, digs holes, and misbehaves so badly that his family are frustrated to the point of giving him up.  But they love him!  When he's cute he's very cute, but when he's in trouble it's breaking their hearts with indecision.  
From the puppy's perspective, he always seems to be in trouble and he can't work out why. He's not to know for instance that when he's being mouthy, he's a very bad puppy only because he's in the wrong home.  A mouthy Assistance/Service Dog  puppy is highly prized because he's so easy to train to pick up things, manage things like velcro fasteners and learn other specialized tasks that need him to use his teeth or mouth.

How to pick a likely Cobberdog Service dog candidate from a litter of puppies

​Food, reveals a lot about a puppy’s character because it comes under the same instinct of survival as I explain in my book.  Put a bowl of their favorite food or treats in amongst the hungry puppies then sit back and imagine the same scenario only with a group of very young children presented with their favorite candy.  Imagine the kids don’t know they are being observed, while you notice how they react to one another with the bowl of goodies being suddenly put in front of them.  The more active kids, and the bullies (strong prey drive) will end up with the most sweets.

A GROUP OF PUPPIES AT RUTLANDS AUSTRALIAN COBBERDOGS IN AUSTRALIA.

Qualities of an Australian Cobberdog Assistance or Service Dog

Ask yourself the question: “What character traits should I be looking for in order for the dog to carry out the tasks which will be required?”  True Service dogs need the following in order to excel-

• Be an independent thinker – able to carry out the duties  they’ve been trained to do, regardless of what other dogs or other humans are doing around them.  Single minded.  Someone’s life could depend on it.
• Be brave – who knows what situations they may face in the future when a disabled person is relying on them.
• Be eager for training and learning new things at a young age. 
• Be ‘mouthy’ in other words, keen to use their mouths.  They will need this trait in order to fetch and carry items later on.  It will express itself through nipping and biting more than its siblings, but it should be guided and channeled in the right way, and not corrected as being bad behavior.
• Look for the puppy in the litter who likes to naturally use its front paw/s in play with its siblings, lifting its front leg to prod or poke a sibling with a paw.  When you interact with this puppy, encourage the behavior by saying “Good TOUCH” in a pleased tone of voice and place the palm of your hand against the under side of the raised paw.  This will make the Service dog trainer’s work progress faster as he/she teaches the dog in advanced training, to touch buttons which turn lights on or off, activate devices and so on.. 

All this is of course too much to expect from a puppy who hasn’t completed its training yet, but the characteristics to accomplish these things are inborn.  Interestingly, the puppy who is a feisty bully of its siblings in the litter early on, is often the best candidate when looking for which of the puppies will make the best Service Dog later on with the right training.

These working environments require the dogs to engage with total strangers in the same way the family therapy dog engages with much loved family members it knows and trusts.

How to pick a likely ​Cobberdog Therapy candidate from a litter of puppies

• By age 3 weeks when the puppy is picked up it stares straight into your eyes, obviously yearning to connect.  It doesn't try too hard to wiggle out of your hands because it's wired to trust.
• ​There is no difference in the puppy's behavior whether being held by someone familiar or a stranger.
• ​By age 6 weeks, the puppy prefers the company of a human, over playing with its siblings.
• ​From 6 weeks onwards, when the food bowl is put down for the litter, this puppy will stand and watch you leave, before hurrying over to the bowl to join in with its litter mates who are already scoffing down their meal.
• You will be aware that this puppy is watching what you're doing as you go about your work, regardless of what the other puppies are doing.  Its eyes are following your every move and whenever possible it wants to touch you with a paw, or lay its head across your feet.
• This super puppy may be the most annoying one in the litter to raise, because it will often yap and howl when not with a human.  While its litter mates are happily playing together, this pup will be at the gate, yelling for you to come back.

Be aware that trust can be broken by rough handling.  Young children should not be left unsupervised to play with baby puppies.

Finally, this article wouldn't be complete without slaying the myth that smaller Cobberdogs are too active to be good Therapy dogs.  A surprising number of people are telling me that even their  'hi-profile' breeder has told them this.  It definitely should NOT be so.   As breeders, we produce what we selectively breed for.  For breeders to ignore temperament in any size of Australian Cobberdog is to eventually lose it altogether in the breed.

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