SERVICE DOG TRAINING GUIDE
- doggyutraining
- Jul 29
- 4 min read
Updated: Oct 8
I created this guide because I wanted a place where owner-trainers could go to not only see the universal skills that I teach to all service dogs I work with, but also as a place where you could find resources on how to teach those skills.
How to use this guide:
Start by working through the “foundations” section of this guide.
Regarding order after foundations: Every dog is different. I typically start with training skills that the dog will be most successful at (chill dog? train stays. Energetic puppy? train active behaviors first and progress to stationary behaviors once they've had some success under their belt, or when your pup is a bit more tired). Our focus at the start is on building relationship, so doing things the dog really enjoys and can be successful at will make training with you enjoyable!
All behaviors should be trained first in a low distraction environment and then progressed slowly to public distractions until trained to fluency.
It’s best to train for a few minutes, a few times a day instead of longer sessions a few days a week. Check out this video on how I structure and fit in training sessions, even if I'm short on time.
Slow is fast.
The more patience and humor you can bring to training for both your dog, and yourself, the better. A service dog is not built in a few months, but in a few years. There is no timeline. You work the dog in front of you.
Key: Click on the Fs, Ps and Cs to see the video resources. If available, I’ve listed free training resources first by clicking on the F. If I only have a paid resource like a course or Patreon, I've listed it as P for Patreon and C for course. If you're already a Patreon member, the Patreon link will take you directly to that video, no searching required.
My entire goal with my YouTube channel was to have enough free resources that someone could take my tutorials and train their service dog on their own. But if you want a little extra guidance (or to support the work I do here) and access to my Q&As and 400+ patreon exclusive videos, PDFs, and webinars, you can join my Patreon for as little as $4.
Brand new to service dogs? I highly recommend my Service Dog 101 Course to help you better understand the laws, interfacing with the public, selection of dog and training pathway for a service dog.
Finally, this is a living document. As I create more free and low cost resources, I will update this document with new links so be sure to save this page to come back to!
Here is the service dog training skills checklist version of the guide without resources. The full list with clickable resources is below it.
While this guide does not include every single behavior I've ever taught a service dog, mastering this behavior checklist will have you well on your way to a well-behaved and functionally helpful service dog!
SERVICE DOG TRAINING RESOURCES LIST
Foundations
Basic Life Skills
Proprioception/Body Awareness
Public Access Concepts
Common Tasks
Deep Pressure Therapy: F
Go Get Help: F, P PDF of Steps
Behavior Interruption and/or Alert: F, Step-by-Step Course
Medication Reminder and Retrieve: F, P part 1 of 10 part series of training CoolWhip
General Item Retrieve: F1, F2, F3, F4, P - Free Part 1!, P2, P3, P4, P5, P6, P7, P8
Retrieve Drink/Meds from Fridge: F
ADDITIONAL FREE PUBLIC ACCESS RESOURCES:
And if you want to see videos specific to raising Denver you can check out: