Task Training that Makes Your Disability Easier to Manage!
Training your dog to interrupt repetitive behaviors or alert to oncoming medical episodes, like anxiety attacks, can make living with your disability easier and meets ADA service dog task qualifications.
With step-by-step beginner-friendly instructions, you don't need to be a dog training professional to have a trained service dog!
*Please read all course information and check out the course preview pages below before purchasing to see if this course meets your specific task-training needs.
Step-By-Step Video Instructions to Train An Alert Behavior
Train reliable alert behaviors with step-by-step videos. By showcasing multiple dogs, including dogs that are brand-new to learning these behaviors, you can see how different dogs learn and how I troubleshoot any issues that arise!
Pair it With a Behavior You Need Your Service Dog to Bring Attention To
Your dog can help bring attention to a specific medical episode or physical behavior so you can take action or prevent escalation.
Dog Learns to Alert Everywhere to Mitigate Your Disability
You'll learn how to train effective and generalized alerts so your dog can perform in any environment or location, even under distraction.
Feel Confident with Alerts & Interruptions Taught by a Certified Service Dog Coach
Laura DeMaio Roy is a certified guide dog mobility instructor and certified service dog trainer with 15 years of helping service dog handlers, just like you, create a deep partnership and working relationship with their service dog.
Credentials:
- GDMI (Guide Dog Mobility Instructor)
- CPDT-KA (Certified Professional Dog Trainer - Knowledge Assessed)
- ATLAS CT (Certified Service Dog Trainer)
- AKC CGC Evaluator
- CTDI (Certified Trick Dog Instructor)
What You'll Learn in Behavior Interruptions & Alerts
You'll learn an ADA qualifying task that helps to mitigate a portion of your disability.
Nose boop alerts and gentle chin rest interruptions can help bring attention to repetitive or unwanted behaviors, bring the handler back to the present moment, or alert to an impending medical episode such as escalating anxiety or panic that has physical precursors.
In this course I will teach you to train two different alert and/or interruption behaviors including:
- Nose Press or "Nose Boop" Alert/Interruption Behavior
- Chin Rest on Leg Alert/Interruption
You will then learn to pair that alert with a physical behavior that you are exhibiting so that when you do a specific behavior your dog approaches you and alerts to this behavior via a nose boop to your leg, hip, or hand or a chin rest on your leg.
Examples of Behaviors You Can Train Your Dog to Interrupt or Alert To:
- Leg Shaking/Bouncing
- Repetitive Picking/Rubbing
- Head Scratching
- Hair Twirling
- Nail Biting
- Significant Changes in Breathing Like Heavy/Pronounced Breathing or Panting
- Hands Over Face/Crying
- Hand Wringing
- Repetitive Cracking of Knuckles or Other Joints
- Finger Drumming
- Rocking
- Other repetitive but non-self-injurious behaviors
The goal of training this alert is to have your dog bring attention to or interrupt specific behaviors so that you can take action on, or ask your dog to take action on your behalf.
During this course you will also learn:
- How Dogs Learn and Important Training Concepts
- How to Use A Marker
- Handler Mechanics
- Hand Touches and Off-the-Body Targeting
- How to Close Doors/Drawers
- How to Generalize and Proof Behavior so that Your Training Holds Up in the Real World
- Intelligent Disobedience Basics
- Troubleshooting Tips
- And much more!
This course is designed for everyone from beginners, to advanced trainers, to professional trainers looking to take on service dog clients.
Course Content: There are about 4 hours of written and video material, depending on your familiarity with the training methods used. The course is online and self-paced through the Teachable platform. There is no live teaching component and all learning is self-directed as you follow along with the program. If you need additional help, please seek out private lessons with a trainer. Laura is not available for private training at this time.
You will have access to the course for 2 years from date of purchase.
You can preview the "Getting Started" section in the course outline below.
Note: This is not a scent training course. You must be exhibiting a physical behavior, like those listed above, that is repeatable so that your dog can learn to alert. While some dogs will learn to alert to scent cues prior to the physical manifestation, this course teaches alerts to physical behaviors from the human only.
BIA Course Curriculum
Here's What You'll Learn!
- Why Are We Training This?
- Foundation Skill: Hand Touch (Nose to Hand Target) (4:31)
- Make the Flag (2:24)
- Foundation Skill: Shaping the Flag Touch (Nose to Flag Target) (7:15)
- Closing Doors and Drawers: Considerations
- Closing Doors and Drawers Part 1 (9:05)
- Troubleshooting The Push (3:50)
- Fading the Nose Target (1:14)
- Closing Doors and Drawers Part 2 (3:55)
- Chin Rest: Why and How?
- Chin Rest Familiarization (1:31)
- Lowering Into Chin (1:59)
- Adding a Verbal Cue (2:23)
- Fading the Soft Lure (1:49)
- Building Duration: Delaying the Mark/Ping Pong (7:49)
- Building Duration: Reverse Luring (0:48)
- Transferring from Hand Target to Leg Target (2:24)
- Adding Duration on Leg (2:05)
- Proofing and Generalizing (3:22)
Why Learn From Laura?
Laura has been such an asset to our team. Her training style breaks tasks down into parts that are easy for both me and my Service Dog In Training to achieve.
The way the training was executed fostered connection and trust between me and my dog. I am so proud of how far Archie has come and we couldn't have done it without Laura!
- Megan S.
Interested in Learning More About Your Rights As a Service Dog Handler?
Service Dog 101 is an excellent companion course for Behavior Interruptions & Alerts.
Learn How to navigate the world with your service dog. You'll learn your rights under the ADA, FHA, and ACAA. You'll also learn how to handle conflict and being denied access out in public, service dog etiquette, how to choose a service dog prospect and more!
