This lesson is an introduction to traditional temperament evaluations that have been modified by two highly experienced temperament evaluators who are also service dog trainers and animal behaviorists. Students will be exposed to protocols for necessary evaluation components, how to set up an evaluation session with a litter of puppies, or single older dog. And how to rate the information gathered to determine the appropriateness of the puppy or dog evaluated. What Students May Expect in this Course: Students will become familiar with a range of temperament evaluation styles, and how evaluator skill and experience enhance the quality of information generated by an evaluation. Students will learn that in most instances temperament evaluations of puppies give useful information about the puppies who will most likely NOT succeed in a working career. Students will learn that most temperament evaluations of young puppies do not offer statistically accurate predictions of which puppies might succeed through training and on into a working career. Puppies who are inappropriate to choose for a service dog career include those who: 1. Have low sociability, fear of noise or excessive reactivity to sudden loud noises, 2. Are puppies with low to no interest in retrieving or otherwise playing interactively, 3. Are puppies who are fearful of novel objects, 4. Are puppies who are fearful of unusual substrates and cannot be encouraged to try moving across them, 5. Are puppies with low food drive, and or no interest in toys to entice them to try new things and 6. puppies who shut down during the evaluation process. Students will understand why selecting adolescent candidates is often preferable to choosing baby puppies to evaluate and train. What you see, in an adolescent dog, is what you will get as an adult. Students will gain perspective on some of the pitfalls in candidate selection, and how some of the apparent “best choices” do and do not result in a long and healthy service dog career. This lesson includes 4 webinars, dozens of handouts, several downloadable relevant readings and quizzes.

Sponsor:E-Training for Dogs, Inc
Speaker(s):Barbara Handelman, MEd, CDBC

Contact: Cheryl Lynne Aguiar
 Email: cheryl@e-trainingfordogs.com
 Phone: 970-231-9965
 Web: https://e-trainingfordogs.com/service-dog-trainer-webinars/