Alert Service Dogs Services

Alert Service Dogs works with clients as a team, always available throughout the process no matter which level of training is selected. Clients can rely on us to always be there to teach, guide, explain, listen, and understand the difficulties they face.

Though our methodology stems from the tried and true practices that have achieved great results for Julie in the area of scent and service dogs, we are very flexible in our delivery of alert dogs. If you have a out-of-the-ordinary situation please let us know, the more people we can help and the more varied the circumstances the better we get at helping those with similar medical alert needs.

Choosing the Right Dog

Alert Service Dogs starts with puppies. Our chief trainer will pick the dog for you with your family, lifestyle, and personality in mind. The dog is a separate price from the training cost and prices vary depending on the breeder. ASD picks the dog because we know what to look for in a dog. We find the best dogs are the working breeds (hunting lines). They have great work ethic, and love to please their owners. Once purchased, the dog belongs to the family for whom it was chosen. ASD is the trainer, not the owner.

Because ASD does the initial scent work, we are able to offer placement anywhere in the country. If you are located outside of a drivable distance and wish us to deliver your dog to you, then you would be responsible for airfare and hotel stay. We require one night stay in a hotel. Owners may also come to us to pick up their dog. Our primary training location is in Denver, Colorado.

Levels of Training

ASD offers different levels of training. Depending on the level of training, dogs become available from just a few months to a year. Both levels cover obedience training wherein ASD will train the dog to know its name, come when called, either sit or lay down and be able to walk on a leash. We encourage our clients to enroll their dog in obedience classes to continue a structured lifestyle for the dog. Remember that these are still puppies and will make mistakes that need to be corrected when they occur.

LEVEL I

The first level of training involves ASD training the dog to alert in a home environment with an 85 -90% accuracy rate on average. Meaning the dog will catch the lows (or highs) around 85-90% of the time at home. This does not include nighttime alerting while the owner sleeps. ASD cannot guarantee that any placed dog will be able to alert while sleeping. With that said, most of our dogs will pick up alerting at night as they mature and become older. Our Chief Trainer likens it to a child's sleep pattern. During the toddler years dogs usually sleep hard but the older they get the more likely they are to wake up for the scent.

Once the dog is trained proficiently and is alerting reliably, we place the dog with its family and work with the family on reinforcing the training in their home. It usually takes a few months for a dog to complete this degree (proficiency at home) of training.

When the dog is alerting in the home proficiently we train you, the owner, on training the dog to alert in public. The hard part of the training is the initial scent work, which ASD has done for you. Many find that continuing the training on their own is actually fun and helps to create a strong bond with their dog. Training is comprised mostly of games owners play with their dog. Normally, it takes a few months to have the dog learn that they are now working when out in public as well as at home.

LEVEL II

At the second level of training, ASD offers to completely train a dog for you. ASD trains the dog to alert in the owner's home and in public with 85-90% accuracy. Our advanced obedience training will ensure the dog is able to heel, come when called, lay down and sit when told, stay when told, and potty trained. ASD will also begin training for nighttime alerts at our facility.

As far as nighttime alerting is concerned, ASD cannot guarantee that the dog will be able to do this. Once again, the reason no trainer should guarantee nighttime alerting is because of the age and personality of the dog. All dogs are different; some will always be hard sleepers, while others are predisposed to sleep lightly. With this training level, ASD will replace the dog if it does not alert at nighttime. In such a case, the owner is required to purchase another dog, which ASD would train at no cost. ASD does require the owner to return the first dog so that we can place it with a different family. ASD would reimburse the owner for the cost of the first dog, up to $500 dollars.

At Level II, the owner's responsibility would be to regularly practice the techniques, which requires only a few minutes a day. To train a dog to Level II standards takes an average of 9 months to over a year. The key factor is how quickly the dog picks up the training.