Choosing a service dog or an emotional support dog.
Did you know that you can train your own service dog?
This is a very lengthy process that doesn't always work out, but there is a whole community that does it.
The first thing to do is to consider the breed and size. If you have motion disabilities, you will need a larger dig that van hold your weight.
You want the best for your service dog to be sure to choose a breed with the right coat for your climate. Consider your needs and decide whether you need a reactive dog that would alert you of fire alarms and door bells, or a non-reactive dig that would be able to help calm you down even when you're surrounded by lots of stimulus. For detection dogs and allergy dogs, you'll need a dog with a superior sense of smell.
Other things to factor in when you meet your service dog is to first go to a reputable breeder so you can meet the parents and see where they are up and how they play with their littermates. The first thing I will do is perform the Voldhard temperament tests. These are a series of tests you perform on the dog to gauge their reaction. You have a scorecard and choose which out of 5 smashers best describe your potential dog's reaction.
If your dog scores well on the tests, the next step is to consider individual characteristics of the dog.
Here are things to look for.
Drive for work: your dog should be happier on a walk or playing fetch (retrieving objects) than laying in bed.
Intelligence: you will want a dig that can learn commands and be able to chain commands together. I will not work with a dig that can't learn the "sit" command withing 5 mins without me having to touch his body and Push his butt down.
Calmness: your dog will have to be calm in all situations. They can't get startled and bark at loud noises unless commanded to or have a tendency to chase squirrels. They also need to be calm around other people and animals at all times.
A loving dog: dogs are hardwired to please their owners but some dogs are more independent than others. You need a dog that will trust and rely on you as much as you will come to trust and rely on him.
Training.
Academies will often take 1.5 years to 2 years to fully train a dog, but you can also train your own and depending on your needs, you can have a trained service dog in as little as 6 months (with 120 hours of training during that time, which calculates to 2 hours a day but as training sessions should stay short, 6-8 sessions a day) and up to over 2 years. This takes time and a lot of dedication, training log books and training supplies.