When I was a kid, our dog was about as far from a service dog as you can get. She didn’t do tricks beyond an occasional shake for a treat, she shook the walls with her snores, and she had about a half a game of fetch in her on a good day. But she was no less a good dog for it. She never failed to put a smile on our faces, and during troubling times, I have no doubt that she saved our little family.
So just imagine what a well trained dog in need of a career change can do for your family!
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Service dogs would be downright magical if it wasn’t obvious how much time and energy goes into training them.
They have the amazing ability to transform a human’s life, but before all the training, the dogs have to have pretty awesome to start with, too. They have to have good health, great temperaments, and the ability to learn and retain all the training. It’s a lot to ask!
Service dogs start their training early, so sometimes it doesn’t become clear that they won’t be cut out for the life right away.
While many of the dogs that go into service training will succeed, they don’t all make it. It doesn’t take much to sideline a would-be service dog’s career.
They might have small health issues like a tendency toward car sickness or allergies, or they might not get along with other dogs well.
Whatever the reason, sometimes otherwise good dogs just don’t make the grade as service dogs. That doesn’t make them bad dogs!
So what happens to the pups that don’t make the cut? Well, they need a career change – and being a pet is a perfectly legit career.
Think about it: for all the support our pets do for us at home, all the times they cheer us up, make us laugh, and provide unconditional love, they’re all basically therapy animals.
Understandably, these pups are in high demand, so there’s often a waitlist for adoptions of career change dogs.
And the adoptions seldom come without a fee, either. But then, you’re getting a well trained dog with up-to-date shots, and are usually microchipped, fixed, and brought up on a highly nutritious diet.
You also get a young dog, but given that the training typically takes up to two years, the dog will usually be fully grown.
So you get the fun of a puppy and years of joy ahead of you, without a surprise growth spurt that turns your lovable puppy into a couch-claiming monster overnight.
If you’re interested in adopting a career change dog, just be sure to get your name on a waitlist early.
The trainers arranging these adoptions will often try their very best to match dogs with the best homes available, but they don’t put many dogs up for adoption each year, so you want to have your name in the hat as soon as possible. Check out the agencies in your area for the specifics of their adoption programs.
