• What is Diabetic Alert Service Dog Starter School?

The Diabetic Alert Dog Starter School is an intensive 12-week board and train style course, for your qualified family dog. Your dog must pass our temperament testing and evaluation process prior to being accepted into the starter school course. The 12-week course also allows you the choice of having our team locate and provided a qualified dog for you (at an additional charge). This course is designed to provide your dog with the skills he or she needs to be a Diabetic Alert Service Dog. The program gives your dog the skills of beginner Obedience training, beginner Public Access training, and the beginning phases of Scent detection with an active paw alert signal. The course also includes a home lesson and delivery to any state in the US at no additional charge. This course is designed as an intermediate course and requires families to continue upkeeping what we started. The course is best for those who have time and energy for self-training. Once the 12 weeks is up the owner of the dog is responsible for picking their dog up in Las Vegas, NV afterward. 

 

• Training Itinerary 

   

  • The first part of the curriculum includes obedience training. Your dog will learn 19 basic commands that are vital to performing service dog work. These commands will include both verbal and hand signals. These commands are the basis for communication with your service dog and are imperative for building that special bond between you and your dog. These commands help set the hierarchy order in which your dog sees you as the leader and handler. We use positive re-enforcement training that is designed to reward your dog for completing the requested tasks. We find these methods highly successful. Our method allows for greater retention and a happy dog that loves to please. 

     

  • The second part of the course includes Public Service training and exposure. This is where your dog goes out in the world as a service dog in training. Your dog will experience many new sights and sounds that will be tailored towards your lifestyle and daily routine. Your dog will get to experience these surroundings with a Certified Service Dog Trainer who will teach your dog manners in public using the obedience commands that have already been taught in the previous weeks. Your dog will spend 24/7 with his or her trainer and accompany that trainer throughout a wide variety of different environments. Some of these environments include restaurants, libraries, schools, crowded shopping areas, the las vegas strip, and office buildings. Your dog will also be exposed to many modes of transportation, especially those related to your specific application. Your dog will be trained to “wait” at a vehicle door or other doorways until permitted to proceed. 

     

  • The last part of the curriculum is the diabetic scent recognition and an alert portion of the program. During this part of the training, we use your body’s scent from a low or high blood sugar level to train your dog to alert you to that scent. We train your dog to alert you to any blood sugar level lower than 80 or higher than 150. It has been shown that these scents are present in the environment approximately 20-40 minutes before a blood glucose meter can read an unhealthy number in your blood from a finger prick. Your dog will be able to smell those scents and actively alert you before you get into an unhealthy or emergency situation. Your dog will learn to alert you by using his or her paw to get your attention, we call this an "active paw alert".

     

  • After the course is complete and your dog has successfully passed our starter school program, a certified service dog trainer will accompany your dog onboard a commercial airline and hand-deliver your dog home. Once home the trainer will conduct a 2-day in-home dog training course to teach and demonstrate to you the newly acquired skills your dog has learned throughout the training course. The trainer will instruct you on the proper re-enforcement of these skills and how to maintain your dog’s abilities. You will learn how to reward your dog for accurate alerts and how to give him or her the continued training to upkeep what he or she learned. The trainer will also demonstrate your dog’s public access manners by accompanying you on routine personal errands to assist you with the transition of having a service dog. The trainer will evaluate your home and give advice based on years of experience with Diabetic Alert Dogs on where your dog should sleep, eat, potty, and even assist with an introduction to your other pets. Your trainer will not leave you or your dog until you are 100% satisfied and confident with the training and skills that have been taught. 

     

 

• Included in the Starter School 

   

  • Over 700 hours of intense Service Dog Training

  • Obedience Training Certification including the use of 20 voice and hand commands

  • Public Service Certification which allows you to use your Service Dog everywhere 

  • Beginning Scent Recognition and Active Alert start    

  • A Diabetic Alert Service Dog manual 

  • A Service Dog vest

  • Three Service Dog identification cards

  • Certification with US Service Dog Registry

  • A Diabetic Alert Dogs of America Training Certificate 

  • A training dog collar

  • A flat buckle collar 

  • A 6ft long adjustable lead

  • A Service Dog coupler lead

  • A bag of motivational dog treats 

  • A tote bag

  • Temperament evaluation and transportation for your dog

  • A lifetime of support and training assistance from our amazing trainers