Would a herding dog (such as an australian cattle dog/red heeler) make a good service dog for a young child?
My sister’s little boy has cerebral palsy and he is only 16 months old right now but the are looking into getting a service dog by the time he starts school at age 3. I am wondering if anyone knows whether or not an australian cattle dog (also known as a red heeler, blue heeler or an australian heeler) would make for a good service animal? They just got this puppy and he is 8 weeks old so he would of course go into training asap however we are trying to find out if it would be worth it in the long run or if it would just be better to get a different breed of dog. Any help is appreciated as well as any helpful links that I could send her. Thank you…
I don’t think such a breed is generally good for a small child because of their tendency to nip and herd people.
Frankly, a three year old is too young for a service dog, especially one that will be going to school. You’d have to go to school with him to control the dog because the average mentality of a dog is that of a toddler. In other words, you’d be putting one toddler in charge of another. Generally children aren’t mature enough to properly supervise a service dog until they are, on average, 12 (or the age at which you would let them babysit alone). Some children mature more quickly and some more slowly.
Your very best bet is to go through a program that trains service dogs. Why? Because the wash-out rate among owner-trained dogs is extremely high. Let’s say this dog goes through a year of training and it’s determined he just won’t suit. Then you get another dog and try again. And perhaps another. With only one dog in a hundred having all of the qualities needed to be a service dog, what are the odds your dog is that one?
When you get a dog from a program, they’ve already done the selecting and training, and taken the risk of having a dog wash out. You don’t get attached to a dog who isn’t going to pan out as a service dog, and you don’t have to face the decisions on whether to try again, and whether to keep the dog that washed out or rehome him.
Here’s an article with tips on how to find a service dog program: http://servicedogcentral.org/content/node/262
|
|
The Treatment of Cattle by Homoeopathy $9.22 George Macleod was one of the first veterinarians to use homeopathic medicines wholly and exclusively. The aim of the homoeopathic approach is to build up the health of the herd and increase the resistance of its individual members to disease, and, in consequence to increase the milk output and quality…. |
|
|
Phenotypic correlations between conformation scores and liveweights at 8, 12, and 20 months of age and rate of gain of beef cattle (Hawaii Agricultural Experiment Station. Technical paper) … |
|
|
Raising dairy calves to breeding age (Extension circular) … |
