Pets are hugely popular here in the United States. After all, pets come in all shapes and sizes, meaning that there is the ideal pet out there for just about everyone in the country, no matter what home they might live in, what allergies they might have, or what responsibilities they are willing and able to take on. For a great many people, however, dogs are the ideal animal to own, with more than 75 million dogs owned on a countrywide basis. This means that effectively more dogs are owned here in the United States than anywhere else in the country.
For many people, owning a dog brings a great deal of joy. After all, owning a dog from an early age means that the bond forged with that dog tends to be an incredibly strong one indeed. For a great many people, the dog becomes a cherished member of the family and not simply a mere pet. In nearly half of all dog owning households, after all, surveys have shown that the dog is likely to sleep in bed with their owners instead of on the floor or in a crate. This shows just how deep the bond forged between human and animal can run. And if you’re looking to find the right dog for you but don’t necessarily love all kinds of dogs, the 150 breeds of dogs in the world allow for a great deal of choice and selection in finding the right one for you and your home and lifestyle.
Of course, dogs can serve an essential purpose as well as fill the role of companion. In many cases, service dogs are quite hugely essential for the health and safety of their owners. And service dogs are trained to help many people with many different kinds of conditions, from the diabetic alert service dog to the PTSD service dog to even the seizure response service dog. Each and every service dog plays an important role, but in order for a service dog such as a diabetic alert service dog or any other type of service dog to truly be successful in their role, it is hugely important that they have the proper training.
And this training is likely to start at an early age. Ideally, a service dog trainer will begin to work with a service dog by the time that the dog in question reaches around 16 weeks of age, a mere four months old. This is very important, as very young puppies are not necessarily going to be ready for the rigor involved in the training process set forth by service dog trainers for a diabetic alert service dog or other such service dog for PTSD and other serious medical conditions. After all, puppies (and kittens too) are only actually able to be adopted at eight weeks of age. Before that, they are simply too young to be away from their mothers for more than very short periods of time, if at all.
And it is very important to note that not all dogs will be fit for the role of diabetic alert service dog or any other type of service dog, for that matter. Some dogs just simply will not have the temperament for it, and so it is better to wait a few months before beginning the training process, as this will help to best gauge the overall personality of the dog in question. Still, in many cases training might begin and then not be completed for this very reason – and this is something that the typical service dog trainer will simply just have to accept as a possibility for each dog that they take on to train for the diabetic alert service dog (or other such type of service dog, for that matter) role.
At the end of the day, however, this training is often very worth it in the long run. After all, the dog such as the diabetic alert service dog can make a huge difference for a great many people, keeping them safe and healthy in what would otherwise be a medical crisis situation – or even a life threatening one, for that matter.