Service Dog Skills – ckdogs.org

Service dogs increase freedom and independence by providing assistance in everyday life. Service dogs can improve the lives of people with a wide range of disabilities, whether physical, neurological, or psychiatric.

Compass Key provides personalized training for service dog teams based on individual needs. Our trainers have experience working with children, adults, and families training their own dogs to create successful dog/handler teams.

The following are examples of the most common disability skills we teach:

Alert

To people approaching
As a response to your name or someone trying to get your attention
For specific sounds, such as alarms, ring tones, sirens, or vehicles backing up
For specific smells, such as smoke or gas
Go seek help from someone else when you are having a medical emergency
Press a medical alert button for designated emergency contact
Wake-up alerts

Detect

Allergens / triggering odors
Low blood sugar levels
The presence or absence of people in a designated area or location

Support

Act as a positional buffer – behind, in front, looking the opposite way, or circling
Turn on and off lights, including turning on the light for you before you enter a room
Open and hold doors
Provide bracing for you to stand up or steady yourself
Tug or hold clothing, socks and shoes to assist with dressing and undressing
Pull to assist manual wheelchair propulsion
Target away from walking out into a street or other dangerous areas

Retrieve

Get personal items and bring to you, such as keys or cell phones
Carry items for you
Deliver payment to store clerk or receive and carry merchandise for you
Open and close doors, cabinets, drawers or appliances to bring you something from inside
Bring medication to you at a designated time

Calm

Apply or receive deep pressure therapeutically
Cuddle on cue
Interrupt repetitive movements or compulsive behaviors
Lead to uncrowded area or place to sit down
Respond to an anxiety or panic attack
Interrupt nightmares or night terrors
Offer a signal that allows you to politely excuse yourself from the company of others

Train Your Own Dog

Training Your Own Dog

Compass Key recognizes that there are many great organizations that provide service dogs to those in need. Sadly, the number of applicants for those organizations far outnumber the dogs that are ready for placement. This often creates very long wait times for individuals to receive their service dogs.

There are many people who have, or are willing to find, a dog that could be trained as a service dog to fill a need with their family. Compass Key creates a personalized training plan to teach your privately owned dog all the necessary skills to mitigate your or your loved one's disability.

We also help teach the people who benefit from this assistance, so the dogs can be used to their fullest potential.

Training Options

In-Home Training

Personalized training in your home environment

Facility Training

Training at one of our partner locations

Distance Training

Virtual training sessions from anywhere

Dog Search

Finding the Right Dog

Compass Key specializes in training privately owned dogs for service dog work. Since not all of our clients own a dog with the right temperament and trainability for training, we periodically have dogs available for purchase that have already been taught foundational skills.

Inquire About Available Dogs

Types of Service Dog Training