"YOU TRAIN DOGS TO DO WHAT?"

“You train dogs to do what?”

I can not begin to tell you how often I’ve heard that question!  And that’s the first of a common string of questions which will follow, including “How hard can it be for someone just not to eat a peanut?” and “What breed do you use?” and “How do you train them to do that?” and “How do you know if it is going to be good?” and, and, and!!

Although I feel like a broken record (and I realize that some of you have no idea what that means…. for those in the CD and MP3 generation:  Although I feel like an endless loop recording…), I never cut it short and try so hard to make it sound as though they are the very first person to ask me these questions.  I thought, to start off this blog, I’d let you hear my “broken record” - The conversations go something like this:

I train dogs to detect allergens, such as peanuts, for people who have life threatening or life altering allergies.  After the dog detects it, he or she politely alerts the person.  Yes, some people do call the peanut detection dogs PeanutDogs but most of the time the owners just call them their best friend or their hero!

The dogs check for peanuts or tree nuts (or whatever the specific allergen) on items, on people and in food.  I’ve created a training program, along with some colleagues, which keeps things positive, upbeat and fun for the dogs.  It is a complicated process which shouldn’t be shortened – but it starts with simply showing the dog that we want him or her to find a certain item… and then we go from there.  Of course, after years of perfecting our unique training system, I’m not about to give our secrets away!!  However, we love to show off what our dogs in the middle to advanced stages can do! 

Searching food is where my job gets really challenging!  Not only can they not TASTE the food, the nut sniffing dogs can’t DROOL on or around the food either!  This portion of the training is probably THE most difficult part for the dog!  I begin with a principle developed by Ivan Pavlov to cause dogs to salivate and, with his work as a foundation, reverse things around and build upon it!   These allergen detection dogs just don’t drool for food, unless it is in their own bowl. 

I know it sounds like an allergy to a peanut isn’t a big deal but a little residue that gets into a child’s mouth can kill one of these children!  A lot of the people, mostly kids, are so allergic that if they TOUCH something which has just a little “dust” of their allergen, they’ll have a serious reaction and can be sick for days if not weeks!    So, obviously, it’s a HUGE deal and, before I got involved with the first family for whom I trained a dog, I thought like you do:  how hard is it to stay away from peanuts?

The answer, I’ve come to find out, is NEARLY IMPOSSIBLE!   You’d be shocked where peanuts are found.  George Washington Carver developed so many uses for the peanut and then the rest of the world found even more uses that it’s almost impossible to avoid them if you aren’t diligent.  For instance, which would you think would be safe for someone with an allergy to peanuts to touch – a woman’s face, a library book or a trail mix bar?  The truth is all are potentially dangerous:  much makeup, moisturizers and lotions have peanuts or peanut oils in them, and library books are often contaminated by the little hands who checked them out, and, of course, most trail mix bars are full of peanuts!  I have page after page of things that are dangerous for the people who have the allergies… even medicines!

The dogs I train become the person’s service dog, accompanying them wherever the person happens to go.  The dogs have the legal right to accompany their person anywhere – in the same way that a Seeing Eye Dog is allowed access anywhere, so are these dogs.  There’s a federal law that allows people with a disability to have a service dog accompany them anywhere.   Yes, people with this allergy DO have a disability.  It’s a difficult disability because it is hidden – there are no wheelchairs or crutches – and so misunderstood by the public.  So these service dogs are trained to behave properly in all situations, and settle down and relax when they aren’t needed.  Some dogs I’ve trained go to school with their kids, high school prom, driver’s education classes, have been to Space Camp, go to theatrical performances and even go on rides at DisneyWorld!

There isn’t really one breed of dog that’s better at the job, but there are a few requirements.  First, I won’t use a brachicephalic breed of dog (those are dogs with “flat faces” like boxers) because, in general, they can have respiratory issues and, more importantly, they have less olfactory (or scent) receptors per square inch than other breeds of dogs.  Secondly, there is a height requirement.  The dogs need to be able to check things at various heights, certainly tables, counters and shelves so small breeds, despite having all the characteristics one would think necessary, have to be ruled out.  Third, I take into consideration the stereotypes of some breeds and, although having successfully become a service dog could help end such stereotypes, my main concern is to make life easier for the people who use the dogs.  Therefore, I do keep in mind the public’s impression of some breeds in choosing a dog.  Lastly, there are certain, specific traits (and quite a few!)  I look for in a good candidate and, honestly, I keep that list close to my chest!  Of course, the dogs have to have a friendly temperament and a nose for detecting, but there are so many more traits, personality quirks, likes, etc that we consider.  My colleagues and I have made a list which we use to determine the potential but, no matter how carefully selected, the dogs, throughout the training program, have to meet certain benchmarks (dozens of them!) to make sure they are able to do the job properly but also to be sure that they ENJOY what we are asking them to do! 

It takes anywhere from 6 months to 18 months to fully train a nut sniffing dog!  It depends on a lot of things like the dogs’ age, temperament, confidence level, cognitive skills, drive, socialization and more.  A lot of times I’ll spend months with a dog that is showing great potential and then he or she will unexpectedly be unable to meet some benchmark, and then specific issues are addressed with that dog – special attention, special classes, special training and special trainers.  We work diligently to build the dog up in the area of concern but unless that benchmark is passed with ease (and several times in several environments), the dog will not stay in the detection and alert program.  I’ll find him or her a good home or another “job” with another organization or individual.  It’s a high stress job for the dogs and the dogs which work are the ones who don’t seem to realize it’s a job at all. They LOVE what they do, they LOVE to be with their person, they LOVE to search more than most anything else and they are confident, happy, prancing partners to the person who relies on them.

Yes, it is very difficult to give up the dogs when it’s time for them to go to their new homes.  It breaks your heart.  I remember the very first dog I ever trained to be an peanut detector dog – I didn’t know how I was going to let her go.  However, at a restaurant, while she was sleeping under the table and her new boy was eating the food the dog had examined and deemed “safe,” I saw the tears welling in the mother’s eyes.  I think it was the first time “in a lifetime” that they’d eaten at a restaurant and felt safe .  I knew then that the dog was going to offer this boy a life of independence and opportunities that he would have otherwise not known.  It was easy, at that point, to pass the leash, but tears fell nonetheless. 

And so, as I give up a dog I’ve grown to love and invariably is “my favorite,” I am brokenhearted, crying like crazy, missing the dog I love so much, making the family to PROMISE to stay in touch, and then… I hear about another child in need. 

And I wipe my eyes, take a deep breath, and discover a “new favorite” dog as  the cycle begins again.