The Puppy Pathway to service dog success

Milestone 6: Placement class and graduation

In this ongoing series, we’re exploring each milestone along the Puppy Pathway, a journey of growth, learning, and rewards for puppies in FSD’s assistance dog training program. This month, we’ll look at Milestone 6: Placement Class and Graduation. 

Once our clients have been matched with an FSD assistance dog, they are required to attend a two-week placement class at our training facility in Englewood, Colorado. They arrive with varying levels of experience with dogs; some may have previously had a service dog, some have had pet dogs, and some have never lived with a dog. They have had a single match meeting with their new service dog and have spent a month or so in anticipation of this opportunity to bond with their dog and their fellow handlers, and to learn how to live and work with a Freedom Service Dog at their side.

During the first week of placement class, our Client Services and Training staff focus on helping the handlers transition to life with a service dog, as well as helping the dogs transition from working with their longtime trainer to their new handler. Classroom discussions include topics such as how dogs learn, dog body language, how to care for a dog’s medical needs, how to ensure a dog is fed properly and receives adequate exercise, and more. Teams may take outings to the grocery store, Walmart, Home Depot, or a park, depending on the type of training required for the clients in that class. They also work in our training space to learn basic cues, such as Sit, Down, Let’s Go, and Heel/Side, as well as how to walk together comfortably, how to treat and reward the dog, how to load in and out of a car, and other everyday tasks.

This is also a time to listen to our clients’ questions, anxieties, and fears surrounding their life-changing decision to take on the responsibility of having a service dog. Our staff creates a safe space for our clients to express their doubts and misgivings, and while most of the time our clients decide to continue on their service dog journey, there are instances where a client decides that it’s not the right fit or the right time in their life to have a service dog.

On Thursday of week one, the handlers take their dogs home (or to their hotel room if they’re visiting from outside the Denver area) for the first time. That milestone event is followed on Friday by a long debrief about how things went and troubleshooting by our staff. Then it’s back to their home or hotel for a weekend of relaxing and enjoying their dog until Monday.

Week two consists primarily of handlers and their dogs working closely with FSD staff to learn and practice custom cues designed to assist the handler with their unique needs. For people with mobility challenges, those cues might include tugging off shoes and socks, turning on lights, opening doors, and retrieving items. For our veteran clients, the dogs work on interrupting nightmares and flashbacks by nudging their handler, or creating space around them in crowds to relieve anxiety. For children with autism, the dog may practice lying on the child to provide comforting weighted pressure or nudging them to interrupt repetitive behaviors.

The teams also venture out as a group to locations such as Denver International Airport, a restaurant, and other places to practice how to work and act appropriately in public, including how to handle curious people who want to interact with working service dogs.