PHASE 2 – Service Dog Applied Foundations Program
Building on the core skills established in Phase One, this phase focuses on strengthening reliability, fluency, and resilience in real-world settings. The Service Dog Applied Foundations Program is designed to deepen your dog’s understanding of previously introduced cues, enhance self-regulation, and lay a strong foundation for future public access training.
This intermediate-level phase introduces more challenging environments, helping the dog remain neutral in new and novel spaces. While public access work is not the focus of this stage, exposure to public settings is introduced in a controlled way to build confidence and emotional stability.
Key Focus Areas:
- Fluency in both basic and advanced obedience
- Increased duration, distance, and distraction training
- Development of reliable self-regulation in stimulating environments
- Neutrality training (non-reactivity and emotional control around people, animals, and distractions)
- Gradual introduction to novel environments (no formal public access tasks at this stage)
This phase is a crucial bridge between foundational skills and advanced service work. It ensures that both dog and handler have the tools, confidence, and consistency needed to succeed in increasingly complex environments—without rushing into formal public access before the team is truly ready.
Program Breakdown:
Week 1:
Two 1-hour private in-home training sessions focused on refreshing foundational cues and introducing greater duration and distraction work.
Week 2:
Two additional 1-hour in-home training sessions to continue building fluency and work on deeper levels of focus, handler engagement, and calm behavior in dynamic settings.
Week 3:
One 1-hour in-home training session and one 1-hour virtual coaching session. These sessions allow for real-time feedback and adjustments as skills begin to transition into new contexts.
Week 4:
Another combination of one 1-hour in-home and one 1-hour virtual session continues to support both hands-on progress and coaching support, ensuring consistent communication and clear expectations for the handler-dog team.
Week 5:
Two 1-hour virtual training sessions, offering remote guidance to solidify behaviors, reinforce good habits, and prepare for further real-world exposure.
Week 6:
A final 1-hour virtual session to review progress, troubleshoot emerging challenges, and ensure both dog and handler are prepared for the next phase of training.
Getting Started
Each client will start off with a Public Access Proficiency test to ascertain the dog’s strengths, weakness, and general disposition in a public setting. With this information, your consultant will develop a personalized training plan and schedule to provide your dog with the skills that are necessary for the final public access test.
Kindness Condoned!
Canine Foundations’ Consultants firmly adhere to the principals of LIMA, implementing Least Intrusive, Minimally Adverse techniques to achieve a training and behaviour objectives with minimal risk of producing adverse side effects.