Service Dog Training
K9-Games Service Dogs is committed to assisting those individuals thru the entire process of selecting the appropriate service dog and training (including basic, advanced obedience and task training to mitigate the disability). Also, full public access training including education about city, state, & federal laws impacting service dogs in the United States as well as laws governing service dogs in other countries.
K9-Games is pleased to have as their Head Service Dog Trainer, Kristi Smith. Kristi as of 3-2019, is one of only six Internationally Certified Service Dog Trainers, having met the stringent requirements by the International Association of Service Dog Professionals (IACP) for this elite certification. Additionally, Kristi has been on the IACP SD Committee since its inception, has previously chaired the committee, and is actively assisting with the trainer certification & public access testing process.
K9-Games specializes in training service dogs for the following:
Allergy Detection Dogs
Trained to identify and alert to allergens that an individual is allergic to – potentially life threatening.
Autism Service Dogs
Trained to perform a variety of tasks to assist those with Autism in navigating the activities of daily living. These include alerting parents to potential danger or dangerous behavior, interrupting harmful behavior, calming the individual with tactile & deep pressure therapy, as well as many other tasks determined by the particular individual needs.
Diabetic Alert Dogs
Trained to alert to low blood sugar levels which can be lethal and obtain assistance if an individual is non-responsive. Some are also trained to alert to blood sugar rises.
Hearing Dogs
Trained for hearing impaired people, providing alerts to any ambient noises that may be pertinent for their person to be aware of, such as doorbells, car honks, their name, alarms, crying babies, and more. They will get their person’s attention and then lead them towards the sound in question.
Medical Alert Dogs
Task trained to respond to various medical conditions appropriate for the particular condition and to retrieve medication and summon assistance. Some of these conditions might be narcolepsy, cardiac issues, dizziness, & potential loss of consciousness when standing, to name a few.
Mobility Assistance Dogs
Trained to provide counter-balancing, or to brace people with balance and mobility issues. They are also trained to help with everyday tasks and activities such as opening and closing doors, pressing buttons on elevators and street crossings, retrieving objects, helping their person up after a fall, and helping during an emergency. They assist people in wheelchairs, those with spinal cord and brain injuries, people who have trouble standing, maintaining a regular gait, people with muscular dystrophy, and even those with arthritis.
PTS Service Dogs
Trained to do specific tasks to assist those living with PTS, anxiety, depression, bipolar disease, schizophrenia, and other psychiatric and emotional disorders. They are especially useful for people who have experienced trauma that has caused them to be hyper vigilant about their safety. The dog can help them feel safe by entering their handler’s house and turning on all the lights. They can also help those who feel overwhelmed in crowded public and social situations by placing themselves between their person and others to give their handler more personal space. They can help their handler remain calm and give them the motivation to get out of bed, because they must also take care of their dog.
Seizure Response Dogs
Seizure response dogs are not generally able to be trained to sense an oncoming seizure, but rather, that skill will often spontaneously develop over time. They are, however, trained on how to respond to seizures. The amazing dogs that develop the ability to sense seizures can sometimes detect one 30 minutes before their person is about to experience it. Whether or not the dog can sense it coming, they are always trained to respond with specific tasks such as retrieving medication, getting help from a nearby person who can call 911, activating a special medical alert in the home, using deep pressure stimulation to help end a seizure early, pull objects that may hurt their handler away from them, or keep them from falling or walking into areas which may hurt them.