Little Angels Service Dogs

Little Angels Service Dogs is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization with an Assistance Dogs International (ADI) accreditation. We provide highly trained service dogs to help children and adults living with disabilities.

HOW WE WORK
OUR TRAINING PHILOSOPHY
Dogs come from a social structure with a strong hierarchy. It would be unnatural for your dog to view life neutrally, without care of who is the alpha – who is dominant or submissive. If you do not take the lead and become the alpha of your “pack”, your dog will either be insecure, or take that position himself.
With Little Angels, all commands are initially taught with positive motivation only. The dog is lured into certain positions, such as “down” or “sit”, and then is rewarded with either treats, a favorite toy, or verbal and physical praise. It is only once the dog responds consistently to the positive rewards, but then chooses not to act, that a correction is added.

Determining what level of correction a dog needs is a very delicate task and should be approached with care. Some dogs will submit to authority with just a simple “no” in a firm and low voice – but with most dogs, a quick tug on the leash is all that is needed.

Dogs, just like people, go through different stages in their lifetime. Because of this, Little Angels stands behind any dog we have trained, whether it’s a service dog or a pet. We will always encourage owners and recipients to advise us of any needed training in the future so that we can help remedy the issues.

Unfortunately, there are a lot of trainers out there who prefer to “get the job done quickly” and are too hard on the dog. This creates an animal who responds out of fear, rather than one who is well-rounded with both positive motivation and low-level correction. You do NOT need to be a heavy-handed-tyrant for your dog to obey. You very simply need to be the leader. When you issue a command, the response is absolute. You do not give your dog a choice by asking him to do it. You tell him that he will do it. After all, it is a command – not a request.

Extreme training techniques should be reserved for extreme, life-threatening behavior problems, such as aggression or car chasing. If you believe that a trainer has been too hard on your dog, please, don’t look the other way – act! Ask the trainer why they are using the aggressive techniques. If it doesn’t seem right to you, then act on your instincts and seek out another trainer.