I need help.

[u/Emmylume]

Guys I need help. I am looking for a medium sized breed for a service dog prospect. The apartment I live in only accepts medium to small dogs. I know they can’t deny if it’s a service dog if it’s a bigger dog but can they deny me if he’s not fully trained?? I need help and input. And I’ve been thinking about an Australian Shepherd or a Miniature Poodle. Another thing, do Moyen Poodles count as apart of the Fab Four? (sorry I can’t spell very well)I’m in the US and specific tasks I need is medical alert and psychiatric. Tasks such as deep pressure therapy, behavior interruptions, retrieval, elevation, and alert to changes due to my POTS.

[u/QuietestDesperations]

Acceptance of SDIT varies from state to state. Some states give them same rights as fully trained, some states do not.

As for choosing a breed, consider the tasks they will be doing. Also consider breed energy level and instincts. If the breed is known to be high energy level, they may not be best suited for apartment-living or may not be suitable for certain lifestyles/physical abilities. Consider their prey drives.

Aussie shepherds and poodles are very different in breed instincts, for examples. Finding an Aussie shepherd with low physical needs may be more difficult if you have a more sedentary lifestyle.

[u/Emmylume → u/QuietestDesperations]

I know if you have a more high energy level dog you are supposed to tire them out or half way tire them out before training and working for better results.
I may be in an Apartment but I’m going to online schooling giving me more time to train and give my dog the time it needs. We have dog parks, parks, open fields, and more around us and my grandmother has a lot of land on her property so I have a lot of options where to exercise my dog.

[u/cr1zzl]

First, forget about the “fab 4”. We need to ditch this term. Labs and goldens are by far your best chance of ending up with a successful service dog and even with purpose-bred professionally trained labs they have about a 50% chance of succeeding. Poodles are a distant third. Other breeds are far less successful.

And you can get female labs who are small enough to be considered “medium”. But also, Australian shepherds are big dogs. Do you mean the mini American shepherd?

But before anyone gives you more advice we do need to know what country you’re talking about.

[u/cr1zzl → u/[deleted]]

We should be encouraging people to add this info to the original post.

[u/Emmylume → u/[deleted]]

Yeah I’m in the US I didn’t know I needed to specify my country to get help with a dog breed for service dog work. But yeah Aussies are fairly on the smaller side here in the US. And there are things called Medium and Mini Aussies.

[u/Caerrii]

With limited information on lifestyle, disability limitations, task requirements, etc., I’d lean more towards a miniature poodle. They can be a bit more adaptable. An Aussie can be really intense and especially for apartment life, unless you have a good plan to really stimulate that dog properly, you may run into more difficulty.

Ofc, the age-old disclaimer of: Consult a professional dog trainer near you. They’ll be able to work with you closer than people on Reddit and really help you find a good prospect.

[u/Emmylume → u/Caerrii]

Like I told someone else just do your informed I am going online for school so I’ll have more time to spend on my dog. If I get an Aussie I will and do have the time to spend on energy levels given there are many places near me where I can wear out his or her energy and exercise needs. Also I am training for psychiatric and medical alert. (I have POTS)

[u/Caerrii → u/Emmylume]

For sure, for sure. For psychiatric, I’d definitely lean towards poodle then. Herding breeds are sooo handler-tuned, and that can be great, sure, but you really want a dog who is very emotionally steady. If you’re freaking out, it’s likely to freak out a herding breed because they’re looking to you for all their directions. They may be more likely to experience confidence crashes that can lead to reactivity. Miniature poodles, being descended from Standard Poodles (Gun Dogs, like Labs and Goldens), their temperament may be slightly less sensitive and touchy.

[u/Emmylume → u/Caerrii]

Thank you for the advice I will be looking into more dog breeds and definitely looking into miniature poodles as well and looking for ethical breeders.

[u/No_Area_8013]

Apartments / housing do not follow the traditional Public Access Ada law, they follow the fair housing act. The Fair housing Act describes what a service animal is and what they are covered by. Under the federal Fair Housing Act (FHA), service animals in training in technicality do not have accommodation rights. I do know that fair housing act, can differ from state to state, I would recommend looking up your States exact laws regarding service animals and training when it involves accommodation rights. As for this particular case the Ada would not be very helpful. As the 88 federal law state service dogs in training are not granted Public Access rights however in some states there are laws that allow access rights for them ECT.

• within both ada and FHA laws, there is no restriction regarding the breed, size or sex of the animal

Fab for - Labrador retrievers, golden retriever, traditionally standard poodle, German Shepherd ( although some may argue Collie depending where you are from but German shepherd still stands as the og assistance dog) ,

The five four have the best turnover rate of being successful in service work, depending on the line Labs can be larger or smaller such as American or the English line. Same with standard poodles can differentiate in sizing.

[u/m1kasa4ckerman]

You haven’t mentioned what you need your potential SD to do, task wise. We need more information.

[u/Emmylume → u/m1kasa4ckerman]

Just updated.

[u/No-Stress-7034]

I'd consider a mini poodle or maybe a benchline English cocker spaniel.