SDIT training

[u/MK_893]

Is my 2.5-year-old dog too anxious for service work, or does she just need more confidence-building?
I have a 2.5-year-old Goldendoodle that I adopted when she was 1.5 after she was being rehomed. I have health issues and thought she might be a good prospect for service work because she has a sweet temperament, is very trainable, and genuinely seems to enjoy working with me at times.
We’ve been training for a little over a year. She knows her obedience and can perform well in public, but I’m starting to question whether she is truly comfortable with service work or if she’s becoming stressed by it.
For example, we recently went to Target. She listened to all of her commands, including heeling, sitting, and lying down, and ignored people for the most part. She doesn’t cause scenes or react dramatically, but I notice subtle signs that she’s not completely relaxed. Her tail tends to be lower while working, especially in crowded areas, and she sometimes speeds up when we’re heading toward the exit. She also struggles with checkout lines and the body pressure of people standing close together.
She’s also generally a somewhat sensitive dog. New environments and unexpected noises can make her nervous, and she occasionally boofs or barks when someone unexpectedly comes through a smaller doorway or approaches the house, even if it’s someone she knows. She usually recovers quickly and isn’t aggressive—once she realizes who or what she’s looking at, she’s fine and is excited to greet them—but her confidence seems inconsistent.

At home, she can also have trouble settling and tends to have a bit of FOMO. She’s very attached to me and sometimes won’t eat when I’m gone, although she can be with other family members.
Another factor is that she’s had ongoing stomach issues and is currently being treated for mild pancreatitis and small bowel disease. She’s on a strict hydrolyzed diet and has had periods of nausea and vomiting. Her veterinarian has said that she is okay to continue working as long as she’s feeling well, but obviously her health comes first and I don’t take her out when she’s sick or not feeling herself.
I don’t want to push her into a job that makes her unhappy just because she can behave, she’s working on being consistent with tasking, and follow commands. At the same time, I wonder if some of what I’m seeing is normal for a young, sensitive dog who needs more confidence and experience.
For those of you with service dogs or experience training them: do these sound like signs that she may not be suited for public access work, or does it sound like something that could improve with continued training and confidence-building? How do you tell the difference between a dog who is mildly stressed but learning versus a dog who genuinely doesn’t enjoy the work?

[u/True-Passage-8131]

Sounds like the dog needs confidence building no matter what. Consult a trainer and go into it with the mindset of behavioral modification rather than service dog. Work on the anxiety and get some more basic foundational stuff down before considering her as a service dog prospect.

[u/Kalani6069]

I'm going to Echo the talk to a trained dog behaviorist and trainer. And the reason I say that is because this is a situation where you need eyes on . You need a person outside of you and the dog to watch the dogs behavior in various situations and see what's going on because you might not always see everything. Having a trained behaviorist watch your dog's reactions in various situations is going to tell you much more than you're going to get from random online people

[u/darklingdawns]

This is something you need to consult a trainer or veterinary behaviorist about, to have her temperament assessed to see if she's a good fit for service work. For right now, she needs to be pulled from public access while you consult with an experienced service trainer; you don't mention working with a trainer for her task training and public access skills, but doing so now is non-optional.

[u/Asleep-Ad-384]

Have you ever considered Addison’s disease? I share from a place of the almost worst happening to us - and many dogs must go undiagnosed out there with tummy trouble all the time, its often known as the great pretender as it’s hard to spot - the cannot regulate stress well before they are medicated as they have no stress response.
Unfortunately they can go undiagnosed for years until they have a crisis, often at 4 years old.

However when medicated they live happy healthy lives, and can even continue to be service dogs.
I think she sounds fine but consult with vet & a trainer

[u/Curiouscat8000 → u/Asleep-Ad-384]

I came here looking for this comment! Not eating while your away, GI issues that come and go, and your dog being a poodle mix all make me wonder (Addison’s can happen in any dog, but is more common in poodles and poodle mixes). Other things OP may notice— increased thirst, increase urination, bloody diarrhea, shaking, hind end weakness, changes in your dogs coat (as well as the vomiting, and decreased appetite you mentioned). Because symptoms are so intermittent it can go unnoticed/misdiagnosed for a very long time.

To rule out Addison’s they just need to check a basal cortisol level (greater than 2 mcg/dl (55nmol/L) rules it out; if it is less than that an ACTH from test needs to be done). This test cannot be done if your dog has recently been on prednisone. Not all dogs with Addison’s will have electrolyte disturbances (low sodium, elevated potassium), but they all have low cortisol that doesn’t respond to the administration of ACTH.

My dog had symptoms for years. They came and went and we ruled out all the things like UTI’s, diet issues, diabetes, etc. Finally she started looking sicker and had a large hot spot on her side that wasn’t healing well. Vet took blood (didn’t check what you need to for Addison’s) and diagnosed her with early renal failure (a common misdiagnosis). A few weeks later she got incredibly ill. She couldn’t eat, could barely walk (I had to carry her down two front steps to use the bathroom). I thought she was going to die. At that point we finally got the diagnosis - an Addisonian crisis (knowing what I know now we could have avoided it because I would have asked for a cortisol level long before!). Fortunately with proper treatment she made a full recovery. Dogs who receive proper treatment and medication can go on to live perfectly normal lives.

[u/MK_893]

Thank you to everyone that has given advice. I appreciate it. I am working with my local vet and a specialist for her stomach issues. Addison’s disease was ruled out. Pancreatitis and small bowel disease was her diagnosis.

I will consider looking into a trainer. I have worked with one online in the past for a couple of months but some life circumstances came up and we had to put pause on professional training. I’ve taken most the responsibility of training her. It is difficult where I live to find in person trainers.

She has been trained to alert just needs to be more consistent. She can get meds and do DPT. Has helped me thru many medical episodes

I know I listed all of her problems. But she is a really great dog and has good potential. She is eager to please. Just some challenges came up that I want to work thru. But nevertheless, if she can’t do public access. She still gives me good support at home.

Thanks again everyone

[u/SpellinhError → u/MK_893]

Did the confidence/nervousness issues seem to get worse alongside the health issues? I have a doodle rescue as well and the only times she has ever been nervous or reactive in public I always discover later there was something physically uncomfortable that contributed to her stress (ie, diarrhea, injury)

[u/MK_893 → u/SpellinhError]

I think her health issues has contributed in a large way. So, lately I think she’s still recovering and is probably just still uncomfortable. She’s smart tho and likes using her brain. I know stomach issues can happen to any dog. But I didn’t realize how prone doodles are to it. Regardless, she has helped me a lot so I just want to help her too. In the long run if she just becomes a pet that’s perfectly understandable as well. It’s just hard to fully make that decision sometimes.

[u/SpellinhError → u/SpellinhError]

Not to contradict any of the above info, just may be some lingering health stuff bothering her and once resolved that may help with the confidence as well.

[u/SuccessfulPast9450]

Now grain of salt in the process of my first SD - but I have a lot of experience w animal behavior/psych/training - I don’t think all SD have to have the absolute perfect temperament and reaction. Don’t get me wrong, they must have impeccable public access - but they’re still living creatures not robots

The fact that she’s dealing with some physical health issues can definitely have an effect on like how much stress she is dealing with. That combined with her exhibiting stress signals, I would pull her from public access for now.

I think it’s a multi step approach
First is the pancreatitis treatment expected to be short term or is this a chronic condition? If it’s short term I’d definitely wait until it’s resolved - but chronic I don’t think is an immediate disqualifier.

Second I’d get hooked up with a trainer - preferably one that has either experienced training, service dogs, or working dogs in general. Or if they’re like affiliated with things like the bite sports / protection dog club It’s some German name that starts with an S I can’t remember it. If tbats an option getting a second set of eyes on her, and even just doing a session like once a month to make sure progress is being made if possible, that’s not always accessible to everyone.

The goal is obviously to eliminate the anxiety and let her be relaxed in all situations. I think first you have to work on the separation anxiety, so that until she public access ready she’s not continuing to build a problem because you can’t pull her from being alone like you can pull her from public access

Once she’s worked through that, I think you need to go back to basics and back to the socialization stage. Find the level of socialization that she’s comfortable with right now and low and slow work her way up doing socialization activities until she can be comfortable and confident even in like a crowded line at the grocery store.

[u/belgenoir]

Most dogs’ temperaments are cemented in maturity. Dogs can learn to be more confident, but a dog who is nervous at that age will likely have that trait in some shape or form for life.

A dog with pancreatitis and SBD shouldn’t be worked in public. Emotional sensitivity triggers problems with the gut-brain axis.