Rescue Dogs for Service Work: Important Considerations

The more I work with service dog teams, the more my perspective on service dog breeds, temperament, and ideal prospects change.

I used to feel strongly that "ethical" breeders were the best route to go for service work, but the more bred dogs I work with, the more I've learned that no dog is a guarantee. Rescued dogs can absolutely make amazing service dogs, and it's something I've found myself recommending more and more as I work with more teams with unique needs and considerations.

In fact, I have been planning to rescue my next service dog prospect in a few years.

If you are feeling the same way and compelled to rescue, or just feel like that’s the most feasible option for you, I wanted to share the main things that I teach my students to help them be successful in finding a suitable prospect pup.

1. Adjust your expectations.

With any service dog prospect (rescued or not), I tell clients to expect an at home service dog only who can do most of the tasks you require, minus any weight bearing mobility. Any amount of public access work or hitting every single task you hope for is a bonus.

If you can’t cope with just at home work being the likely outcome, then a fully trained program dog is the way to go instead (I recommend canine companions for independence at this time only, and I recommend against any for-profit training companies).

The majority of dogs (bred or rescued) will not be suitable for public access, regardless of their temperament testing results. And the dogs who are have a high rate of medical wash out later on in their lives. The best way to ensure success in public is to work with an ethical organization who places fully trained service dogs, since they have the resources to wash and rehome dogs who aren't a fit without impacting your needs and resources.

2. Start with an adult dog.

Puppies, regardless of their lineage or genetics, are not as predictable as most service dog trainers paint them. Temperament testing puppies is more suited for weeding out the incompatible traits than it is for selecting a prospect.

When you are rescuing, there is even less data about the dog and what their parent’s temperaments were like, their medical history, etc. If you choose an adult dog, you can more easily understand what the dog enjoys, dislikes, and struggles with long term, instead of finding it all out later on in the process. It also helps the dogs more, since most puppies have no problem finding homes.

It's important to remember that many traits can be "hidden" during a pup's time in the shelter due to stress and anxiety, so even with an adult dog, there will be new things that you learn about them for the first several months.

Just like bred dogs, there is never a guarantee for a dog's temperament or personality, but evaluating adult dogs do tend to give a clearer picture for long term strengths and weaknesses.

3. Fostering can help both ends of the leash.

Fostering is something that can help you find a prospect from a rescue while still helping the dogs that aren’t a fit for your needs or home. Instead of rescuing a dog, realizing it’s not a fit, rehoming the dog, then doing it all over again (which isn’t ethical for the dogs), fostering allows you to help dogs find new homes while also searching for a fit for your family. It’s a hard and longer term thing to do, but it can greatly support your rescue and give you a better picture of each dog that you come in contact with.

If you do decide to foster, it's important to go into the process with the expectation that you will keep many dogs who aren't a fit until they find homes. It's not fair to the dogs (or the rescue you work with) to stop fostering the moment you find that the dog is not a fit for your family. 

Use the time you spend with each dog, even the ones who aren't a fit, to practice your training skills and help them develop the skills needed to fit in to their new homes seamlessly.

4. Remember that rescue dogs aren't a tragedy.

Many people believe that all shelter dogs are damaged or traumatized, but that is simply not true.

Many dogs end up in shelters due to loving families falling on hard times. The dogs aren't abused, neglected, or unloved. They just couldn't care for them any longer in the way that they deserved. Some even end up in the shelters to specifically receive medical care that the family just couldn't afford, which happens so often now that prices are rising more in vet med.

Additionally, most of the behaviors that people think indicate abuse or neglect are actually just every day things like not being exposed to that type of person or stimuli or still being stressed from the shelter environment. 

5. Remember that your pup will need decompression time.

You should not immediately begin training for service work. All dogs need time to settle in, learn your routine and your home, and start to form a relationship with you. 

I usually tell people to just learn their dog for the first several months before trying any structured service dog training. 

Building that first foundation is so important to your long term relationship.

6. If you don't plan to keep a washed dog, an organization is a better choice.

While rescue dogs are not tragedies, we do still have to keep in mind their experience.

Returning a dog to the shelter can be incredibly stressful to the dog. If you are not prepared or able to keep a washed dog as an at home service dog, working with an organization is a more ethical route.

While our needs are important, we hold the power in the relationship with our service dogs. It's up to us to make decisions that are best for them and consider their experience through the entire process.

It's not fair to continually rescue and rehome dogs in search of the perfect prospect. 

If you aren't prepared to compromise in what you need and/or want, an organization is a better choice.

7. Work with a professional to help you decide.

Let's say you've fostered for a bit, and there's a pup that you really like who may be a good fit for your needs. You are already starting to get attached, or you feel like you've been waiting for so long it's about time.

A professional service dog trainer can help be an unbiased source to help you fully make your decision without letting emotions get in the way.

Another option is hiring a service dog trainer to search for you, testing dogs that they know and only letting you know when they've found a potential match.

Both options are great for helping you see the situation without attachment or emotions and giving you a bit of a boost in terms of success rates. Even with a professional guiding you, wash out rates are high, so the other tips still apply. But having a professional help you choose will give you a bit of a better chance of success.

I'm always happy to help in this area or connect you with someone I know in your area as well - email [email protected] for assistance.

8. Create a trait list and label with non-negotiables.

Before bringing a dog home, it's important to think about the traits that are helpful for public access work as well as traits that you enjoy and would want in a dog. Creating a list of traits that are must haves as well as traits that are immediate nos can help you make decisions more clearly.

Trait lists like this can also help the rescues you work with select dogs for you or service dog trainers to help look for dogs that fit those traits as well.

For example, I had a student once who got completely overstimulated by licking. This student really needed a dog who didn't naturally lick due to this. Knowing that licking was a non-negotiable for them allowed us to weed out the dogs who LOVED to lick and find a dog who naturally fit the traits that they needed and enjoyed.

There is so much more to consider when bringing home a new pup for service work, and this post will definitely continually be added to. But these are the top recommendations I give to anyone asking for assistance with rescue dogs as service dogs.

These tips may go completely against what you have read before, and that’s okay! This is something that I have adjusted over the years of working with rescue and bred service dogs. It’s a myth that service dogs must be bred from “service dog lines,” and a rescue dog can make an amazing service dog just as easily. 

With any type of service dog training, ensuring that we are always doing what is best for the dog is the most important piece, and keeping these tips in mind can help you support rescues and your community while also finding a prospect ethically.