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Training Your Own Full Potential Service Dog: Step by Step Instructions for Intensive Training Program to Get You Started

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(For Important Information, Please Read The Entire Description)

Many people cannot afford the cost nor abide the long waiting lists to acquire a trained Service Dog from an organization and so are opting to train their own.

I believe that everyone who needs (and wants) a Service Dog should be able to have one, so I'm retiring from my Service Dog Training Coach business to focus on consolidating my lifetime of training experience into books (as well as dedicating time to answer questions for my readers, on the phone or via Skype as well as on the Facebook Group (facebook.com/groups/180613442286351/) all of which will be available for as long as my health permits, in case you have a training question that the book didn’t answer).

If you are training your own Service Dog, this book will help guide you through the process. It starts with the basics, creating a firm foundation to build upon for any type of Service Dog that you may be training.

When you finish the 30 Day Intensive Training Program included in this book, your dog will have several foundation behaviors that he'll need to do his Work as a Service Dog, as well as one Task that can be customized to the individual for a number of types of disabilities.

Your dog will learn to have good manners in public, and also to conduct himself in a way that will allow him to keep his attention on his Service Dog Work.

I'll show you how to teach your dog to help you deal with your life challenges, and with this method of training, he will “learn how to learn," which will make your job of continuing his training even easier!

This is the Facebook group that I mentor in order to provide additional support for readers of my books: Please join us there! :) facebook.com/groups/180613442286351/

189 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 24, 2015

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About the author

Lelah Sullivan

9 books12 followers

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5 stars
82 (54%)
4 stars
37 (24%)
3 stars
20 (13%)
2 stars
7 (4%)
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5 (3%)
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
Profile Image for Kathleen.
800 reviews5 followers
December 9, 2021
Empowering!

This book gets an easy four stars. It's not the best researched-and-written, or best-organized book on dog training, but it was, for me, the most empowering. Not every crip is alike. We all have different abilities and needs. To train our own service dog is, for many of us, the best option for getting exactly the kind of service we need from an animal trained patiently and lovingly to support us.

Having consulted service dog training organizations and individual professional trainers, I came to the conclusion that I needed to do it myself, for me and for my daughter. We now have an awesome service dog, and some of her skills come directly from Sullivan's pages. Very grateful!
22 reviews
April 8, 2017
Very helpful

I am going to be training my service dog myself so this book is just what I need. Instructions are to the point and easy to understand. I would recommend this book to anyone even if you're not training a service dog it will make your dog a better companion for every day living. I can't wait to get started.
3 reviews
January 9, 2017
Excellent resource

Very concise, detailed and practical for self training a service animal. Well worth a read if considering a working service animal. I enjoyed the daily format and instruction to return to task until ingrained and habitual.
9 reviews
July 5, 2016
I liked reading this book as I worked with my service dog because it went step by step. The author seems very knowledgeable about their subject.
4 reviews
March 23, 2017
Great Read

Great info, recommended for anyone looking to train a service dog for themselves. Plenty of resources listed also for trainers.
1 review
August 25, 2017
Perfect Training Book for Starting a Service Dog

Let's start at the beginning. This book makes a very strong case on the qualities to look for in selecting a service dog prospect. Please do not overlook this even if you have a dog. If your dog doesn't meet these recommendations I strongly advise looking for another dog! Teaching the behaviors is not likely to be what washes out a service dog prospect it's behavior issues. Start with a solid dog not one that already has social, behavioral, phobias, or ANY form of aggression!
Onto the training this is excellent step by step how to guide. As a professional dog trainer I use marker training with my competition and working dogs. However with the specifics that a service dog needs clicker training is the way to go! Free shaping is important for the dogs independent thinking and how to work through problems without cues from the handler. In completion and more working dog areas it's fine for me to help my dog out but a service dog needs a different angle and I really appreciate going back to some clicker training basics.
This book also helped me to realize while some tasks are not necessary for my disability there are some things that every service dog should learn to perform. I never though I would need my dog to retrieve something for me as I have psychiatric issues. Now I know how valuable it is for my dog to retrieve a phone for me if I need to call an emergency hotline or for help during a manic episode or panic attack where I can't get myself to do it. Eventually I will train her to do this retrieve not only on command but in response to certain behavior cues when I'm having a panic attack.
Yes I shared some details here my family doesn't even know but that is how strongly I feel about this book if you need to self train your own service dog. The 30 program on Facebook that goes hand in hand with this book is extremely valuable. If you get this book do the 30 day program on Facebook. Even though my dog has been working as a SD for a year now this has been very helpful.
Highly recommend and will be supporting this book and program for years to come!!!!!
5 reviews
October 1, 2022
I am a Dog Trainer and this is a wonderful book that I use to help my clients to learn about training a Service Dog.

The Training Your Own Full Potential Service Dog™️ presents a method of training that is very different to other methods of Dog training.

It is a simple step by step method that even a child could follow, however, the result is a Dog trained to the highest professional standard,, providing the person who applies the method (as described in the book) with a fully trained service Dog capable of learning many more tasks by simply adapting and applying the same method to teach the Dog whatever task is required by the disabled person~ the method can be adapted to train a Dog to complete the most complicated of tasks with the Dog happily responding upon the the first cue.

It is a book that prompted me to contact the author, Lelah Sullivan, with a view to serving an apprenticeship in the method, which I completed, and now I apply it in my Dog training practice, not just with my own Dog who is a Service Dog (I suffer from multiple sclerosis) but also with my clients Dogs, whether they are training Service Dogs or pets. The author has more recently brought out another book to assist people who are training a pet Dog.

The complex, yet simple steps, help to build a bond with the Dog and at each and every step throughout the training, the beauty of this method is, that everything the Dog learns, he learns because he chooses to learn it~ this makes this method really unique and it is one that I believe is also better for the Dog because a Happy Dog is, or should be, at the epicenter of every Dog Partners world.

I highly recommend this force free pro choice Service Dog training book to anyone training a Service Dog. In my estimation, as a Dog trainer this book is a must have.
Profile Image for Heather.
205 reviews6 followers
September 20, 2017
Intensive Training

This is a great resource for individuals who are training their own service dog and those that obtained a service dog from an agency. Service dogs are always learning and adjusting as you adjust to your disability.

This book provides you with day to day instructions on how to train your dog for service. It also helps you the handler learn the process to help your partner learn new tasks.

I found this book very helpful and I would recommend it to anyone interested in training their dog.
Profile Image for Kelley Snorklefoxie.
46 reviews2 followers
June 14, 2019
I'm using this book to train my service dog, as well as web sites and another book. Sometimes I feel he skins some of the issues, yet my dog is doing well from the lessons I use. That is invaluable to me. Of course dogs are different like people are. I guess you can't write a book on all personalities. That would be a huge undertaking. If anyone can recommend another great book on training your service dog please share with me. It's a lot of work!
Profile Image for Christine.
11.2k reviews37 followers
August 23, 2017
this has alot of great help in it but the best thing to do is get your dog in classes so that you can get the good citazin so you can bring them out in public . and be able to back that servic tag up with docs if someone as . but i did find alot of this stuff helpful if i was only having a dog with out servic behind it
Profile Image for Gia Valdes Lastre.
20 reviews
December 25, 2017
Pretty good for starters

This book is great: simple and useful. It doesn’t take much to be successful following the instructions.
I plan to follow the training with book two since I have MDD!
Profile Image for Ingrid.
7 reviews5 followers
February 15, 2023
Lelah Sullivan has done a great job at helping train your service dog. She really digs deep with helping the dog make decisions. I have read and re-read this book because there is always something that helps at any age.
Profile Image for Leslie.
31 reviews
September 9, 2018
For wheelchair-bound disabilities mostly. Not much for ambulatory issues. Maybe one of her other books?
Profile Image for Francie.
108 reviews8 followers
January 25, 2019
Informative and easy to read!

I love this book. It’s not only informative but super easy to read. It is a step by step way of training your dog and breaks it down nicely.
2 reviews
Read
January 9, 2020
Good basic clicker trainer. A bit redundant. It does give some good ideas on training an untrained dog.
Profile Image for Victoria Hudson.
Author 2 books10 followers
June 22, 2020
Train your own service dog

Easily read. Has the specifics to set a foundation with your dog. Provers a good introduction to clicker training if that is unfamiliar.
Profile Image for Jason "Book Sniper".
140 reviews5 followers
November 5, 2021
Didn't learn much

I didn't learn as much as i thought i would after reading the reviews. This covers very basic commands and not much task teaching.
1 review
December 11, 2021
Amazing!

This book is very helpful and is written very clearly. It makes you feel like you can actually do it! I highly recommend this author’s books!
Profile Image for Glitter.
1,035 reviews5 followers
January 6, 2017
A clear, practical, and encouraging guide for anyone training their own service dog. The 30-day program is easy to follow and builds a solid foundation of skills and manners. Perfect for beginners looking for structured, step-by-step support.
Profile Image for Cheryl Wedesweiler.
Author 2 books6 followers
July 28, 2016
I am definitely going to follow this. After the basic training, this will come in handy.
Profile Image for Cory Thornton.
1 review
Read
July 7, 2018
Amazing Book! It Made Me a First Time Service Dog Trainer

Amazing book! I've been able to get so much further on training my Service Dog because of this book! I have a PTSD Service Dog, so halfway through reading this, I bought her second book for psychiatric Service Dogs. I can't wait to continue what I've learned here and move forward with the training in the next book. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in training a Service Dog. Some of the lessons I would have preferred to be in greater detail, but that is my only complaint. Thank you, Lelah Sullivan!
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews