How to Train Your Service Dog in Training (SDiT) When It’s Too Cold Outside
If you’re struggling with your service-dog-in-training’s education when the temperatures are below freezing, you’re not alone! Here are four tips to get through the cold times with your dog’s behavior intact.
As we dive into this topic, we want to extend a quick and heartfelt thank you to Noonan Energy for sponsoring our Service Dog Scholarship Fund this year! If you’d like to help support our low-income service dog teams, please contact us.
Keep fingers warm with the right gear & treating strategies
The hardest part of training in the cold weather is that it’s almost impossible to hand your dog treats in a timely and effective manner when you’re wearing gloves or mittens. BUT if you take the gloves or mittens off, your hands get covered in saliva and food, making them wet AND cold. Here are three better options, with my absolute favorite option as number 3 on the list below.
- For occasional treating (dogs that already have reliable manners, for the most part), get gloves that have a fingerless and covered option. There are gloves that are fingerless with a mitten cover that can go on and off. This allows your hands to be covered most of the time, but you can flip off the mitten portion when you need to treat. This works best when temps are not truly frigid and your dog only needs an occasional treat.
- “Feed the floor.” Dropping treats onto the ground allows you to keep gloves or mittens on. This works best when you hold a handful of treats and just drop them periodically as needed. Dropping or tossing treats is more exciting for dogs, so this strategy works best when trying to get your dog’s attention to move past something exciting. It’s less effective for training calm leash manners because it increases the dog’s excitement instead of lowering it.
- My number one favorite option is to keep those toasty gloves or mittens on the whole time you’re outside and use a squeeze tube or food tube to deliver treats. The two I use the most are the GoToob and Coghlan’s Reusable Plastic Food Squeeze Tubes. I demonstrate how they work, and some pros and cons to each, in our video on Alternate Treat Delivery Ideas.
Walk and Train in Stores or Malls
If it’s too cold outside to walk or train, take your dog to a large store or indoor mall to train. While your pup still needs to potty in the cold, at least you can get out, go somewhere new, and train without freezing.
If you have a puppy or a dog whose training is still very limited, you may want to go to a dog friendly store. Hardware stores, crafting stores, outdoor gear store, houseware stores, and farm and garden stores all tend to be dog friendly. While pet stores are always dog friendly, they also are more likely to have lots of other dogs. But there are many dog friendly stores that rarely have other dogs. In most cases, these stores are dog friendly: LL Bean, Barnes & Noble, Home Depot, Lowe’s, Michael’s, JoAnn Fabrics, Tractor Supply, Marshall’s, JC Penny, TJ Maxx. You can Google “dog friendly stores near me” to get ideas of what’s available in your area. Walking and training in a store is both mental and physical exercise for your dog. Use a high rate of reinforcement, and give your pup a chance to settle in a quiet area of the store to give her a mental break, if possible.
If your dog is further along in its training process, going to a large store or a mall to walk or train — whether or not it’s dog friendly — can be a great option. REMEMBER: Your dog should always be on leash in public access settings! It is not appropriate to play fetch or other off-leash games in public access settings with a SDiT or service dog. The ADA specifically requires that service dogs be tethered, leashed, or harnessed, except if that equipment would prevent them from performing a particular task.
Increase Mental and Physical Enrichment at Home
We have lots of posts and videos on enrichment ideas, as well as a post on exercising your dog in winter. We also cover this topic in our service dog foundations course, PEARL DISC, with individual coaching and recommendations based on what you and your dog specifically need. For lots of great ideas and videos on how to increase mental and physical enrichment during the cold, dark months of winter, please visit the post on How to exercise your service dog in winter. For a complete foundation for training your service dog, along with individualized guidance for your dog’s needs, register for PEARL DISC.
Get Your Dog Comfy with Winter Gear
If your dog is hesitating to go out in the cold, appropriate footwear or coats may help. If you have a Husky, German Shepherd Dog, Golden Retriever, or Labradoodle, they probably love the cold, and this is not a problem! But small dogs and dogs with light coats are more likely to suffer in the lower temps — Chihuahuas, Miniature Poodles, Pitbulls, and Vizslas may prefer a winter wardrobe. The two components to make this work are 1. Finding the right gear and 2. Getting your dog accustomed to the gear.
Some of my favorite winter gear for dogs comes from RuffWear — both their coats and their boots. They even have a discount program for professional trainers and working service dogs.
However, you might find a sweater or jacket your dog loves at the local pet store or on Etsy. One consideration is whether the gear will fit over or under their walking harness, or whether their service dog vest will fit over it.
Once you find the right gear, use a slow, careful process to get your dog accustomed to it. Lots of treats, a step-by-step process, and using lower-stress handling techniques (such as approaching from the side, and getting on the same level as your dog) make a big difference. This is too detailed to cover here, but we do cover these skills in PEARL DISC. We’re working on some videos and blog posts that provide more detail on these steps.
You Don’t Have to Go It Alone
Training your own service dog can feel like a lot of weight on your shoulders — to do everything perfectly and get to the finish line quickly. But you and your dog don’t have to do it all alone. If your dog enjoys the cold, but your disability makes it impossible to function when it’s chilly, consider hiring a dog walker. For more support and guidance from nonjudgmental, rewards-based trainers who have lots of experience, get in touch. We’re happy to help!
https://atyourservicedogtraining.com/4-winter-training-tips-service-dog/
