NEADS (National Education for Assistance Dog Services) located in West Boylston, MA, had been operating for nearly 20 years when we approached them. Bear was only the 3rd Boxer they could recall training. Of the prior two, one had washed out and the other had gone on to service as a hearing dog. (I am not sure if the ears were cropped!) NEADS started as a hearing dog school and later progressed to training service dogs also. The on campus program for the service animals is approximately six months. This training follows a puppy raiser program that most of the assistance dog training centers utilize. The puppy program involves the animals being placed in private homes, usually with children. The animals are socialized and begin their initial training. The puppy raisers perform a vital function, allowing the puppies to be puppies, but they start the learning process in a strict program designed by the training facility. The puppy raisers promise to expose the puppies to as much as possible, taking them to shopping centers, restaurants, on public transportation, work and even school. We did not place Bear with a puppy raiser family as NEADS consented to allow us to follow their puppy program at home. I should say that Bear and I were the first "team" allowed into their program. The normal process is to match the animal with the handler during the training process. We were given our training manual and required to file periodic reports. We were very fortunate that we had so many resources at out disposal. First, my lovely wife took over the process, and determined that Bear would arrive at NEADS with a CD, which he did. She also took him through the Temperament Test. We had a great deal of help from Mary Banta of the Canine College in St. Petersburg, and Betty Latier, who runs a local training center. I have digressed from my original topic, Boxers as assistance animals, but a little background on the training process is important. Bear is a great service dog - his temperament is ideally suited to his work - but the path was not always easy. After all, Bear is every inch a Boxer. However, Boxers, when trained, are well suited to this line of work. Just about everything we love about these animals lends itself to the assistance dog program. Once trained they don't forget anything, they love to work, they love the adventure of new places and new people. They are strong, compact, agile and normally fearless. They are interactive with people and most importantly they are extremely loyal. The bond between handler and animal is very strong and also very important. In many cases the service dog is the ice breaker for the handicapped person who is a bit shy. Have you ever met a Boxer who didn't want to be hugged? Imagine the joy and comfort this brings to a person isolated by his or her disability! Bear can open doors, retrieve just about anything I ask him to retrieve, and he can turn lights on and off. I use the retrieve function the most, but he is handy at opening a door when your hands are full. He gets me the paper in the morning, fetches my shoes out of the closet and requires several games of Frisbee so that I get enough daily fresh air. Not all Boxers are made for assistance dog service. Those proud Lads and Ladies, so outgoing in the show ring, may not have the temperament for this line of work. Some of the traits that make great show dogs would wash them out of a service dog program. Some boxers tend to be a bit excitable and slow to mature. Most boxers are stubborn, so the selected handler must be equally stubborn. This is important; assistance animals are neutered when they are around one year old. The last thing you want is a sexually mature animal responding to his natural instincts rather than the commands of his handler.

How do you select a good candidate for the assistance dog program? That is the $64,000 question. Most assistance dog schools experience somewhere around a 50% drop out rate once the dogs reach the formal part of their training. This is a heart and pocket book breaking number. Consider the families who spend the hours necessary to train the animal, plus the expense the school has, only to have a dog wash out for some temperament problem, like aggression not previously displayed. Numerous studies have been conducted looking for precursors of an animal’s final temperament. One recently published study which I subscribe to is the tail carriage theory. In short, in normal activity an animal who holds it's tail erect is a more outgoing animal, perhaps a showman. An animal who carries it's tail down may indicate a tendency toward shyness, and the animal who carries its tail straight back may be more calm and accepting. Bear carries his tail straight back and is the most accepting animal I have ever met. Can this kind of temperament be bred for? I really don't know - I cannot claim the credentials that I suspect most readers of this piece will hold. I do know that Bonnie Bergen, the founder of Canine Companions for Independence (CCI), claims that she has established a breeding program using Goldens that is producing animals with consistently even temperament and is reducing the dropout rate for the CCI program. Only time will tell if her program is truly successful. CCI was one of the programs we applied to when we decided that I would benefit from a service dog, but we were rejected when I said I wanted to supply my own animal, a Boxer. We were informed that they only use Goldens or Labs and supplying our own dog was out of the question. This was the case with several other schools to which we applied, too. Only NEADS was willing to take a chance. The average cost of training a service dog is now over $6,000. And the cost is so low only because of the number of volunteers who help out. We have since learned that a number of schools around the country have been very successful in training Boxers as assistance animals and I think this is tremendous. I know when I put Bear's cape or backpack on him a wonderful transformation takes place - he is ready to work and he gives me his all. We have traveled quite a bit and he has put in long hours going through airports and on planes. He is a willing companion and a good friend. These dogs are truly a gift.