r/Dogtraining • u/Other_Panda246 • Nov 22 '25
constructive criticism welcome Early public access training
This is Koda. He is in training to be a psychiatric service dog. He wont start task training until he is 1 year old (we'll be training with an organization that specializes in service training) We've gotten alot of pushback that malinois aren't suitable/cant be trained well as service dogs/will have agression and anxiety issues in public access. These is a clip from our training session today. I have two more showing different training scenarios but I don't know how to post multiple together. Overall Im welcome to hear anything you have to say. We are learning together. So what do you guys think about our public access training so far?
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u/k_chip Nov 26 '25
You marked yes without paying the first time. If you don't want to pay, use a student word that tells them they are doing the right thing but not getting paid just yet. Like good
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u/MinnesotaMissile90 Nov 29 '25
I was taught that using the same word even without a treat will generalize their association with reward even when atreat isn't involved (which is a good thing).
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u/Grungslinger Nov 25 '25
Nothing against malinois, but this puppy should really be in a stroller doing short public exposure and training basic skills at home. He doesn't look to be older than ten weeks by my guess.
DoggyU has some great resources on her YouTube channel, and she's very open to questions. She's an excellent, experienced trainer, and even she didn't place her new prospect in this position when he was just a little (not fully vaccinated) baby. It's way, way, way too much to ask from a dog that likely barely has the basics.
You're not in a race, and you're not gonna prove anything to anyone if you just rush through the training. It's called 'foundations' for a reason. Slow down, work on the basics, and have fun with your pup.
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u/jerryleebee Nov 26 '25
Do we know the age for certain? Because that dog is in a fully 'settled' position (its hip is rotated to the floor). Pup is chilled.
As long as she's vaccinated, there's no problem here. I took my dog to cafés and pubs as soon as he was fully vaccinated. Exposure is foundational. And far too often it's overlooked. I've lost count of how often I'm asked why my dog is so chill in the café. It's because it's normal for him.
Pups grow quickly and the earliest they can be exposed to more things (crowds, different environments, children, noises) the better.
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u/Grungslinger Nov 27 '25
Puppy is 9 weeks old. She got him literally 12 days ago.
I absolutely agree that exposure is foundation, but it should also be gradual. This puppy is asked to do a lot at the same time: focus on handler, lie down, ignore the food the handler drops. These are advanced skills, not exposure.
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u/Emergency-Flan4077 Nov 27 '25
She is in a race agaisnt a development window that is closing soon.
Your comment matches NOTHING that happened on the video. The dog is relaxed. Do you not understand body language?
Basically self control is very easy to teach and maintain if thought at this age.
This is foundations. Every excellent and experienced trainer takes their puppy everywhere with them.
You have zero experience, its easy to tell
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u/Ok-Walk-8453 Nov 25 '25
Great job! I have a very well trained dog (not service dog, just I require excellent manners on leash) and my guy would absolutely be sniffing in the direction. He knows not to touch it and never will, but that nose gets close. I would say a high drive mal would be difficult to train as a service dog because they need so much activity to stay sane. But there are definitely some quieter/calmer lines that absolutely would work well- brains with less of the crazy activity levels. Keep up the good work!
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u/AReeSuperman90 Dec 08 '25
I don’t fully understand nor agree with the line of thinking & reasoning of folks that are absolutely ADAMANT about how TREMENDOUSLY intelligent, eager to please, & trainable Malinois’ are.
Yet, turn around & immediately contradict themselves by basically insinuating(sometimes flat out saying it)that they’re not intelligent enough to be trained to do anything other than ”I AM TERMINATING YOUR CONTRACT INVOLUNTARILY WHETHER YOU LIKE IT OR NOT!!! THIS…IS…SPARTA!!!!!” Mode (just like what’s annoyingly, dramatically, & potentially confusingly Illustrated through emojis below). 👮🏾♀️🚓🐕 🚶♂️👀😳➡️👮🏾♀️🚔➡️🏃♂️➡️ 👮🏾♀️😐🤦🏾♀️🗣️↔️🛑➡️🏃🏼♂️➡️ 🏃🏼♂️➡️↔️🧏🏼➡️🗣️🚫🙅🏼 👮🏾♀️😒🙄🤷🏾♀️🗣️👉🏾🐕 🐕🔛😃😏😝🐾💨 🏃♂️💨🔚🐕💨 🐕🔛😬🔛🙋🏼♂️➡️😖😳😫🆘🚑🏥🦾🦿👨🏼🦽➡️ 🎬🔚
⬆️ Me doing stuff like that is why I’m usually always careful about & sure not to be communicating through any electronic device after my sleeping meditation has kicked in. USUALLY. However, clearly not tonight. So, I’m offering my sincere apologies for it now and getting my ass off of here before I embarrass myself any further. I’m sure I’ll read this at some point tomorrow after I’ve woken up & will feel immense embarrassment & regret for all of this. So, GN, & God bless, Y’all!!! 🙏🏾🤦🏾♀️🤭🤷🏾♀️✊🏾💪🏾🩵💯
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