Positive reinforcement in our training and interactions with dogs, student trainers and clients is the foundation of ADW’s whole-systems philosophy. From our founding, ADW was among the first service dog agencies to utilize a positive-reinforcement training approach. Clicker training with food rewards is our primary positive-reinforcement training tool. While clicker training has become more popular nationwide, we remain singular in our refusal to resort to punishment-based dog training.

We’ve never used dominance — or punishment-based approaches to dog training.

The result of this positive-reinforcement approach is that ADW dogs love to learn and love to work. They are confident and emotionally balanced. Through these qualities ADW dogs when placed with clients foster enhanced client independence and a greater sense of self-reliance for client families. They offer unconditional love and companionship. They demonstrate how finding creative solutions to a wide range of human challenges enormously improves peoples’ experiences and their quality of life.

At work frequently in public with their handlers, ADW dogs also facilitate a means of comfortably beginning conversations that educate the public in understanding the many human populations that our program serves.

Public Access Work

Training the dogs to work in public settings is the most demanding part of an assistance dog’s education. Despite the fascinating and sometimes scary sights, sounds and smells that a dog encounters in moving through the world with a trainer or a client, the behavior the dog must display in public must be impeccable. A service dog may not bark, sniff or eliminate in public; and may not interfere with other members of the public. The dog must perform all tasks quietly with minimal prompting. The dog must ignore all other dogs and animals in public. This requires a tremendous amount of self-control from a dog. We achieve this through graduated exposures and positive-reinforcement training that sets the dog up to make the right choices.

Release Dogs

Not all pups have the temperament or inclination to become successful service dogs with public access. A very small percentage of our dogs are “released” to applicants who are not clients. Most dogs are released because of health issues or minor behavior problems (such as barking in public). We endeavor to place release dogs in homes that can best accommodate their needs. Although we have a long waiting list for release dogs, our emphasis is always on finding the best possible home for the dog, regardless of when a candidate applied.

Often, we are able to place release dogs with people having some level of disability so that the release dogs become “home help-mates,” providing some assistance. We provide guidance to the new owners.