HOW TO GET STARTED:

Before your dog becomes a mindDog there are some fundamentals you both have to know.

How is your dog’s basic obedience?

Before applying to join mindDog, it’s important to consider whether your dog is ready for public access work. Ask yourself:

  • Will your dog walk calmly beside you on a loose lead without pulling or lunging?
  • Does your dog sit on command?
  • Can your dog drop and remain in position until released?
  • Does your dog reliably come when called, even in busy or distracting environments?
  • Does your dog remain calm when excited, rather than barking excessively?
  • Is your dog fully toilet trained and able to toilet appropriately?
  • How does your dog behave around children, other dogs, and members of the public?
  • If your dog is male, does he mark or lift his leg inappropriately?

Please note that dogs displaying boisterous behaviour, nuisance barking, raised hackles, growling, baring teeth, lunging, biting, aggression, excessive fearfulness, or inappropriate elimination are not considered ready for public access work and will not be admitted into the mindDog program until these issues have been addressed. 

For additional information and training resources, please visit our Resources page.

To become a mindDog, your dog must already have some basic obedience training. He must sit, down, stay, come, wait, and so on. A dog that demonstrates boisterous behavior, nuisance barking, hackles-up, growling, showing teeth, lunging, biting, aggression, excessive fear or inappropriate elimination is not ready for public access work.

PLEASE THINK ABOUT THIS BEFORE YOU APPLY:

YOUR DOG:

Do you have a suitable dog? If you are unsure, find out more on our 'mindDog Gallery' page.

REGISTRATION, MICROCHIP & AGE:

All dogs must have current registration with your local council and must be microchipped. All pups must be at least six months old and de-sexed. We only certify one dog per person. When your dog is ten, we will need a health check from your vet.

OBSERVATIONAL DIARY:

Once we have received your payment and application you will receive a mindDog Book, which is an introduction to mindDog and contains an observational diary for you and your dog. You fill this out yourself and there are no right or wrong answers — we are just trying to get you to LOOK at your dog and begin to understand his body language. The diary also gives us some basic information about you and your dog.

TRAINEE STATUS:

If all goes well at the first visit, you will be given Trainee status. This means a “trainee” vest and ID card for your dog.
You will also be given the details of your local mindDog trainer.
With your trainer’s oversight you can now begin to work in public.

AFTER THAT:

Your Assessor will visit around every six months to make sure things are going well. With your trainer you will fill out the three monthly, six monthly and nine monthly training reports that are in the mindDog Book.

THE PUBLIC ACCESS TEST (PAT)

You and your dog should be ready for this at the end of your 12 month trainee period. Most clients become very tense and anxious about doing the PAT. We try hard to make the test as stress free as possible.

The Assessor will stop the test if there is a problem and it looks like you and your dog aren’t going to pass. She will then talk about things and try to help you. She will probably give you more work to do with your trainer. If you do not pass your PAT test this is okay, we will work with you and your trainer to make sure you are ready for a retest in 3-6 months. You will not be able to use your mindDog vest during this time though.

THE FOLLOWING YEARS:

Your Assessor will visit you about every six months just to see how you are going and if there are any problems. You will need to keep up a relationship with your trainer to ensure that you pass the PAT which happens every year.

Clients also have access to an online training and support forum on Facebook which has training tips, advice and support. If you are a current client and would like to access this resource, let us know by sending an email to info@minddog.org.au.