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Blue

Chris McAllister

Why We Train The Way We Do

We focus on the POSITIVE. This means rewarding our dogs for desired behaviors so they will give us those behaviors again. If they get it wrong, we figure out a better way to teach it. We never punish or use force.


Why do we train this way? It gives the dogs their best lives. They can learn without being afraid to make mistakes. This creates a creative Service Dog. A dog that will always want to give its best, which one day could save your life.


A prime example is the amazing story of Chris and Blue.


We trained Blue as a Service Dog for Chris, who became paralyzed in a car accident.

Right after we moved Blue into Chris’ home and they were still in training, Chris took Blue for a walk in the park. Chris’s wheelchair slipped on a patch of mud and tipped over, leaving him completely stuck on his side. Not only was Chris helpless, he was afraid fire ants might soon swarm over him.

Putting all his trust in his Blue, Chris let him off the leash and told him to go and find help.


Thanks to his careful training, Blue instantly knew exactly what to do. He searched the park for someone to come back and help Chris. After around 20 minutes, he found a woman sitting on a bench who seemed to understand that he was trying to get her to follow him. He led her back to Chris. In his power chair, Chris was too heavy for the woman to pick up on her own. She found several men who together were able to get Chris and his wheelchair upright again so he could return safely home.


How could Blue do this? Because of the foundation of trust, respect and love with which he was trained. Because he worked for Chris by his own choice - not because he was afraid of being punished if he failed - he wanted to help Chris when he could have run away from a cruel owner. Because he was never punished for making a mistake - he knew it was safe to try new things and be creative. Because SDI and Chris only treated him with kindness, encouragement and love, he wanted more than anything else to save Chris’ life. And that’s exactly what he did.

Videos and Photos

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