How to Train Your Dog to Detect Gluten

Hello LuAnn, Many dog trainers are self-taught through years of reading, work with other trainers, and hands on experience. With enough work you could become an expert in this area also, but expect this to take time and work. Because you have Celiac instead of just gluten sensitivity you will need a much higher level of skill in your dog than someone who is less sensitive to gluten and can handle trace amounts. Whether or not LeiLa can be trained to do this actually depends more on LeiLa, her sense of smell, and her ability to detect very small amounts of the protein found in gluten containing products. You will need to cross train her to detect wheat, Barley, Rye, Triticale, and their varieties, as well as gluten in the form of more obscure ingredients that are called by other names and found in products such as Soy Sauce and Gravy. If you want to undertake the training yourself, you likely can, but you will need to be very thorough, and after you train her you will need to test her extensively to be sure that you have taught her all of the various forms of gluten and she will detect it reliably. You will also need to do follow up training sessions occasionally with her for as long as you are depending on her detection, to make sure that she remembers the training as time passes. Be aware that you will need to teach her to detect it in all of it's forms not just in obvious, smellier forms, like wheat bread. After you have taught her to detect and alert you when there is a gluten containing grain product, you will need to also teach her to detect much smaller, trace amounts in products like soy sauce, or in products that have been cross contaminated. If you can teach her to detect very tiny amounts in various forms, then she can successfully help you in this area. To become a service dog she simply needs to learn how to perform a task, in this case, detecting gluten, that directly helps a medically diagnosed condition that you have. I would suggest researching training a peanut allergy detection dog also because the training and level of skill needed in a dog are similar to gluten detection for Celiac disease. The main difference being that gluten is found in multiple grains, so you have to practice with the various forms. When you teach this, if you have not already, research everywhere that gluten can be found and the other names that it goes by, so that you can practice with these types of products while training. I wish you and LeiLa the best! I hope that if you decide to go for it, you feel confident in your ability to learn and train your pup. Best of luck training, Caitlin Crittenden

Hello Justin, Look for something like this: https://www.amazon.com/Vital-Wheat-Gluten-3-5-Pound/dp/B0006ZN52E It will usually be a baking type product with the gluten protein concentrated for baking. Bob's Red Mill used makes vital wheat gluten. You may be able to find that in the baking section of a grocery store near you. If you need to apply it to something else you will need to add water to it to make it a soft or more liquid consistency. If you have Celiac Disease, then I would recommend wearing gloves while you work with it and be sure not to inhale it. Best of luck training, Caitlin Crittenden

Hello Jeanette, You can start training the puppy to prepare him to detect scents and to behave well in public to pass as a service dog as soon as you bring him home at eight weeks. The training typically takes a full year or two to complete though. The scent detection can usually be done in two to four months but preparing a dog to be well behaved enough to be able to go with you everywhere in public will take longer, and will require the dog to calm down and mature enough with age to behave well. Most service dogs are ready to work at two years of age, but likely making public trips with their owner to practice training much younger. For gluten detection you need a dog that has a desire to work, a strong desire to please, and a really good nose for scent work. For this reason most retrievers and German Shepherds make good gluten detection dogs. Other dogs that are easy to train and use their sense of smell as part of their breed standard, like hunting and retrieving breeds, can also be good. Honestly, a Golden Retriever is a great choice for a first time owner. A Golden Retriever from a high quality breeder with parents that have very trainable, friendly, calm temperaments will be easier than many of the breeds you could choose to. When you choose a puppy, I suggest finding a breeder who breeds for temperament and health and will do a temperament evaluation on the puppies for you before choosing one, including testing the puppies for potential nose work potential, meaning how good his sense of smell is and his interest in scents. If your puppy has parents that have good service dog potential themselves, meaning even though they may not be service dogs they are highly trainable, good natured, calm, and intelligent, and possibly even have good scent noses also, and the puppy with the most potential for service dog work and scent work is paired to you from a breeder who is knowledgeable and raises them well, then you will be setting yourself up for success rather than leaving things more to chance. Also, as wonderful as rescuing is, I suggest avoiding it in this situation, unless you can find a highly trainable, extremely well socialized, calm adult dog, that you know has a great sense of smell and can be trained for task work. A puppy with an unknown parentage or unknown breed can decrease your chances for success with services dogs. There are wonderful mixed breed service dogs, but many of those dogs are dogs that were already adults and predictable and then trained, or were people's well trained pets who later were trained to be service dogs when it turned out that the dog had the potential to help his owner. When seeing-eye dogs are bred and trained, the process starts with choosing the right breeding parents, with good temperaments and healthy genetics, and then the puppies are socialized early, and the puppies that show the best potential to be service dogs are chosen from that litter, and the other puppies sold to pet homes. Looking online I found this trainer whose website I have linked below, who will help owners train their own dogs in your area. They will also do board and train. There are many trainers who are further from you who will also do board and train for service dog training, but that also tends to be the most expensive option. I have never met with these people personally so you will want to check out reviews and ask questions beforehand to make sure you feel they are a good fit for you. https://www.medicalmutts.com/train-your-dog-to-be-a-service-dog Service Dog Training pricing can vary wildly, depending on how much help you need. To fully train a dog basic obedience through advanced with specialized skills it can easily cost upwards of $4,000-$5,000 BUT if you do most of the socialization, obedience training, and general training yourself, joining A Canine Good Citizen class when you need help with general manners, then you can spend as little as $200 on a trainer for just classes or a handful of private sessions to help with the specific things that you are stuck on. Check out the website that I linked above from the trainer in your area. Check out the different group class, private, and board and train programs and that should give you a better idea of pricing. For most things that you will train, you can participate in regular obedience and Canine Good Citizen classes to teach most behaviors. It is mostly just the specialized scent detection work and alerts that you may need something more specific for. Of course it is nice to work with a trainer that has experience with all of it though. Best of luck training, Caitlin Crittenden

Hello Ali, There is no certification required for Service Dogs in the USA. Those offered are either just for show or are a standard created by an individual program to test whether the dogs that go through their training are ready to work. ADA law (American's with Disability Act- the actual standard) simply requires that the dog not be a nuisance in public, is able to perform at least one specialized task that helps someone with a disability that qualifies (detecting gluten and alerting you in your case), and that the dog's owner has a medical or psychiatric need for a Service Dog (Celiac normally qualifies). When you are asked about your dog, people can ask: 1. Is the dog a service animal required because of a disability? 2. What work or task has the animal been trained to perform? You do not have to give more personal information other than that. If your dog is being a public nuisance (like barking, acting aggressive, misbehaving) then the owner of the premise can request that you leave. ADA law: https://www.ada.gov/regs2010/service_animal_qa.html For flying on certain airlines and renting homes you sometimes will have to have a medical note signed by a doctor stating your condition and need. This should be from whoever treats you or diagnoses your condition. You may also need an ID with your dog's info on it (you do not have to have this all the time for other locations contrary to popular belief, but some people choose to carry it all the time). You will need an up to date record of your dog's shots and health. 1. I suggest purchasing a Service Dog vest that states that she is a service dog and for people not to pet her (being a small dog you are more likely to have people try to pet her, but they should not while she is working...even if it is not as distracting for her line of work it encourages people to pet service dogs and for many people with service dogs this is a major issue). 2. Carry a laminated copy of ADA law to show to anyone who bothers you, and train peanut so well that her behavior will prove that she is genuine. (Fake Service Dogs harm those with real Service Dogs because owners of stores and restaurants have bad experiences with fake service dogs and don't trust the real, well-behaved ones). For more info along the way you can actually follow my sister Kirsten McKenzie on Instagram. She used to be a Service Dog trainer before a recent move across country with her husband. She has Celiac herself and has her own Service Dog as well. There is a good community of owner trained Service Dogs on Instagram. Kirsten's Service Dog Instagram handle: @kaladin.the.servicedog Best of luck training, Caitlin Crittenden

Hello Danni, Gluten in a common baking additive, added to breads and dough to make it more elastic. Type gluten into Amazon or Google "Gluten" and there are a number of different brands and places you can buy it online, Amazon being one option. Maky baking stores will also sell it. It is often in a tin or packaged like flour and will say gluten, vital wheat gluten, or something similar. Best of luck training, Caitlin Crittenden

Hello Izzy, I suggest following others online who owner-train their own dogs. There is a good service dog community on facebook and instagram. Check out: kaladin.the.service dog on instagram for an example of one owner-trainer who also has celiac and has taught their own dog successfully. Socializing your dog very well and working on general manners to prepare your dog for public access is the first and most important step. A Canine Good Citizen class can be a great way to work on public access training. Once your dog is ready for public access work on teaching him to alert next. Simply teach a command like paw, sit, or another obvious but calm cue, teach him to do it on command. Next, purchase a gluten sample from online (handle with care and wash hands well after working with it to avoid contamination). Encourage sniffing it, then give the alert command. Practice this until he automatically starts to do the alert without being commanded when you present the scent - because he is guessing that you are about to tell him to do it. Once he is automatically giving the alert when presented with the scent, then stop giving the command and just let him sniff, then wait, from there on out. If he seems stuck at some point, give him the command again as a hint, as needed. Once he has learned the basics of alerting to gluten, then you get into the details of teaching him to alert to gluten when other options are available and only rewarding when he alerts to the correct thing. Best of luck training, Caitlin Crittenden