Before bringing home your Habibi Bear, it is super important to decide on the exact role that your new dog will fulfill in your family. Is it one of a family pet, or a companion to another dog already in your home, or will it be used as a service animal, providing a specific task to you or one of your family members to improve their day to day quality of life? Make sure everyone in the family is involved in the decision, in order to avoid any confusion for your dog and/or conflicting behavior standards or requests. We also recommend that one person be the clear Pack Leader as well, the person who will be a consistent, calm and dependable leader, and the main disciplinarian. This type of structure is familiar to dogs, and dogs are visibly more secure following the lead of the Top Dog. After all, a pack has rules and boundaries that all members follow, and members of the pack are happy to be included and working for the good of the pack, providing a service to the others. We are able to use that knowledge to create a service or therapy dog.
What is a service dog?
A service dog is a dog that has undergone general and specific training to accomplish special tasks to help humans in their lives. Some tasks that dogs have been successfully trained to do are Seeing Eye Dogs, Mobility Dogs, Diabetic or Epileptic Alert Dogs, Search and Rescue Dogs, Police Dogs, and Explosive Detection Dogs. We are proud to say that our Habibi Bears have the capability to be trained as medical alert dogs and psychological support animals, providing vital service to their families and improving their quality of life. Your puppy comes from a long lineage of dogs born to help and comfort their families.If you have brought a trained Habibi Bear puppy into your heart and home, your puppy has been working very hard to learn discipline, patience and balance in order to be of service to you and your family. Just as working Guide Dogs, Police Dogs, or Mobility Dogs, your Habibi Bear shares a similar work ethic, just in a more compact and furry package.
All of these dogs have crucial traits in common and a common training path:
- To remain calm in unfamiliar settings
- To be focused on their handler
- A high drive to please their handler
- Capability to learn and retain commands, perform commands
- Reliability in the performance of their assigned tasks in a wide variety of settings
Each and every one of our puppies have undergone tests and temperament assessments to determine which job they are best suited for- service, therapy or emotional support. Because our Habibi Bear dogs are an investment and a trained valued companion, we actively discourage participating in popular trends, mainly puppy preschool and dog parks. Both are potential vectors of disease and parasites, as well as unwanted or negative interactions with aggressive or overly rough dogs. We can’t be responsible for other people’s dogs, but we can control the environment where we place our own dogs. As our puppy’s pack leader, we want to ensure that every encounter our puppy has is a positive one. Instead of dog parks and corporate puppy preschools, an alternative is puppy play dates with trusted friends and known dogs at private homes, where everyone is in agreement and the temperaments of all puppies is familiar.
What both dogs require and avoiding popular trends The best gift that we can give our dogs is consistency, and the second best is routine. Your dog doesn’t need fancy toys, complicated gadgets. Just like humans, dogs appreciate routine and knowing what to expect, which fosters security in your pup. A secure dog is a confident dog, and a confident dog is a happy, well-adjusted dog that is a pleasure to be around for everyone. So whether you have decided that your Habibi pup is going to be a family pet or a therapy dog, maintaining her/his routine guarantees a happy home and fantastic future for you all. After all, our Habibi Bears are born and bred to fulfill their sole/soul purpose: to be your Loving Companion.
Do you have a fun story to share about your dog? Drop us a line-we always love hearing stories about our dogs in the field!
Cheering you on! Julie & Abdo and the pack at…. Habibi Bears