Medical Alert Dog | Private Lessons

Medical Alert Dog One-to-One Training

Hands-on medical alert training with Mike Newland in Surrey

Would you like to teach your dog to recognise changes in your body and alert you before or during a medical episode?

Our Medical Alert Dog One-to-One Training gives you the opportunity to work directly with Mike Newland, Head Trainer at Adolescent Dogs, learning how to train scent-based medical alerts through practical, hands-on sessions.

Medical alert training is specialist work, and although the full training process is available step-by-step within our Online Assistance Dog Programme, we know that some handlers benefit from having an experienced trainer there in person to demonstrate techniques, troubleshoot problems and help them progress.

As we don't regularly run dedicated Medical Alert workshops, these private lessons are a great option if you'd like more individual support.

What can medical alert training be used for?

Depending on the individual, their condition and the dog's ability to recognise a consistent change or target scent, we can support training for areas including:

Diabetes – changes associated with high or low blood glucose
POTS and other forms of dysautonomia – changes associated with episodes such as heart-rate changes, dizziness or fainting
Epilepsy and seizure disorders – alert and/or response behaviours around seizures
Non-epileptic seizures (NES/PNES/FND)
Migraine – including changes associated with the onset of migraine episodes
Addison's disease and adrenal insufficiency
Allergies and anaphylaxis risk – including scent detection of specific allergens where appropriate
Mast Cell Activation Syndrome (MCAS)
Chronic fatigue and energy-limiting conditions where there is an identifiable change the dog can be trained to respond to
Fainting, collapse or presyncope episodes
Other medical conditions where there may be a consistent scent or physiological change that a dog is capable of detecting

Medical alert training is highly individual. Not every medical episode produces a scent or physiological change that we can reliably teach a dog to detect in advance, so we look at what happens before or during your episodes, what samples or training information can be collected, and what useful alert or response behaviours we could teach your dog.

Your sessions can cover areas such as:

Introducing and identifying a target scent
Building a reliable indication or alert behaviour
Teaching your dog to discriminate between target and non-target samples
Improving accuracy and reliability
Developing a clear alert behaviour such as a nose nudge
Progressing from training samples towards practical application
Troubleshooting false alerts or missed alerts
Building more complex alert and response behaviour chains
Advice on collecting, storing and using scent samples
Creating a structured training plan to continue at home

Because medical alert work is highly individual, Mike can adapt the sessions around your condition, your dog and the alert behaviour you're hoping to develop.

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Private lessons with Mike

Medical alert training is a specialist skill that develops over time. Rather than trying to cover everything in a single session, Mike offers discounted packages of private one-to-one lessons so you can learn each stage, practise at home and then progress your training at your next session.

4 One-to-One Lessons – £399

A great option for getting started with medical alert training. Mike can help you understand the training process, introduce your target scent, establish a clear indication or alert behaviour and give you a structured plan to continue practising at home.

8 One-to-One Lessons – £699

Ideal for handlers who would like more ongoing support throughout the process. With additional sessions, Mike can help you progress through the different stages of scent work, improve accuracy and reliability, troubleshoot problems and begin transferring the alert into more realistic situations.

Lessons are tailored to you, your disability, your dog and the specific medical alert behaviour you're working towards.

Learn hands-on with an experienced Medical Alert trainer

Working directly with Mike gives you the opportunity to see techniques demonstrated, practise them together and receive immediate feedback on both your handling and your dog's responses.

Medical Alert One-to-One Lessons can be booked as a standalone service, or combined with our Online Assistance Dog Programme if you're working towards training your dog as a fully trained Assistance Dog.

Lessons are held in Cranleigh, Surrey

Availability is Monday to Friday before 5pm