[dogs barking] [cheerful music] - [Narrator] Good dog.

They're your best friend.

They love you always, and you've got that mutual trust going on.

In fact, you're pretty sure they can be trusted with anyone.

But like the weather, it's all about ups and downs, and sometimes you can't predict what's gonna happen.

- We are kind of a pit stop on their journey.

- [Narrator] Welcome to the puppy kindergarten at the Duke Canine Cognition Center.

It's a school that helps dogs get a head start in learning how to become service dogs.

That's a broad term that includes therapy dogs, guide dogs and dogs that work and emergency services.

- Because there are just so many jobs that dogs do right now that technology cannot replace.

- [Narrator] Staff and volunteers are like athletic scouts.

They take a look at the athlete and decide where they might be a good fit on their team, but they're also career counselors who talk to dogs and figure out just who might be able to help, because at around 10 weeks old when they enter, these dogs are just getting started.

The puppies here at Duke are from a non-profit called Canine Companions in California breeds Labrador retrievers and other mixes to become future service dogs.

Think of it as more of a K through 12 program before they take that big leap, because at 18 months when they graduate, they'll go to a service dog college at Canine Companions in Orlando, Florida.

- [Vanessa] And that's when they learn to do things like, you know, load and unload a washing machine, you know, help people turn the lights on and off, open drawers, pick things up that they've dropped.

So that's the intensive period and it's just, it's so difficult to be a service dog.

- [Narrator] Difficult and expensive.

Training a service dog can cost as much as $50,000.

Canine Companions provides these dogs to people with disabilities for free.

- [Vanessa] Who's a good girl?

- [Narrator] And the training doesn't stop at the end of the day here as part of their training at Duke paired up with mostly undergraduate students who take them back to their dorm rooms or homes and support what the dogs have been learning that day.

And this includes taking the dogs out in public, whether it's a wellness center on campus, or sit on a crowded bus, all to socialize them to foreign environments on their run up to graduation.

- [Trainer] Hey, what's this?

- [Vanessa] But actually a lot of the training is what they are not allowed to do.

So no jumping, no chasing, no really rough play, you know, no eating human food, that kind of thing.

So we kind of just assist in the shaping of the puppies.

So they're really in good shape by the time they leave.

- [Narrator] Puppy kindergarten's goal is to figure out how dogs develop.

Better said, what kind of personalities they have.

So first they need to get to know the puppies better.

[puppy barking] - So we are working towards being able to take a puppy at 10 to 12 weeks, sort of like, running through this series of cognitive games and temperament tests and then saying, "You know what?

You are gonna be a really good hearing dog, or you are gonna be really good at odor detection.

You've got the drive, you've got the nose, like, this is where you belong.

Or you've got a really sweet temperament and, you know, you're really patient, but then also really attentive.

You are gonna be great with a kid with autism."

Okay.

- [Narrator] It's all about finding out if they like seeking help or if they like solving problems themselves.

Wood says the key is finding out how these dogs are wired.

- So assistance dogs are the ones who ask for a lot of help.

They, you know, make a lot of eye contact.

They're always checking back with their handler.

But a military working dog like a dog who is like, needs to search and discover things like drugs or bombs, they're the ones who are really the self problem solver.

- [Narrator] They assess how a dog can learn how to follow commands, of course like sit, but here they look at a lot more things like if their handler's face is covered, will they recognize their voice?

Or how do they maintain eye contact?

- [Together] Aw.

- [Narrator] Do they prefer one stranger more than another?

- [Speaker 1] Oh my god, I want to die.

- [Narrator] Wood says there are strategies to predict who a dog is.

She says her favorite test is called the Impossible Task.

- We put a treat in a container and the puppy learns how to kind of like, nudge the lid out of the way and get it.

And after the puppy's done that for a couple of times, then we lock it and then we just kind of like see what the puppies do.

Puppy look.

Okay.

So he's just learning right now that he can get the treat.

So this is the possible part of the impossible task.

And he's kind of like, learning that he can solve the problem on his own, that there's a treat in the box, and then if he just sort of like, nuzzles around a little bit, he can get it.

So now we're gonna do something super mean.

We are going to close the box.

So what was possible now becomes impossible.

And then the test is not actually whether he can open the box or not.

The test is what he does.

Like, what strategy does he try to use to solve this impossible problem?

Are you ready for something really mean?

- [Narrator] Again, what they're looking for is a dog that can solve problems, which is a service dog's job number one.

- [Vanessa] Okay.

Now he's just looking, figuring out he can't open it.

And so what's he gonna do?

Is he gonna try and solve the problem himself or is he gonna ask for help?

[puppy sniffing] He's asking me for help.

He's like, "Hey, you with the impossible thumbs.

Open this box for me."

- [Narrator] And if a dog looks for help because they can't figure it out, Wood says they may do well as an emotional support animal for a child or the elderly.

- These guys are all the amazing pets.

Although Maestro down here, he's actually the ambassador for a really fancy hotel in like, Arizona.

He meets and greets all the guests.

And then Odom, I think- - [Narrator] No, not all will get a job as a service dog.

In fact, only about half the students graduate.

But Wood says don't worry, those others get jobs as therapy dogs, hearing dogs, military dogs, and even household pets.

- So we wanna try and figure out really early on, so then instead of being sort of like, raised and trained to be a service dog, they can be raised and trained to be the dog that best fits the job that they are gonna do.

[cheerful music]