I'm just curious about this.

I guess when I think of a perfect dog I think of a seeing eye dog or a therapy dog.

Is it possible to train ANY dog to be as well trained as a seeing eye dog or therapy dog? I know certain kinds of dogs are chosen based on their temperment, but I'm wondering if it's possible to take just a regular dog and train him to do therapy.

What about a dog who has had aggression issues? Can you train that out of a dog?

I would say no but I do not believe that there is any perfect dog out there. Many puppies that start out being born for Guide Dogs for the Blind at their kennels then go to puppy raisers for 12-16 months before returning to the school for formal training get dropped during training, very few actually make it through the training. So if some one could train any dog to be " perfect" then all the puppies would make it. It is only the cream of the crop that become guide dogs for the blind.

As for training aggression or fear out of a dog, aggression can be genetic and you can not train genetics out of a dog. My friend is a puppy raiser for Guide dogs for the blind and one of the all time favorite puppies was a German Shepherd she did not pass Guide dog training as she was too nervous around city traffic but one of the trainers had fallen in love with her and adopted her. A few years later she moved to Texas and it turned out this dog had a fear of thunder storms so was in the wrong place. Mind you the owner is a trainer fro guide dogs yet even she could not get the dog over the fear so she decided to send her back to California.

I really liked Oregons response! I too believe ALL dogs can be trained but each individual will present challenges or excel in different areas even within the same bloodline...some will only make it so far. I've seen a lot of "trainers" come by and do demos of their work usually with a pit bull. Reason number one is to impress the public that they have taught some semi advanced obedience to a breed that is considered dangerous by many due to the media and reason number two is that in reality pit bulls are generally very willing and easy to train. Last guy who I met doing this asked why I didn't seem at all impressed. I told him to come back with a borzoi or a basset preforming the same commands and I might consider it.

Believe me, service dogs...are dogs. They are not always perfect. And unless the owner keeps up the training regimen, they will revert to bad behaviors.

The real issue, is choosing the right dog for the right job/family. A Border Collie is a great dog, for active people. It would not be the perfect dog for an elderly grandma who watches tv all day and wants a lap dog for company.

I think Jasper12 hit a very important fact if you want a well behaved dog you need to keep up with the training as you can get a trained dog but if you do not put it through its paces that training doesn't always stick. You do not have to set hours aside for training as you can make it part of going on walks and just playing that way you both enjoy it and they dog remains well trained.

My brother has 3 english bull dogs and despite he and his family not spending a of time training they have learned many tricks and picked most of them up fast. I think they would do any thing for a snack. We use to do agility with and English bulldog she was amazing. Her owner kept her very slim and while she was not the fastest dog she was reliable and when people clapped and cheered her on she would pick up speed. I loved to watch her.

I too think when one gets a dog one is best with a breed that fits your own life style. If you are not an active person do not get one of the active breeds as there are many couch potato types of dogs and if you are active you will probably be happy with one of the more active breeds. Don't just choose a dog because of its looks or you saw one in a movie and it looked like a cool dog as so few movies show what the breed of dog they use is really like.

It takes work and a life time commitment to have a well trained dog.