What I have learned is while a puppy keeps you busy, it certainly doesn't fill the hole left by the old dog, so I've been taking a few minutes daily to miss Kajal.
Still, a puppy has been probably what I needed to shake off the doldrums of wondering.
I am optimistic regarding Manitou's temperament and ability to alert and he is learning his commands quickly, but it is a long road ahead. He has to mature and learn the house manners I want from him. It takes months to even two years to make a service dog, depending on age and background.
The first step at this moment is refining his house manners and teaching him basic obedience to the point he can pass a Canine Good Citizen test. This is an AKC-offered test that indicates a dog has basic manners on leash, can sit, down, recall, and be with strangers without aggression or anxiety. It is not a
competitive title in the ring, and is usually done outside.
Once he passes with ease, I can then in good conscience consider Manitou as a service dog in training and continue further obedience and public access training with an eye to passing the public access test. Before that point, he's just a puppy. It doesn't matter how alert he is if I can't depend on his behavior.
I wouldn't mind training a dog to do an AKC obedience trial, of course- I trained Kajal with many skills found at Utility Dog level-- but the true test of a service dog is how well it behaves during his essential daily work in multiple environments with distractions, not how perfectly he performs a set of prescribed tasks on just one given day. Some people only need one or two major tasks, but they need it done many times a day, anyplace, anywhere.