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Big Steps And Accomplishments

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munkinmama

Confident
Yesterday was a good day but exhausting.I had a lawyer's appointment, a dog training lesson with my dog trainer. I always enjoy learning from her.

On my way to the appointment Jellybean was her amazing self. When I was on the LRT (subway) I met a wonderful lady and had a very nice chat with her. She told me she wished she could take Jellybean home with her. I got to do some positive Service Dog awareness. She told me she know she was not suppose to touch, talk to a Service Dog. I explained why that was and that at times some people think the handler is being rude. She thanked me for the explanation and said that the reasons I gave her made sense. The more confidence I get again to go out in public has opened many doors for me to do some awareness. On the way and coming home I worked with Jellybean getting her used to me lightly bracing on her this is for days when my knees give out. She did so awesome and did not move until I told her to. Also when we were walking to the bus stops if there was some ice I would say "Whoa" and she would slow down until we got to a safe spot. She also did this when going up and down stairs I gave her the same command. We had not worked on this much I usually take the elevator.

At my lawyer's appointment Jellybean was awesome as usual she slept through the whole appointment. I have decided to let somethings go. This has been a long a difficult road as well as to let these things go. I have had to for the sake of the boys and even my own health.The court system is long and in all reality nothing will change. That is something I have had to accept I do not have to like it but the court system is not people friendly. The boys know what they need to do and know who they can go to if things get rough. This by no means is me giving up on them what I am giving up on the court system. So I will see what happens when I have what I hope is a final meeting with my lawyer I have had for 4-5 years on with this battle. My lawyer has told me in times when I felt I needed to protect the boys I did not care what people told me my focus was making sure the boys where safe. she has had clients who would do nothing out of fear of looking bad and in my case that was not what I did. I have no issues going into mama bear mode.

When i was almost home I saw my caretaker and he commented how well behaved Jellybean was and how far we have come. This was a special moment for me to hear him say this because it was he and his wife who supported me on my decision to get a Service Dog. They trusted me and signed the pet approval form before I got a dog. They have seen Jellybean and I grow as a team over the past few months from when she was 11 weeks in May. They have seen the progress to where we are now. It is an awesome feeling. Later the caretaker came to my house to fix my toilet. I gave Jellybean the ok to say hi and she gave him some loving which he loved.

In other big news I had written an email to my MLA (politician in my area) about my struggles to get a program PTSD Service Dog. The reason it is so difficult is because they are fairly new in the Service Dog world not many programs have the resources to train these dogs. Well I got this email I so excited."On behalf of Fred Horne, MLA, Edmonton-Rutherford, thank you for your e-mail of February 25, 2015.With your permission, Mr. Horne will table your e-mail in the House which will place your written concerns into the official records of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta. Please confirm whether you wish to grant your permission. Thank you for your assistance.
Once again, thank you for writing.
Deborah L. Estrin
Constituency Assistant
Edmonton-Rutherford "

I also got a letter from my Dr stating having Jellybean is medically necessary and she has seen a huge change in my confidence since getting her. She acknowledged using a Service Dog is a new treatment to assist those with PTSD. I am so glad she wrote the letter before I got Jellybean she had never heard of Psychiatric Service Dogs. Now she is aware and supports me with this treatment. She had told me three weeks ago Jellybean for me has been better then any of the medications she has tried to put me on.
 
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Yes I can tell you the process. I got Jellybean from a sheep farm outside the city where I live. I got her when she was 11 weeks old. I am training her on my own with the aide of two trainers (one in Canada and on in the US) because of the barriers I encountered trying to get a program dog. Now with Canada it is not like the US each Province has it own regulations for Service Dogs and there is no Canadian Service Dog act. So I live in Alberta which has the most strict Service Dog act in all of North America. All dogs much be certified by a program that is a member of the (ADI) Assistant Dogs International.If not then you are not protected under the Service Dog act however you are under the Human Rights Commission. Ok now the barriers I encountered trying to get a program dog and they are as follows

1)No program cross trains so in my case I needed a PTSD and a Mobility Service Dog. When I was applying to programs I had to pick one or the other.
2)Many programs because of lack of resources and because PTSD Service Dogs are fairly new in the Service Dog world will only train these dogs for veterans and first responders.
3)the programs that did not have any restrictions on getting a dog would charge and i was quoted anywhere from $10 000- 60 000 for their dogs
4)program that do not charge for their dogs have a waiting list of a minimum of 5 years with no guarantee of getting a dog
 
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