Dog In Crate 12 Hours, Is This Cruel?

[lostforgottensoul]

Thanks @desiderata310! I will talk to my therapist about it and see if he agrees and will write a letter on letter head.

He wants me to take my dog out to start to be around people. That would be one wonderful way to make that step. Not just be around people but MUCH more other fears and issues I have. Some match yours a bit.

 

[desiderata310]

That's cool but I wouldn't take him into a grocery store till you have him passing CGC and have done some research into training for service work. Does that make sense?
Don't take this the wrong way, I'm just trying to make sure that you are getting what you need.

Slapping a vest on him doesn't make him a SD and neither does your therapist's letter - it's all the long months of training that will make him a reliable partner helping you navigating life.

I'm happy to talk to you about this more and I'm pretty sure @Justmehere can be of great assistance in that area as well. She might actually be more knowledgeable as she's further down that road than I am.

 

[desiderata310]

And don't be offended, please. I may have mis read your last post but I just wanted to make sure....

 

[lostforgottensoul]

Slapping a vest on him doesn't make him a SD and neither does your therapist's letter - it's all the long months of training that will make him a reliable partner helping you navigating life.

Oh, no, I know that. I guess I wrote that wrong. I wanted to talk to my therapist to see if he would recommend I start training him to be a service dog and if, in the end after training, if he would be willing to write a letter. That's all.

 

[desiderata310]

Got it, got it!! Sorry, just wanted to be clear. Honestly an untrained dog can be a real stressor.
And yay! It's a lot of work but in the end worth it, if you ask me

 

[lostforgottensoul]

Honestly an untrained dog can be a real stressor.

Totally. I know that feeling. I have time to do small stuff, like have him around people and start ease him into listening and being calm around them. As I honestly can't start training the heavy stuff until my dad & step mom move in Jan because their chihuahua is like a bad influence or something and they don't re-enforce the training. So his training slips.

But, since I advised them about possibly training him to be an ESA, they have taken his training a bit more serious.

It's a lot of work but in the end worth it, if you ask me

Oh, absolutley. And it will be wonderful exposure therapy for me too!

 

[Sideways]

I remember the part of your story about the sound of screaming kittens outside your window.

This is not a small issue for you. I get that. But you are nothing like them. Nothing at all like them.

Hugs if you're okay with me being an awkward hugger!

 

[lostforgottensoul]

I remember the part of your story about the sound of screaming kittens outside your window.

In my arms as I was forced to take their life. Their dead bodies were buried right outside my bedroom window, by me.

I hear the screams they made still today.

Good memory though!

This is not a small issue for you. I get that. But you are nothing like them. Nothing at all like them.

Def a big issue. My *is this animal abuse/cruelity or not* meter is off even though I worked with several organizantions to rescue animals and close down puppymills and I saw first hand what is abuse, it is still off in my head. It is hard to gauge it. Especially since the first thing i was doing was posted here was, per most, animal abuse, my brain now is hyper sensitive to it.

Also with crating him in general; I projected myself into my dog and was thinking it was just like being locked in the closet for days. That crating is some how the same. Its not and it was a huge step to crate him and go to work. My dog isn't me. He is safe and isn't being hurt. Especially since he did high pitch whinning that sounded like someone was choking him. Which also sounded somewhat like the animals i waa forced to kill. Yeah, it was SUPER hard.

But anyway. Yeah, abuse meter gauge is way off so its a process for sure.

Hugs if you're okay with me being an awkward hugger!

Of course I am! *awkwars :hug:s* lol

 

[lostforgottensoul]

@desiderata310, my therapist told me today that I should train Chopper to be my service dog like Charlie is for you. He said that would help me greatly and AFTER all training and any test passing, he will type up a letter on letter head.

But I wanted to make sure I understand (and I am so sorry to ask again), Charlie is just simply a Service Dog, and not an Emotional Service Animal, right?

I'm sorry to ask. I know you wrote it out but I read it 5 times and still can't seem to absorb it all. I'm sorry. :sorry:

 

[desiderata310]

No worries!

For clarification:
Charlie has training. Charlie can go to public places that dogs are not usually allowed. Charlie GOES TO WORK WITH ME (he's here right now laying on a mat under my desk snoozing)Charlie performs work or tasks to mitigate my disability
He is a Service Dog.


My son's girlfriend has an Emotional Support Animal. Just a pet that she can keep in her housing that would not ordinarily allow animals. It has no training. Just just a sweet furry friend who helps lift her spirits. It can not go into a grocery store. Your therapist could write a letter RIGHT NOW saying that Chopper is an ESA. It wouldn't change things unless you went on a plane ride or lived some place that doesn't allow animals.

I want you to be aware as you start down this path that not EVERY dog is suited for this kind of work.Some dogs are not comfortable with the public access. There's one thing that you've talked about with Chopper that concerns me and makes me worry that he might NOT be ok for service dog work: The time that he was aggressive to your neighbor who was trying to get into his apartment. I would talk with someone who does this a lot to get an assessment of Chopper's temperament. Not all dog that train for this work make it and many wash out. It doesn't mean there is something wrong with the dog. Service dog work is HARD and takes a special dog.

 

[lostforgottensoul]

For clarification:
Charlie has training. Charlie can go to public places that dogs are not usually allowed. Charlie GOES TO WORK WITH ME (he's here right now laying on a mat under my desk snoozing)Charlie performs work or tasks to mitigate my disability
He is a Service Dog.

Yes! That is what I am needing. I was wondering just yesterday if my job will allow me to bring him if he is trained as a service dog (like Charlie). I want to be clear that I understand he needs a lot of specialized training. I just wanted to be sure that is what I was aiming for.

There are a few things Charlie does for you that I don't need and then some addtl things that he doesn't do that I would need. And training him myself would be wonderful exposure therapy (since you can't train a dog to be calm around people without being around people).

I just wanted to make sure that I fully understood the difference and a SD is what I need, not an ESA. Thank you so very much for thoroughly answering that. I very much appreciate it!

 

[lostforgottensoul]

There's one thing that you've talked about with Chopper that concerns me and makes me worry that he might NOT be ok for service dog work: The time that he was aggressive to your neighbor who was trying to get into his apartment. I would talk with someone who does this a lot to get an assessment of Chopper's temperament. Not all dog that train for this work make it and many wash out. It doesn't mean there is something wrong with the dog. Service dog work is HARD and takes a special dog.

Oh, I missed this. I will. I will talk with a trainer that trains SDs. Thank you for pointing this out!