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I'm almost half way through a similar program, also full time and with fulltime work between two jobs, although I don't have the family aspect to manage as well. I can't pretend I've been handling this semester particularly well because of an accumulation of stressers over the past 8 or so...

@lostforgottensoul I'll pm you. :)

My SD already knows left heel and right heel (keyed to "Side" as a command). He also has a command for sitting facing forwards between my legs "Anchor". We've worked on this type of heel some for lines without commands, just luring, but we were just working on it tonight using "Center". That way...

Yeah, this is often what we do for just tight spaces and is what we ended up doing in the problematic classroom, because I trust my classmates not to mess with him. But in crowded environments with strangers it's been problematic because people can come up behind and try to pet him. Thus the...

So I had a question come up from yesterday: is anyone successful navigating super crowded or chaotic environments? Our particular issue is a classroom that's way too full and has long tables in kind of a U shape, but the instructor wants breakout groups in the same room, so it's already too many...

I'm discovering this is astoundingly hard to find. I finally found a good gyno who admitted that his first thought was wrong, verbally, in front of me, when presented with evidence that it was in fact incorrect. I had never experienced that and about broke down crying it was so validating.

Yeah. I've been looking at this a lot. I think some of it is the stigma. I mean, I have a hard time taking my inhaler around really supportive people who I know would never judge me. I think more of it though is that I really honestly can't afford this to get worse. As is my grad studies are...

Yes, B, D and natural calming supplements as needed for anxiety or sleep (Valerian root/passionflower teas do better for me than melatonin) seem to help some. I'm a vegetarian so I just sort of figure if I'm super tired my B levels are probably low or won't be hurt from a boost. I put in an...

No, nothing at all. I can research. I've had a bit of success with a couple supplements for mild symptoms but this is severe enough I'm not sure what might help. My sleep is awful, but that's also pretty common, I have a lot of sleep issues. I've been using light therapy to regulate a little...

I think I'm looking for support/understanding and if anyone has any success stories or advice I would definitely take it. My PTSD symptoms are pretty well under control at the moment, but I'm experiencing severe situational depression. It's absolutely valid. I don't want to get into details...

My boy is allowed on furniture and sleeps with me for nightmares and often cuddles on the couch with me. He has never been permitted on any furniture without an okay. His command is "jump on" and sometimes when he rushes upstairs he half jumps and has to pull himself up short because he...

It's amazing how often this is the case though in my experience. Which is a shame, because we're dealing with serious systemic issues that won't have simple fixes. But it's hard to convince people there's not an easy fix to a problem. That's in general, not just with handler issues. Add on the...

@lostforgottensoul Yes, that first link is the one we use when space isn't an issue. The only problem after a year is the velcro can get too much hair in it easily and you have to clean it out. I agree they can be hard to carry. That's why we tend to use a thin baby blanket if I have to pack...

We have a few baby blankets for around the house or going somewhere quick for a meeting. We also have one from dog gone smart that I LOVE. It has velcro straps to keep it closed when you roll it up, a handle and an outside pocket. It's pretty durable. they list it as a "travel mat".

I think that you've made this very clear. We who have had the experiences have been explaining, (pretty unanimously) that that's really not an effective approach. I'm glad to know if in the future you have a service dog you will know exactly how to handle this though. Yeah, kind of exactly...

Like I said, I'm only giving what my org has given, but yeah it was weird to figure out when to vest and not to at first. Especially since we trained in a workshop style at a hotel, so we had to be vested from the car to the room or to go outside, but very strict vest off for transport and once...

Keeping in mind we're running entirely off our program's protocol on all gear/vesting details: We have very very strict delineation on what is vested work and what is not. He never would be in vest in the home or in the car. Only for public access, otherwise there's too much encouragement of...

I'm also potentially on the spectrum (symptoms and history match and aren't all explained by PTSD but my dr doesn't want to diagnose since I'm an adult) and I've wondered sometimes if this isn't part of the reason I wanted hand signals enough to train them after the program, whereas most people...

Yes, the main hand signals he has are things the people in his organization happen to still cue with lures. I've brought his sit signal in to my body, but it's the same action, and he also has a turn command that's the big arm movement, originally to make him follow in a circle. Anchor has a...

I'll start with a question I really want to ask of other people who have issues with being non-verbal under stress: I know several people mentioned using hand signals. I'm curious to know two things: What signals you use (hand signals or other cues) and whether this was intuitive or you...

I'm not sure if this will be helpful or not, but in the currently active SD thread I've seen a lot of really useful tips and a lot of validation. I didn't see a thread like this, and I thought maybe those of us who have SDs could use a place to post with questions/tips/successes/access issues...

A bit ranty and not directed at anyone here, just general issues, but I've been working on several articles this week so I'm all sorts of focused on this. For owner trainers and some organizations yes. A huge number of organizations including ours have gear policies though that prevent any...

For one, most people ignore patches or signs. Two: if you have an organization dog, the chances are you don't own the dog and don't have any ability to make those decisions outside of a very specific dress code for the dogs gear. Three: it places the responsibility on the wrong party. Service...

Oh, I get it. He's way better with people, but birds are and will always be his kryptonite. There's this one part of campus with TONS of pigeons and he leaves one just to look at another. *shakes head* We end up having to sit and look and focus and inch through there by a foot or two at a time...

I try to be a bit careful so the command doesn't wear out, although I remember the early training days where every two seconds he needed a reminder (seriously, like, collapsed on the floor "Leave it, that too, JUST LEAVE ALL THE THINGS DAMN YOU" isn't much of an exaggeration). But if we are...