Me And Bay- Hi

[Deleted member 6617]

Welcome Tim and Bailey!

 

[AmyO]

Hi, Tim (you too, Bailey):

Welcome. Here's to hoping that you find the forum as great as I have. I am glad that you have Bailey to help you out. Sounds like you have so many more stressors right now that it's nice to have that someone special to ground you (in a figurative sense, no offense meant). But if it helps I was a Squid.

You'll grow to love KP's hugs, I know I have. :D

 

[Tim McDonough]

At first I resisted but I think it came down to lose my family or get the Service Dog and the help she offers. Its more then I ever imagined. People say I'm crazy but we talk. Not in words or the english language but we actually communicate.

She knows when i'm upset or havin a bad day. She always checks my 6 when we go walking so my anxiety will calm down.If I have my back to someone and they approach she'll give a friendly bark to let me know they are there. If I start having an episode I look down at her, she's a good gauge if she's not got her guard up ( Hackles rising, or her death stare,or tail ceases to wag) then I know I'm just being over cautious and I can relax a little. If I start getting the 1,000 mile stare she gets up in my lap and starts licking my hand to get me to come back to reality. When I have a night terror she will turn on teh light (That was fun teaching her) and continue to jump on teh bed and lick my face until I wake up. When I wake at that very moment if its her big brown eyes I'm stareing. I know I'm home and I'm safe Her look says " look Daddy Its Ok, I'm here and as long as I breathe nothing will hurt you here or in the dreamworld.I wont allow it!" She truly was a gift from God.

I am so blessed to have her I actually went to a Celtic Woman concert in an actual theater with a lot of people. My wife enjoyed the concert so much and so did Bailey We are gonna try other outtings. It sounds crazy from a guy who grew up in NYC but I hate crowds and I cant stand elevators.

 

[femaleveteran]

hey Tim,

Glad to meet you. I hope you find some good people here to help you out. Thank you for your service to our country. We vets gotta stick together. I just was diagnosed with PTSD back about 5 and a half months ago. So I do not really know very much but most of what I do know I have to say I have learned from other people here and at the other combatPTSD forum.

Anyway, I am sure you will find alot of people here are really wanting to be of any help they can be and all the people I have heard from or read stuff they have posted are really genuine people who will treat you with respect and care and compassion. That is the way i have been treated and I am sure it will not be any different for you.

It is so funny that your dog is named Bailey because I just got a Brindle Boxer back in December and her name is Bailey Pogo {my last name}. Yeah i went ahead and named her a full name just like I would a child. But she has been great for me. I notice that when I am feling really anxious if I take the time to just sit a minute with her and pet her and just hold her in my lap (boxers always think they are lapdogs no matter how big they get I think) then I noticed that it helps alot with my anxiety. And if I cannot get my mind to slow down she provides a real outlet to get my mind off of whatever it is mulling if I take some time to go out and throw a ball to her or just play with her for a while.

She has this expression though if she wants up in my lap and if I am eating I will not let her up on my lap...but she has this expression where her big eyes just get all sad and it just breaks my heart so she usually ends up in my lap and dinner goes into the fridge until she falls asleep and i can put her in the floor and get her to stay down there for a while.

Anyway sorry to ramble but now that I have my first dog ever I really understand how you feel about your dog. People used to tell me all the time how their pets were like their children and I never could understand that....boy I sure understand it now....nothing is too good for my little girl!

Take care Tim and again welcome to the forum! It is great to have another veteran around always!
cheers,
femaleveteran