Ptsd Dog?

[Venusian]

You have said that your daughter fosters, is that guinea pigs? Have you thought of fostering a dog? Or if there is a rescue facility that has a program where the public volunteers to walk the dogs? That way you can expose your son to dogs and see how he reacts without having to make a long term commitment. It could also be a way to find out what kind of dog would work best with your son.

 

[JustBe]

Please read the ADA. There is no legal certification for Service Dogs, Therapy Dogs or ESA's in the USA.

The Canine Good Citizen certification is voluntary and legally meaningless.

Service Dogs in Training have no protection under the ADA.

[DLMURL]http://adata.org/service-animals[/DLMURL]

Dead Link Removed
"A public entity or private business may not ask about the nature or extent of an individual’s disability. It also may not require documentation, such as proof that the animal has been certified, trained or licensed as a service animal, or require the animal to wear an identifying vest."

 

[Ken Haley]

TandL's Mum, I am only responding to this because your boy is nine. I got PTSD at age 12 as a result of older boys drugging me with
LSD. I have now had it for 38 years and have been deprived of a normal life including children of my own. Doctor will not tell you, but I lived it: PTSD in children leaves the worst damage. As a sufferer I see my life in two parts: Me before and me after. The sufferer wants to get back to the way they were. As you can image getting PTSD at 20, then turning 30 and picturing yourself well, you picture a person that look much the same. When you get PTSD at 12, then turn 22, then look back that same 10 years the 22 year old sees a self that he no longer looks like. This is not something any doctor understands or will explain. Because of the age I got PTSD I have a soft spot for children with PTSD and have been lucky enough to have a few parents let me meet their young sons (in both cases).

Just my 2 cents about the specially trained dogs: Poppycock! I've seen over 30 years of treatment and some unbelievable scams and nonsense perpetrated on patients. I had a doctor tell me to put sesame seed oil up my nose, as just one example. They are also pushing this "horse therapy" nonsense. I bought a horse 8 years ago for recreational, not therapeutic reason (especially since horse therapy did not exist then). According to their theory I should have gotten better owning a horse, but it made no difference and I continued to decline at the same "pre-horse" rate. Most therapists are frauds. You need to ask yourself one question: How would you specially train a dog to help someone with PTSD? I have extensive experience training guard dogs and scent/tracking dogs and I cannot fathom any dog trained in any way that could help someone with PTSD except if that person feels better having the affection of a pet, as is common with non PTSD people. I that case I'd say an affectionate non-specially trained dog would work just the same.

PTSD is the new wholesale, catchall diagnosis. It is often now overdiagnosed and I hope in your son's case the diagnosis is wrong because it is nearly impossible to cure the real thing. Therapists did me far more damage than good and I've seen no improvements in the methods in the last 38 years. Best of luck.

 

[JustBe]

http://www.iaadp.org/psd_tasks.html

Service Dog Tasks for Psychiatric Disabilities

 

[TandL's mum]

Morning everyone.

Luigi - Thanks for the explanation. I had no idea there even was such a term as emotional support animal. I'll look into it all more today as I'm poking around the information everyone has been so kind to send my way.

Venusian - Yes, she fosters guinea pigs. We have 4 baby girls right now (man are they LOUD!). I Thought about the foster dog thing, but after talking to my landlord it isn't an option. If he needs a service animal he's fine with that, but he doesn't want me to foster. We don't own our home so I don't have the free reign I may have otherwise. My son loves all animals as is best buds with my neighbor's pit bull so I'm not too worried about him being afraid of a dog; just need to find the right one for him.

Movin'On - As stated in my other posting...Thank you for the links and all the information. I'm going to be going though it all today and see what I come up with. There's just so much to learn! I'd be lost without everyone's help. Thank you so much for taking the time to send me things.

Ken - Thank you for taking a moment and writing. I'm so sorry that you've been through all this. I watch my little boy and it breaks my heart that him, let alone ANY child would go through something like this. It's interesting as you hit it completely when you made the comment about what was vs what is now. My son just keeps saying over and over through his tears "why can't everything just be as it was? Why can't *I* be like I was before? I just want to be myself again." He knows something isn't right and he picked up on it before anyone. He has been very open with the one therapist and one psychiatrist he is now with; others not so much as he seems to think they don't have a clue what they are doing and I have to agree with him which is why I pulled him from their care. Unfortunately I feel that way about the people in the program he is presently in as he can't be in a regular school setting right now. They don't seem to have a clue nor do they seem to care. There is only 1 other program for someone his age near me and I'm trying to pull some strings to get him in there as I have heard nothing but good things about it. As far as the dog; my thought was it would be similar to a seizure dog and pick up on his own chemistry changes but I don't know. You do make a good point about the specialized training and perhaps it's just innate in an animal to have that bond and be able to pick up on things when it is needed? I don't know. That's part of the research I'm doing today to find out more.

 

[Jenfa]

For people with fears and anxieties that borderline or go into paranoia, having an animal that you believe to have greater sensory capabilities than your own can put the mind at ease in general. It may not be so much that the animal can sense adrenaline or the chemical reactions, but perhaps the chemical reactions might not have to happen if you feel safe with something that can hear, see, smell, sense more than a human can (especially if you're someone who isn't trusting their own senses). Having a dog or cat always made me feel safe. I knew they could pick up on things well before I did, or at least verify if what I was experiencing was a true situation or if it was in my mind.

I say every pet is a therapy pet. It's too bad they can't all be, but at least at home I can have one lol. I can see me now, trying to walk my ancient cat down the street. Maybe it's better she isn't a service animal. I'd have to carry her, and she's wicked heavy.

 

[TandL's mum]

Great point Jenfa. If you believe it to be true then that in and of itself will relax you some. I do think that it will be a good thing for him. I guess, honestly, that I'm just stuck in the still processing he is going through all this phase so I'm not only double but triple checking everything and second guessing myself on it all.

Actually walking your cat isn't so strange where I come from - moved back east after over a decade in Portland. There it is not unusual to see people walking all sorts of animals (though to be honest the HUGE snake was one I'd rather forget).

 

[Barberian]

@Ken Haley There are probably many on this site that would disagree with you about Service Dogs being able to help someone with PTSD, including me. My dog does a couple things already and she is only 11 months old. Most dogs don't start their service dog training until at least a year old. I am self training her. She walks in a circle around me keeping people at a distance in crowds. She also sits on command in front of me about 2 feet out to keep people out of my "space" when they talk to me (I hate (can't be overstated) it when someone crowds me to talk to me). The next thing we will be working on is sitting behind me to keep people in line from getting in my space behind me. I feel the same way when someone crowds me regardless of where they are in relation to me.

I have many more things I will train her for, but the link Movin'On posted already lists many of them so I won't retype them here.

And yes, just having my dog with me helps on an emotional support role in addition to the services she does for me as an added free bonus.

 

[Ken Haley]

You are right and perhaps I should have said I can't imagine a dog helping people with symptoms like me.

You message does at least tell me what use they'd have, however I don't have any of the same issues as you. Your dog seems to be being trained as a buffer tool between you and others. I have no particular fear or aversions to people or even crowds. After informing me of your uses for the dogs and the fact that you are doing the training, I am still left with the question, "How are they pre-training dogs, when your needs seem to be very specific?"

As a personal choice and by no means a slam on anyone, I try not to use substitutions like animals. Everything I do, i do with the idea that the more it try to stay on track with what I think my life would have been without PTSD the truer I am being to my pre-ptsd self then the less I am going to feel those loss of life. The reason I choose not to have a pet, even for companionship, is because for me, that pet would be a surrogate for the human companionship I seek now and would seek if I did not have PTSD. This could lead to contentment and a setting into a unacceptable life. I have had this for so long, from such a young age, that I have learned that the things that bring me enough comfort to get me through today are usually not the things that will help me most in the long term.

 

[JustBe]

I was on quite a bit of medication before Kira and I became a team. I would much rather share my life with a Service Dog than bottles of pills.

 

[Barberian]

Apologies for any hijacking of the thread. Posting these thoughts are in the spirit of the thread (I think) and provide more feedback on the opening post.

Among other things I have agoraphobia and social anxiety. I do use my service dog as a crutch or stepping stone. I was pretty much unable to leave the house for anything but doctors appointments and driving my wife to where she needed to go - bills, shopping, etc. I would stay in the truck. I had wrapped myself in a cocoon of isolation and avoidance. Since I've gotten my service dog, I've slowly been able to do more and more. I am by no means "cured", but I'm able to do a lot more than I used to be able to do.

Ken, I understand where you are coming from, and respect your methods. Each person has their own way of dealing with the beast.

 

[TandL's mum]

Hijack away Barberian. I put an update in my other thread (my intro) that my son was admitted today so I'm just trying to grasp it all and cope so I truly don't mind the debating back and forth and actually find it interesting. I'm going to attempt to get some sleep as I haven't been able to since Sunday. I'll be interested to read what I miss.