Service dog and anxiety connection

[KwanYingirl]

Yep, I am well aware that Annie's status applies to housing and schools. Those stores I've taken her into simply allow dogs period. She doesn't nor do I pretend she is something she isn't.

 

[Barberian]

businesses that sell, prepare, or serve food are prohibited from allowing pets inside in every place I've been to in the U.S. because of health codes. Sd's are exempt. You stated above :

I take her to Target all the time. And Home Depot and my supermarket.

Supermarkets sell food. Most if not all Targets sell food. Home Depot is pet friendly and does not sell food. Just makes me wonder.

 

[KwanYingirl]

I guess it's a Maine thing. She was only a four pound puppy when I took her to the supermarket, but yes she goes to Target. Annie has Addison's Disease. I have to watch her for hypoglycemia. As such, she is not left in the car at all. And finally her electrolytes are stable and I can leave her alone for a couple of hours. Maine is a very dog friendly state. But not crazy dog friendly. If the dog is small, quiet and discreet they allow them. I've never seen people take them into resteraunts, however they are plentiful at outdoor bistros and cafés.

 

[FabulousEnding]

What can be used instead of a service dog vest? Those things are expensive and Jersey is tiny. Plus I don't like the flashing sign... I'd rather carry a letter from my dr. I saw a thick harness at Walmart for $10. Can you get patches small enough to sew on? Maybe people will believe me more without the vest or will it be easier?

 

[FindingMyself88]

According to the ADA you don't have to have anything on the dog, HOWEVER it makes your life easier if you do. workingservicedog.com is where I got my vest, they have small vest too. I also know people who use bandannas that say "Service dog". Or you could do like you are talking about and by a harness and sew patches on. You can get patches from amazon or ebay.

 

[FabulousEnding]

Nice! Thanks! I'm broke until I get my student aid in but I might have to do a black dog t-shirt from the dollar store, and some iron on letters from walmart that says "Service Dog In Training" until the first week of september. Looking at that website now. :)

She was having an off day at the park today. I was so embarrassed! I'll at least give her credit for performing all of her commands despite how much fun she was having barking at every person in sight. She learned a new task too. I taught her to sit on my lap and paw my neck/chest area... she did it twice and then was like f- you I'm barking! lol I'm thinking I'm going to have to try a new method to get her to stop. The food distraction method wore off and she just kept trying to bark and help herself to the turkey in my hand. I'm thinking if I put her harness and leash on her, and the first time she barks, I pick her up and take her back inside the house... wait 10-15 min and then try again. Enough times of her not being able to go outside unless she's quiet, and she'll start to figure out she can't go anywhere with me at all until she stops barking. I'm still trying to figure out WHY she does it. She was so excited and so hyper going out for the walk that she just barked at everything. She was stressed out yet having a blast at the same time. Need to fix this. If she could stop barking at people, she would be near ready to be a SD.

 

[KwanYingirl]

I visited the ad that is at the beggining of this thread and they have small jackets and one of the badges you can get is PTSD dog I think I will get that one

 

[FabulousEnding]

I realized I was making a few royal mistakes with jersey's walks. Because seeing her get excited about a walk looked adorable, I was getting her wound up first. My boyfriend also put her in the habit of walking in front of him and pulling on the leash the last 3 years, so thinking she needed to be pack leader on walks was probably heightening her aggression. I normally never tolerate that from a dog but I let her do it... I knew better lol. So now I'm teaching her to walk properly inside the house, and calmly getting her harness on her and let her stand there calmly before we leave.

Turns out she was getting overaroused and I was also making a mistake by bringing her around people before teaching her the skills to remain calm in stressful environments. Took her on a walk tonight after getting her calm in the house first. We're getting so in tune with each other that when I said "turn" and "wait" she instinctively knew what I meant by my body language and did it. Even when my bf was holding the leash I could say "wait" and she'd stop and look at us. We can across people a couple of times or interesting bugs, and I said "Leaaaavvvveee itttt" for the first time to her ever (bf never used it either) and she did it! She left the people alone and moved on. Yay communication! :)

So I'm trying this teach her the skills to be calm first before I start taking her around a lot of people. I'm sure she'll enjoy being a lot less stressed out. I definitely see dog training in an even newer light now. My last training was so the dog could be free of anxiety, and this time it's about learning to communicate with one another so I can teach her how to navigate the human world.

 

[FabulousEnding]

She's getting the hang of it! After only 5 days of training... yeayah! Took her through the Wendy's drive through and said, "Leave it" a bunch of times and gave her the quiet hand signal, she muffled-closed-mouth-woof a little but not full on crazy high pitched park like she normally does. She was going nutso being aggressive towards a houseguest in the backyard earlier, so I took her inside, calmly put on her harness and she turned into a totally different dog... completely calm and perfectly well behaved. Took her back inside, took the harness off, said "Go play!" and she ran off like a maniac playing with toys and the kitten. Already she knows when that harness is on it's time to work, and she immediately gets all serious and focused from the second I start putting the harness on her.

Yesterday I taught her to ground me, then sit up in my lap and touch my neck/chest area with her two front paws. She did it twice and wouldn't do it again because barking at people in the park was way more fun to her. Today, I had a super hyped up moment from flashbacks so I sat on the floor, called her over, gave her the ground hand signal, she laid across my lap, and then all on her own free will... She sat up on my lap, turned around, put her two front paws on the very top of my chest/neck and I pet her. Perhaps she already does realize when I'm in a mood!

Do you happen to know what some common signs of disassociation are that are teachable? Today, I had a neutral memory (neither good nor bad, just was) return over a simple sound and I actually thought I was somewhere else for about 10 seconds. Which concerns me that my brain might do that to me more often, and I'd like to at least prepare her with the tools to recognize it. Since I've only had 3 dissociative episodes so far, I don't really know what I'm doing in them.

 

[FindingMyself88]

I'm sorry if my post is a bit short and jumbled, today has not been a good day for me. I think that is great that she is learning quickly :)

As far as dissociative signs, I'm not really sure. Bristol has just started naturally checking in with me periodically by climbing onto my lap and licking my face or hand. A 55-60lb boxer climbing on your lap will definitely draw you out of it lol. I think I've seen where most people do just train their SD to check in periodically, however that looks like for you. Dissociation is the reason I went with the bigger dog so that her weight could play a factor in it. My two chihuahuas really didn't help with the dissociation.

Sorry I am not much help today..

 

[FabulousEnding]

That's okay. I hope you feel better soon enough. Thanks for answering even though you're having a rough day. I appreciate it. :)

If I could afford to feed a bigger dog, I would definitely have one. If I get SSDI, I can probably start looking for a bigger dog. A service dog trainer is thinking about breeding the lab she was wanting to give me (it's like an SD prodigy), and giving me one of the puppies with a natural SD temperament. I may just teach her to alert my boyfriend if I'm behaving oddly.

 

[FabulousEnding]

I'm having to "wash out" my little dog because she's getting too posessive and won't stop barking. A rescue contacted me about an abused and neglected dog who has been rehabilitated. Another SD trainer said she knows two dogs who are right for SD duty. The abused one has the saddest story ever. Physically abused, nearly starved to death, rescued, put in a foster home for 7 months watching all her friends get families, and now the shelter she is with will euthanize her if she doesn't find a home now that they are getting shut down. Poor doggy!

I want to save her but I need a SD. Might not be good for both me and my dog to have trauma issues. They feel she would trust me more since we had similar lives, and that once she trusts me she'd be extremely adaptable.