Service dog handler lobby

[littleoc]

Also! It’s possible the antibiotics made the diarrhea worse. It happens to humans, and birds, so probably dogs also. Another good reason for probiotics.

Wishing your pup luck :) Update us!

 

[lostforgottensoul]

I need advice/reassurance about a dog with diarrhea.

Chopper used to get diarrhea weekly. Nothing medically wrong. The vet just said super senstive tunmy. I give him a teaspoon of pumpkin with his meal every night which is great fiber and helps his stools stay normal. That has cut down inncidents by at least 8 times. When he does get loose stools my next act depends on how bad. I can uselly stop it with rice water and a forced down spoonful of pumpkin. I put the rice water in a syringe and ease it down. And if that doesnt stop it (though it usually does) he gets an immodinum. If your dog is 60 or 70 pounds or over they should be on adult sized medication. Chopper is now 80 lbs due to a 10 lb muscle gain but when he was 70 lbs the vet told me all adult sized medications. Which makes it a ton easier. If in doubt cut it in half. But its safe for dogs tho i use it as last case seniario when the others fail and we are going out 20 times every few mins. The rice water and pumpkin almost alwaya does it. I keep rice water, normal cheap canned pumpkin, and immodium on hand at all times but really, since adding the teapoon of pumpkin in his diet he almost never gets diarrhea anymore.

Hope that helps!

 

[lostforgottensoul]

Chopper is just clicking today. Had been going to the pet store weekly up until 2 months ago when disability really got ahold of me. No pet store for 2 months and min working and went to the pet store today expecting the worse and he made amazing progress. I am shocked, amazed, and so proud all at the same time. It's getting easier. The training. He's clicking right into place. Happened at the gas station that he usually stuggles at about a week ago and then the phamacy just the other day. Off duty he is any ol' dog. Dressed and bam, service dog. Such an amazing click and it's so amazing to watch! I always keep the possibility of needing to wash him out in the back of my mind and it will always be there, for any dog I train. But it moves further back when he makes huge strides like this!

We went to the mall a few months back as well. Didn't film it but watched him. He was looking around a lot but no tail tucking, no fear, no concern...just intrest which we can work on. I have issues with these kids forcing terrified dogs into the mall (one so terrified that it got out of it's collar and ran away from the handler) so I am very much watching his body language. And there's a playground straight down so it's like the outside playground inside the mall so screaming kids VERY loudly. And he still did well! Will try to get there next week. Likely will enter through Sears which is still open late so I can ease in slower. Will get that on video.

Did a pots and pans throwing training about a week ago. But, when he makes such progress like this it just amazes me!

 

[littleoc]

It’s magical when you get to that point where you can just lay back and trust the dog. That’s great!

 

[Strangelongtrip]

I haven’t done PA with Korra since mid-August. I feel like I just can’t do it with her. I don’t have time for training and I’ve been doing moderately okay. I struggle a lot in public especially alone and have been having panic attacks even with people but it’s fine I guess. She works better in home, and boy does she work in home. She’s really come into her own with tasking. Anytime my heart rate spikes, even if she’s in another room, she finds me. Even if it’s from me dancing and laughing. The other night she OPENED MY DOOR that was closed to get to me. Never seen her to that before!!

I feel kind of like a failure, I keep messing up with dogs. I don’t remember if I posted this before. I had a weird situation with a service dog that their owner needed mobility due to another disability and couldn’t afford to keep him (he couldn’t do heavy mobility due to an old injury) so as a fellow survivor she gave him to me and he worked for a while but got defensive of me. I couldn’t afford a trainer but I got in contact with these people who could train him, a behaviorist and professional dog trainer nearby (charge over $200/hr...I had maybe $150 to my name at the time), they did an amazing job and he ended up being placed with a veteran after about 5 months of retraining. I didn’t have enough research, I didn’t have enough money, and I honestly wasn’t in a place to utilize a service dog without depending completely on them.

Korra has just stepped up to the job, even if I can’t do PA with her. I’ve put hundreds of hours (I actually have no idea...we would train for an hour a day for 6 months) into her training but she’s still was a pet. I can’t take her with me when I move out in (hopefully) 18 months and I’m going to have to start all over. I can’t get a dog right now because I live with my parents and they (kinda sorta suck and are responsible for a big amount of my PTSD) won’t let me get another animal. Once I move out I’ll be working full time and I don’t know if I’ll be able to train my own dog, which I would have to do bc I have multiple disabilities. It would be perfect if I could get a puppy now and start training but that won’t happen. Im terrified of moving out without a service dog because of how bad my symptoms get in unfamiliar places. I feel like it’s never going to happen and I’ll be trapped in this depressing place forever. I’m frustrated with everything and I ignored it for a while but I’ve been thinking about it more and more.

 

[littleoc]

I can’t take her with me when I move out in (hopefully) 18 months and I’m going to have to start all over.

This concerns me a lot. Can you explain a little more? There’s got to be a way to get this figured out, maybe by registering as an ESA or service dog in training or anything like that.

 

[Strangelongtrip]

@littleoc she's my parent's dog even though they got her for me in the first place and I've helped pay for things for her. They won't let me take her with me, she loves helping me and she loves having a job but they won't ever let me take her with me. I needed to train her but I knew this was the end result. Idk it just all sucks.

 

[littleoc]

Any way you can be more firm about this?

It sounds like a confusing situation, but if the dog was adopted and intended for you, and you trained the dog, that makes the dog yours. What do you fear would happen if you decided to take the dog anyway? Do you have receipts/access to trainers that prove the work you’ve done together?

One does not train a dog with the expectation of not having a dog.

I hope that doesn’t sound like I’m blaming you! I’m not — to be clear. But I do think your boundaries are being crossed here. I think, from the limited knowledge I have, that it would be an absolute terrible idea to let a potential service dog go. First of all because of the bond. Second of all because having a job and then not having one can be jarring to a dog. Third because it’s hard to find a dog who fits the service criteria, and you have one. And fourth because you need this dog and spent time and money on this dog. This is your dog, you’ve got to be firmer on that point. What could you do to be firmer?

Give them the adoption fees back if you have to, @Strangelongtrip

 

[lostforgottensoul]

I’ll be working full time and I don’t know if I’ll be able to train my own dog

I work fulltime and have this entire time (will be 2 yrs on Nov 20th). Chopper is PA trained. It took every spare min I had. I did a small training session before work, then trained after work until bedtime. Couldn't even watch a tv show for over a year. We trained when we went out to go potty. We turned that into a training session. We did a training session right before his dinner (he eats once a day at night so that food rewards are more rewarding) and we also do off leash training during exercise. The throw of the toy (fetch) is the reward. I shoved training into every aspect of our life together and I gave up everything including any rest/tv type time and pushed my body to the max but it's so well worth it!

if the dog was adopted and intended for you, and you trained the dog, that makes the dog yours.

Agreed! Finding a good prospect is hard! I'm on the search for my next prospect (Chopper was 4 yrs old when we started service dog training. Long story but looking to retire him in 2 - 3 yrs when he's 8 - 9 yrs old. Want a new prospect trained by then) and been searching for about a year. It's a daughting task. I'd just give them back what they paid into the dog and simply take her with. No questions ask, she's coming with me period. Smuggle her out of you need to but don't release a service dog! And agreed. A dog that had a job and then suddenly doesn't can be very stressful. Then loosing the person they bonded with the most even more stressful. Poor dog likely won't know what to do with herself and will likely always be stressed out. Is that what you want? I know it"s not so maybe put your foot down?

 

[Strangelongtrip]

@littleoc i agreed with them when I started training her that I wouldn’t take her. They didn’t pay for her actual price—she was a christmas present from my Grandmom she paid the breeder fee. She wasn’t intended to be a service dog, just a pet. But I ended up getting a hold of her Volhard test and she had great scores for it.

@lostforgottensoul thank you for that!! Then I could do it! And I don’t know if she’d be too upset she doesn’t have a job, although she does get whiny now we don’t go out versus when we were doing PA but my parents and I take her to Home Depot and other pet friendly places a lot and she’s much happier. She doesn’t sleep with me still. She sleeps with me until I’m sleepy and if I’m having an episode she stays until it’s over and then she goes with my parents. I don’t think it’d be a big shock but I don’t know. I know when I was away at College before I started training her she would wait by my door every day or so but she was still happy with the rest of my family.

Honestly I just don’t want the break from them to be catastrophic. I already fully don’t intend to see them much and I think taking Korra would obligate me to see them more. She’s equally as attached to me as my mom because I was away at college and my mom took care of her, so I would feel bad about breaking that bond. I also honestly need a dog for PA because I can’t go new places alone and Korra isn’t steady enough for PA. She could be but I don’t want to put more hours in when I can’t take her.

I’m sorry I know I’m like...giving up on it all. I just don’t want to fight with my family bc they’re toxic and don’t know how to hold conversations about serious things without it being a fight. I already feel obligated to them because they’re helping pay for college. Everything else I pay for but for a while I didn’t.

Another point I didn’t really expand on is that Korra isn’t big enough for mobility. She’s only 48 lbs and I’m a big lady. I have dizzy spells and also have had times when I could have used forward momentum or guiding. I also get very weak when out for a long time. It just sucks I wish I could keep her and train another dog or train a dog now. I have enough for the breeder fee or adoption fee and a good trainer right now, and by the time I was done I would have an almost 2 year old. Just sucks.

 

[littleoc]

To me, you sound like someone who’s so anxious they don’t even realize that they have multiple options here. It’s like you’ve accepted that toxic parents rule all. That’s not true. You can put your foot down. You don’t have to keep saying these issues like they’re proof you’re wrong, you can just present them as worries :)

She wasn’t intended to be a service dog, just a pet.

And?
My dog started out as a family pet as well. She still behaves like one when off duty. But when I took her to finish her training, no one complained. Because a working dog is way cooler than a pet dog.

She’s equally as attached to me as my mom because I was away at college and my mom took care of her, so I would feel bad about breaking that bond.

My dog had to stay home for almost a full two years while I was working things out at college. She got pretty close to my mom. She does get excited when she sees my mom. But she prefers to spend time with me.

She was stressed on the first day away. She didn’t want to eat, and she didn’t want to work for about two days. Which was fine with me, but since then she’s learned to adjust and has never needed that time since. It is completely possible.

I get that the dog was gifted for the whole family, but your parents can easily get another dog who better suits them. Compared to you who will be more likely to have to wait a year or more to find the right friend.

We had a family cat called Tiger who I viewed as my cat, when I was in my late teens, early twenties. (I’m early twenties now, but I mean earlier. Even LESS experienced me :P.) My little brother decided the cat would make an excellent ESA for his anxiety issues. I was totally against this because I viewed the cat as mine, as said, and was positive he was being selfish. I did not get my way, because he was firm. He made it clear that he needed an ESA, and why get a new one when this cat already fit the bill? So I relented, and everything worked out.

You’ve got to be firm.

 

[Sideways]

I did a small training session before work, then trained after work until bedtime. Couldn't even watch a tv

While definitely it’s the case that we’re constantly shaping our dog’s behaviour, training these sorts of hours each week becomes counterproductive.

If you can, try and budget in about 4-6 sessions with a qualified trainer when you get your Golden Retriever. I know you’ve done a stack of research to find good breeders, so you should be able to expect a PAT-ready dog by the time he’s 18months, 2 years at the absolute outside. Look for someone who is a +R trainer because that’s going to get you fast and effective results.

Most days of the week, dedicated training sessions should’ need to exceed 20-30 mintues, with 1 or 2 longer sessions per week for adult dogs. Anything beyond that and you’re looking at counterproductive times:)

ETA: I know that was probably a bit provocative. I think you’ve done great work with Chopper. But the science is pretty clear on training techniques and unless you’re working with a dog that has behavioural issues (like anxiety) that just take time, really you should be expecting to see really big big progress in much shorter timeframes. If you’re considering using a trainer even briefly woth your next dog, I’d be happy to reach out and try to find a trainer in your area that uses a +R method.