Service dog handler lobby

[lostforgottensoul]

What do y'all think?

Looks like a good option to me. I would be worried with the "foot bed" area being solid or not. I'm sure its enough where children can't kick it down but is it sturdy enough to hold your dog's entire weight? Also I'd be concerned with pulling that much weight on a bike and if I can physically do that. Do you have anything that's close to equal or just a tad over your dog's weight that you can test pull or even practice with? Maybe rocks in a wagon tied to your bike just to practice with? Also, ensure you can bike the extra weight the distance you are going. A wagon tied to a bike isn't safe to bike on a highway but I would see if there's some way you can test and/or practice that. Basiclly, I don't want you to spend $100 and then find out it's too heavy to pull on a bike for you or you can't pull it the distance you want to go.

I would also make plans for things like biking to a bus station and taking a bus. That's possible (if you have buses in your area that is) and you may need to go further one day. How will you get it on a bus since it comes apart in 4 pieces (the area where kids are to sit, the bar, and both wheels). Or will a taxi charge more for it? I don't think so but good things to find out. What about Uber? If you need to go further, what's the plan for that?

I would also find a way to lock it to and with my bike. Since it comes apart I would see about how you will prevent someone from stealing it when you park it outside of a place and you go in. I can see someone stealing that pretty quickly.

Otherwise, I don't really have any thoughts on it. I don't have kids, can't ride a bike, and so my service dog has never been in one of these. Just some thoughts I had of things I would want to figure out before I went foward and bought one. It looks pretty sturdy to me other then the foot bed thing I had. Other then that the only other thing I had is a seatbelt. It's way less important in one of these then in a car but I can still see one needed. The issue is, those are car seat restraints. Not regular seatbelts. So, you would need something that goes around the belt that's there. Walmart has a seatbelt harness where the clip part has a clip like on a vest and it clips around the belly part of a clipped in seatbelt. It's also much shorter than those that clip into the red clip part of a seatbelt. So maybe? It uses the end of a leash type of clip and I clip it to his vest. I don't use the harness part. You can buy those off of Amazon as well I believe. Not sure how important that is here but if I were using it I would want my dog seatbelted in.

But those are all of the concerns I'd have about it.

 

[littleoc]

Thank you!

Great points, thank you again. After I get my bike's tires fixed, I'll check to see how much I can carry.

I'll also look into ways to prevent it from getting stolen. I'm a bit over-vigilant when it comes to theives -- maybe because I used to as a kid? But probably because I dislike thieves who take things they don't need, lol. Anyway, I even lock my basket onto my bike, so maybe I'll invest in more sturdy locks. After I know if I can pull that kind of weight.

Sadly, my city doesn't have bus stations, and Uber or Lyft might not be available in several areas...? I haven't checked as much, because I'm afraid of strangers having that much control soveasiky, but you know. Taxis exist but obviously are expensive that they'd be driving for at least 15-20 miles before they even got to my city, so that could be problematic!

I do have a seatbelt for the dog, so I'll probably add it onto those restraints, if it works. It would make me feel a little better, anyway.

 

[Freida]

Good news on the SD front! Took him to the vet today - he was totally baffled to begin with about what was happening with SDs toes. Washed them (like I did), scratched at the tops and nothing happened. He was getting ready to go look up nail bed fungus and then said, hold on lets try this. He came back with an antiseptic type cleanser and used that on his nails and voila! Seems that SD had gotten wet clay (which is pretty much what our ground is made of) up into the top of the nail beds and it had hardened. That's why we couldn't wash it off and why it looked like his nails were dissolving. He had to scrub a bit but it all came off and we are good to go! yea! Happy Dance!

 

[littleoc]

Good news on the SD front! Took him to the vet today - he was totally baffled to begin with about what...

Lol, awesome! Yay!

 

[lostforgottensoul]

So, been doing a lot with the car and the vest (to help unassociate the vest with the car which is what caused him to be real shut down and not really trainable in his vest or really in general which is what worried me).

After a lot of thought, he doesn't have to love the car. It doesn't have to be Disney Land and me trying to make it Disney Land is where I got stuck. I orginally trained him to remain super calm in the car and calm can be confused with being shut down. Apparently to me as well. He doesn't have to love the car. He just needs to not fear it. It needs to become "just what we do" again. Not really something he loves. Just not a scary place.

I tried the kong. That lasted all of 5 mins. It worked to distract him from the car but for only 5 mins. It was hardened (by the fridge) coconut oil (which he is bonkers for). Maybe I will try peanut butter (which he isn't bonkers for but does like) but I'm not sure it's even necessary. But will still give peanut butter a try on Wed when we go back to the therapist's.

Been doing a lot to make the car and the vest "just what we do" and "no big deal". I am back to near daily drives but I was conflicted about taking a drive around and wasting gas going literally nowhere. I was vesting him, taking him for a drive but going nowhere, coming home and unvesting him, then out to run/play.
I was also conflicted about being out of public for that long (a few weeks). He is still in training and does back up a bit in public access training if not worked enough. So, I was conflicted there.

I did a training of walking through the motions of dress, load in the car, inside and undress, reward anout 5 or so times.

Then, I decided to vest, go to Walgreens just down the street (my State gives in training teams public access plus I have permission from the manager to train there) and do some basics (focus, and some basic tasks and commands rewarding with chicken like rapid fire) for 15 - 20 mins then back home, undress then out to run/play. So, that way I'm not wasting that much gas since it's just down the street, not stressful for him (trying to unassociate stress with the car) since its a small store, highly rewarding, and then even more rewarding with the playing afterwards. I do want to drive to somewhere fun but my main focus is the car is "no big deal" and "just what we do" and not Disney Land.

Then to unassociate his vest and dressing with the car I am dressing and undressing a few times in the morning then going to work. When I come home from work the second I walk in the door I grab him vest and dress him then greet him..."yay", undress, greet, dress, greet, undress, greet. Then out to potty.

Seems to be working, really fast, as he did really good last night at Walgreens and then today he did a real good training in his vest for foward momemtum. Not shut down anymore. I used a toy and kept it fun and that training alone is helping to unassociate his vest and dressing with the car.

Anyway, wanted to update here in case someone was going through something simular. We'll see if he improves Wed when I go back to my therapist's and ask him to work there. But I can already tell a big difference in him as he is engaged way more and just super calm in the car. So, focusing on "just what we do" and "no big deal" rather then focusing on him loving the car and it being Disney Land. Just the mindset I have is helping a lot.

 

[lostforgottensoul]

So an odd TMI question. How do you train your service dog to not constantly back to back alert you when you're having sex? Not something I've come across as training, working, and caring for a service dog has been one huge distraction and I'm single so not had time to even care about sex for like 8 or so months but training is getting less intense and sex had made an appearence back in my life today but due to it being common to have flashbacks and panic attacks and disoccoation and complete freak outs as well as other symptoms during sex I didn't want to lock him out of the room but his constant non-stop presistant alerts with intellegent disobidence made it the only choice. He alerts to heavy breathing, heart rate increases, and moaning which is all present during sex even if I am quiet. I didn't want to not reward the alert as all of that outside of sex needs an alert. And I absolutely want him to break any command to alert. Persistantly.

So, those married/dating with service dogs. How do you train your service dog that sex is ok but everything else isn't? Do you lock them out of the room? But what if you need them during?

ETA: I learned with an persistant (SUPER persistant) alert every second or two that he knows his job though. That was nuts. Especially with auto DBT. Try to picture that! Ahahaha!

 

[joeylittle]

He alerts to heavy breathing, heart rate increases, and moaning

Sounds like you couldn’t have him with you during physical exercise, either....I’m curious to see the responses from other SD owners.

 

[Sideways]

@lostforgottensoul - it would be a pretty amazing partner that would be totally fine with you dog in there indicating throughout!

I can’t figure why you’d need your dog there...!?!?

 

[lostforgottensoul]

Sounds like you couldn’t have him with you during physical exercise, either.

I can't physically exercise so that"s not an issue.

I don't know if many have trained their dogs to alert to sound & heavy breathing alone (without anxiety) but it was important as there are physical signs of an oncoming panic attack thus disocissation like those two and things like shaking, skin picking, scratching, and a few other things. He also wakes me from nightmares and does auto DPT until I fall back to sleep and theres heavy breathing, moaning, and unusal movements. He now picks up on the slightest oddity of breathing but will look at me for a second to see if he needs to alert to it. When it's all put together and it looks to him like something big he needs to alert to, yeah, confusion of a dog alerting every second.

it would be a pretty amazing partner that would be totally find with you dog in there indicating throughout!

That's why I asked. I wasn't fine with that.

I can’t figure why you’d need your dog there...!?!?

Because flashbacks that lead to some really crazy things happen and freak out my partner at the time. As does panic which then leads me to disocciate. I've never had a sexual partner since I started training and am single so never thought about it. It maybe ok to leave him outside of the room but I am wondering what handlers do that have their dogs alert to PTSD symptoms as well as something like seizures (so no locking the dog out). I feel much safer with him in there and it really helped things along way faster then what would be normal for me and just overall was more "normal" I suppose. Once I locked him out of the room I was way more closed and felt way less safe and things were moving way slower. So, if its possible to allow him to stay on the floor across the room or outside without the door closed I would prefer it. Hense the reason I am asking. If not then fine but wanted to ask.

ETA: I will add that I have the command "all ok" which tells Chopper that I"m ok and he doesn't need to alert as many things in life will cause irregular breathing, moaning (such as pain) and scratching. He is also pretty good at looking at me for a second and knowing if he needs to alert or not and if he isn't sure he will stare and watch me for a long while. Even if I say "all ok" he many times will still stare me down for a long while to ensure I'm really ok as many times I think I am but will need his alert and/or help.

That is the first time since service dog training that he has seen and heard sexual activity so he was rather confused and though I advised "all ok", I had to continuing advising. I then put him in place on his bed in the livingroom and when it wasn't quite anymore he came a running. But I do have an "all ok" command.

 

[joeylittle]

I can't physically exercise so that"s not an issue.

Sorry - I recalled you asking your doc for PT, and physical therapy nearly always involves some form of physical activity. So even in a physical therapy environment, it’s likely you’d experience elevated heart rate, exertion breathing...I know I made some pretty weird noises when rehabbing my knee.

I guess it makes me wonder if the alerts you’ve trained him for are too general or too sensitive. I know things like panic and dissociation can come on quite quickly, but is it worth considering how much of that you can reasonably handle on your own, by applying skills? Doing so would allow you to perhaps incorporate an alert word, in order to signal Chopper that he needs to intervene and help you.

Flashbacks, those are generally much more instantaneous; I’m thinking that you’d need to or want to have a conversation with any sexual partner about the possibility of those, and what they look/sound like - regardless of Chopper being there. Not so much so your partner can help you, more so they can get out of the way.

There are some good threads on setting ground rules for intimacy w/PTSD - I know this isn’t specific to your question, but you might find them useful as an additional resource.

 

[lostforgottensoul]

Doing so would allow you to perhaps incorporate an alert word

Alerts are things that you don't know are coming and need to be made aware of. So, for instance, before I disocciate and move places without memory of it my heart rate increases, my breathing becomes irregular, I begin to shake, usually will pick at my skin and scratch at my skin without realizing it, have high anxiety, and usually a panic attack which then leads to the dissocciation (I found this out from others around me when it was happening). If I am made aware that all is happening I can move off to a quiet corner, lean against a wall with Chopper in front of me or sit on the floor and ask for DPT and calm down some which then stops the disoccoation and most times the panic attack right before.

Think of it like being alerted you are about to have a seizure or pass out so you can sit down so when you do you dont kill yourself by hitting your head. Or many take medication to stop it. Get after seizure stuff ready. Etc.

You want to be made aware of something. After it's trained you generally don't ask for an alert. The dog just does it on it's own.

The alerts I need do have sensitive things to it and I edited my post as a cross post with you. Chopper generally looks at me for a second to ensure he needs to alert and I have an "all ok" command so he doesn't alert to say be rehabing or these things happen as normal life stuff. But, this was behaviors all together in a way he has never seen before as a SDiT. But the alerts as they are def needed.

Flashbacks, those are generally much more instantaneous; I’m thinking that you’d need to or want to have a conversation with any sexual partner about the possibility of those, and what they look/sound like - regardless of Chopper being there. Not so much so your partner can help you, more so they can get out of the way.

Its easier to just hide that its happening.

 

[Stephernovas]

So an odd TMI question. How do you train your service dog to not constantly back to back ale...

how did you train for the HR increase? My little girl has learned to be alerted to me taking deep breathes and/or crying. I'm in the process of making her legal, but still training as we go. She's got some quirks to workout, but overall I'm excited to see how she thrives with this