Service dog rollercoaster

[shadowchaser]

The local group in my area works mostly with psychiatric service dogs.

 

[popeye]

Well today was my first full day working with Abby. We started out with her waking me up by licking me silly. She even pulled the blanket off of me a little. So off to potty we went and she did her thing while I got coffee started. She came in and ate while I had coffee and the girls had breakfast. The girls finished breakfast and went off to watch cartoons. Abby sat by my feet getting a massage when I got my second cup. She got up and whined at the door so out for potty again. We finished with that and off to the gas station for cigarettes and transmission fluid for the truck.

She wasn't even fully awake I think because we were at the gas station by 8:30 am. But she did perfectly she even waited patiently as I fussed over which fluid to get. It was a quick stop but the Gas station owner who is the guy that let me put a collection jar out to help pay for the training was there and he was totally surprised when I walked up to the counter with her. She said she was very pretty and that it was strange to see me without some person with me.

Well then we came home to relax a bit before going back out to shop for christmas. We had a tea party with the girls and Abby even got a cup of tea. And she wore a crown.

Around 11 AM or so Abby and I had to get to walmart because online it said they had my son's present there. When I arrived at walmart they kind of gave me a hard time, asked for my card and wanted to know if I would be frequenting the store because if so they wanted to educate the employees on how to act around her. Anyway She was a perfect angel and we went shopping without any problems.

Well walmart ended up not having the gift i was looking for so we went to target in hopes it might be there. Target was a very busy place. Almost every isle had someone in it. I got a lot of strange looks there but no one bothered us and we did find the gift.

Then we came home and relaxed again. We even had venison for dinner and Mikayla dropped her plate and Abby didn't even move.

Around 9 tonight we realized we were out of milk and bread for lunches so we made a short list of things to buy and off Abby and I went again. Pick'n'Save was pretty empty and even with me being a bit tired and scatter brained Abby worked out well. When we got to the register though and had all the food rung up we hit a snag. I didn't have the food stamp card. Melissa had it. I was so embarrassed and i was starting to panic. They told me i could come back with the card if it would only be a little while. I had to go home and get it and come back. by the time I came back the panic started and Abby kept looking at me as if to ask what was wrong. We paid for the food and went to the car where i was starting to shake. Abby sat in passenger seat and kept licking me and I hugged her to kinda calm down. she continued licking my hand all the way home.

So She did her job keeping me calm and more relaxed and for the first time in a long time I didn't have to take a pill to calm down.

 

[shadowchaser]

Congratulations! You two sound like an awesome team. If you ever have Walmart problems again call the manager and talk to them. The one in my area has a service dogs welcome sign because of the local group. It was suposed to be a us change not just local.

 

[amethist]

Wow popeye, she showed she is as intelligent as she looks in the pics. Well done both of you.

If you ever have any major problems in any Walmart stores, just right to the top man of the company. He is a nice guy, my husband met him once when he was here in the UK, he is very customer orientated and has a wicked sense of humour.

Amethist

 

[Grama-Herc]

Congrats on your new "friend". Sound like patience and knowledge has paid off for you. So, let me ask the stupid question first. Can a cat be trained to be a service animal? Reasoning says no, however; Hercules has been out in public most of his life visiting an assisted living facility, until he put on to much weight for the elderly to handle him. They use to pass him around like a new baby ! ! We have a bond like I've never seen between a cat and his person. So was just wondering if you had any info on this.

Blessings to you and yours and Abbey too!!!!

 

[shadowchaser]

Starting 2011the ada is restricting the tital of service animal to dogs. Cats can still receive rights as medical companion but not the public access rights of a service animal. So in the USA no. Anywhere else I don't know.

 

[popeye]

Shadowchaser is right. In 2011 the rules are changing. I am unclear about whether or not the existing service cats will be grandfathered in though. I mean I have even seen in photos a service pony. Still not sure what the pony does but I have seen it. And i think people have kind of came to abuse the law about service animals. Basically anyone could put a vest on a dog and call it a service dog. And if things don't change and people don't stop abusing the law they will become more strict with the law and make it harder for the people that need a service dog. I am not sure if a cat could be used as a therapy animal though. Therapy and service animals are 2 distinctly different things. Therapy animals don't have public access rights like service animals. But therapy animals are allowed into hospitals and retirement homes mainly just for companionship.

I am not very well versed on therapy animals but i did have personal experience with them at the psych ward. While I was in the second time they had a therapy poodle come in with her friend the retired greyhound. They were perfect animals for me at the time. I was not in a good place mentally and somehow they touched me and helped me feel just a little better. 3 days later i was released from the hospital and i started my path to get a service dog.

 

[shadowchaser]

Existing will be allow as long as they received certification from a recognized program, facility, school, or organization before the first of the year. Therapy animal regulations have not changed nor has companion animal regulations.

 

[AdamAnt]

Wow. Fantastic that now, because of Abby you can go out without a human accompanying! That is a major, major quality of life improvement! Merry Christmas guy!

At the end when you were panicking and she was licking your hand all the way home...was she trained to do that to keep you from dissociating?

 

[popeye]

She wasn't trained to do that. She was trained to do it during a flashback where her cue is when I put my hands over my ears she is supposed to basically tackle me and lick me until I focus on her. She was also trained to paw my leg when I feel stressed as an excuse to get me out of the situation. Plus something she was also trained to do is to wake me up in the morning to the sound of my alarm. She basically jumps on me and pulls off the covers and things to get me moving. I have to take a sleeping pill and it's impossible to wake up otherwise.

Anyway back to the question, she wasn't trained to do that. She is just very observant and understanding that her job is to help me. She is much smarter than she looks. I also just kept my hand near her on the way home. She sure did her job.

 

[Unhinged]

That is amazing Popeye, I'm so happy for you and Abby! She sounds wonderful. I read somewhere before about Walmart being horrible with service animals. I want to say that they are not allowed to ask for any paperwork, only allowed to ask "is this a service animal?"

It is just so wonderful to see how far the two of you have come! Hope you both have a very merry Christmas.

 

[Unhinged]

I found the settlement page between the ADA and Walmart. It is at: www.ada.gov/walmart.htm if anyone in interested in reading up on it or having problems. Toward the end of the article it has a letter about service animals and states that a greeter or manager can only ask you one question, that being "Is this a service animal required because of a disability?" I had looked for this before when I first started thinking about getting a dog myself because I frequent the Walmart here and had heard bad things in the past.

Hope you and Abby have many more fun adventures together.