CONGRATULATIONS TO WOUNDED WARRIOR DON AND HIS NOW SERVICE DOG, HERMAN!!!! THEY PASSED THEIR PUBLIC ACCESS TEST!!!! Don is a Wounded Warrior who suffers from PTSD and Depression, but also does amazing volunteer work at the hospital, church, or Police Department. Now, he and Herman can not only help each other, but will go on to offer comfort to others!
Trainer Andrew writes:
During this first section of the Public Access Test, we went to New Braunfels Feed and Seed, where we went through the test. Both Don and Herman did a wonderful job! We discovered that Don needs to communicate a little more with Herman, and Herman needs to be work a little more on focusing on Don around groups of people; but this is very minor, as Herman just wants to say hello!
Next, we worked special tasks that Don needs for Herman to provide for him. Herman has a habit of putting his paw on Don’s leg when he wants attention, so we turned that habit into something useful by teaching Herman to do that with the command “touch” when Don was feeling anxious or depressed. After that, we brought in the specific ringtone that Don has on his phone which, although it is very loud, Don still has trouble hearing. We taught Herman to alert Don when the phone starts to ring. Next, we worked on teaching Herman to hold things in his mouth, which is the beginning of our work to teach him to fetch items and hold a specific object at the door to help remind Don if he has forgotten anything.
