From our trainer, Cherry, who is working with Wounded Warrior, Cody, and his SDIT, Mastiff/Labrador mix, “Zeus”. Cody suffers from PTSD and multiple TBIs. Zeus was adopted from Cherry’s rescue, In Dog We Trust.
Cherry writes:
“It was super special to train with Cody, who adopted amazing Zeus. Zeus knew me when we first saw each other after Cody had bonded with him for a while, and wagged his tail, but wasn’t over excited. This gave me mixed feelings because on the one hand, I feel sad that the dog I rescued and worked so hard with really wasn’t that bothered to see me again, but on the other hand, it’s so nice to know that the bond is so strong with the new owner that the dog has “moved on”. It was clear to see that strong bond with Zeus and his owner, Cody, and far more important.
Our session was about heeling. which Zeus did perfectly, and as one can see by the photo, performs beautiful covers by leaning right in to Cody’s legs. Zeus’ “sit” and “down” were perfect – so Cody has been doing his homework! The next thing to teach Zeus is “stay”. He does a good stay in the sit position, but his down/stay needs work.
We walked past busy aisles, crowds and noisy children and Zeus just ignored them all – keeping a steady pace next to Cody. At one point during the session, a man walked up to us and reached out his hand to Cody to thank him for his service. Cody smiled and shook his hand, as we walked away he said to me quietly, “I wish people wouldn’t do that. It triggers my anxiety.”
This is an excellent point that Cody raised. We all want to thank our brave men and women, but they have a Service Dog for a reason. In many cases, that reason is PTSD, and a simple gesture like suddenly coming up to the Wounded Warrior can trigger it. My advice to anyone wanting to thank the men and women, is to nod and smile first; the client’s body language will let you know if they welcome an approach. If the client does, the person approaching must step forward slowly; a sudden appearance of a person with an outstretched hand can startle some.
I left Cody with some homework to practice the Down and Stay and asked him if I could pet Zeus; I couldn’t resist a snuggle on his gorgeous face! :)”
Charlotte was diagnosed with Ankylosing Spondylitis at the tender age of 12. Is an inflammatory disease that can cause some of the vertebrae in your spine to fuse together. This fusing makes the spine less flexible and can result in a hunched-forward posture. Charlotte’s started in her hips, and has had increasing limited mobility in her spine due to AS. She also started developing seizures, and periods where she is very dizzy and loses her sight. She also experiences migraines about twice per week. These are all common in patients with AS. Ankylosing spondylitis has no known specific cause, though genetic factors seem to be involved. In particular, people who have a gene called HLA-B27 are at significantly increased risk of developing AS. Charlotte’s neurologist started her many months ago on a prescription medication especially for AS, but it can also cause side effects that often mimic problems directly from AS. Unfortunately, the medication did exacerbate all of Charlotte’s symptoms – the seizures, sight problems, dizziness – so now, she is off the medication, but it takes up to a year to get out of her system completely. At that point, any damage that has been done usually goes away – but there is a SMALL possibility that the damage from the drug might be permanent. I told Charlotte she will NOT be one of those who is affected permanently! Positive outlook always!!!! Her wonderful mother, Amy, is dedicated to following through with all Charlotte’s doctors looking for an answer and hoping for recovery – which I believe will happen just because Charlotte’s positivity and her dedication to keep moving and trying is the first step!!
Charlotte is a beautiful, gentle, kind, and always cheerful (at least when I see her, her mom says) young lady, who has an incredibly wonderful bond with her now Service Dog, Dakota – a lab mix. Charlotte currently uses a walker with a seat to help her keep stablized, and so that she can sit when she starts to get dizzy or tired. But she has pushed through every training session no matter how she is feeling – and Dakota has learned to do everything she needs to to help them pass the Public Access Test!
Dakota is wonderful at restaurants – one time they were seated right next to the kitchen door where waiters were constantly going by – and she stays in perfect position! One thing I wanted to work hard on that is not on the test is having Dakota walk up and down the stairs with Charlotte, because at home, Charlotte has to use whatever she can to stabilize her as she moves, and she has to come down the stairs backward so she doesn’t fall forward. So I first walked Dakota VERY slowly up the stairs with one hand on the railing – step, wait, step, wait – and Dakota stayed near my leg and patiently walked up the stairs. Then, we did the same coming down the stairs backward – step, wait, step, wait – trying to keep Dakota as close to my leg but not getting in the way so I could possibly trip over her. Then Charlotte practiced this, and they did so well!! They will continue to work on this at home, so that eventually, Dakota will act as a counterbalance next to Charlotte’s leg as she also holds onto the rail.
n one remarkable twist of fate, when we were getting off the elevator, we met a Wounded Warrior who had the same type of walker as Charlotte. He had suffered severe TBIs and had 3 brain surgeries. The woman that was with him saw how his eyes lit up when he saw Charlotte and Dakota together, and the woman with him told us how much he would love a Service Dog – but that he had been told by another organization he was not eligible because he had a walker! We talked extensively to them about this, and although he had difficulty speaking, he was able to communicate how much he would love to have a Service Dog, especially one that was as hypoallergenic as possible, and he was able to speak some slow but clear sentences. The woman with him said that this was the most clearly she had heard him speak for a long time! He was so gentle and smiled so much petting Dakota. It was a truly beautiful moment. They happened to be going to a meeting for Wounded Warriors on the top floor of the Bass Pro Shop, and the woman asked for as many business cards as I could give her so that she could talk about what she witnessed with Charlotte to the other Wounded Warriors!
Ethan suffered from severe PTSD, anxiety, and TBI while on active duty. Trainer Terry in El Paso, who has been doing amazing training with Ethan and Shae’mus, wrote the following:
I initially went to their home to help train Natalie’s father’s little buddy to help with hearing as a Service Dog. But he saw how much Natalie was suffering just walking, and he suggested we focus on training Pearl, a gorgeous, gentle, and extremely intelligent Yellow Labrador for mobility for Natalie. I asked him many times if that was what he wanted – but he wanted his daughter taken care of first. Just beautiful people.
After only two sessions, Pearl can “sit”, “down”, “sit/stay”, “down/stay”, “leave it”, “meet and greet”, “navigate through tight corners with Natalie’s walker”, walk in a perfect “heel” next to a shopping cart, will “leave” snacks set down before her when told to, “let another person take her as she heels”, do beautiful “meet and greets” with any other dog and remain completely non-reactive – it’s just amazing. I am so proud of both of them. The key to this amazing work is undoubtedly the love Pearl feels from Natalie. That’s the thing about rescue dogs – they are so grateful to have been saved – and if given the proper amount of bonding time and unconditional love, they will give back tenfold. That’s Pearl and Natalie.
Here are some pictures. I didn’t have my camera on me at the last session, but Natalie’s dad took some pictures yesterday with his shaky hands of the two of them – so although they are blurry, you can see the love. That’s all that matters.
“Regina and I worked on desensitizing Baby to other animals in Petsmart, including other dogs, cats, birds and small mammals. We purposely encountered dogs that were not friendly, and taught Baby to ignore them and continue working/walking. She is getting better at that, but we will still need t