Anxiety, El Paso, PTSD, TBI, Texas, Veteran, Wounded Warrior

Welcome Wounded Warrior Ethan and SDiT Shae’mus

From our trainer Terry, in El Paso, who did an initial assessment on new client Wounded Warrior Ethan, and his SDIT, “Shae’mus”. Ethan suffers from severe PTSD, anxiety, and a TBI. Ethan’s wife wrote that since Ethan has been home, Shae’mus already seems to know there is something wrong, and helps my husband when he is sleeping if he’s having nightmares by coming and lying half his body on my Ethan. If they are out in public, Ethan has severe anxiety. Terry writes:

“I performed an assessment on 4 year-old Mastiff mix, Shae’mus for trainability and temperament. Shae’mus passed the assessment perfectly. Shae’mus has some knowledge of basic obedience commands, and executed them to a good degree of accuracy. From observation, I could detect a very strong bond between owner Ethan and Shae’mus, and the dog’s willingness to assist and please the owner. Shae’mus is a fairly large dog, and the living arrangement with another dog in a house was good, as it provided a large backyard for exercising. In addition, the owners take Shae’mus out for walks to allow him some other means to relax and exercise. Shae’mus is excellent with the children inside the home, as well as with the other dog in the family. I checked Shae’mus for any skin discoloration, scars, protruding bones, teeth decay, and any other sign that might indicate a pending health risk; there was none found. However, I did note that the Shae’mus has a slight limp, and the owners have agreed to take the dog to the vet for further observation. I would highly recommend Ethan and his dog Shae’mus for training in the Service Dog Express Program.

Mobility, Pain Management, Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS), San Antonio, Texas

Madison’s meet and greet

From our trainer, Brenda, who is working with Madison, who suffers from “POTS” (Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome), bad migraines, and a nerve condition that makes her go randomly paralyzed. Since the day she woke up and couldn’t move, she has also suffered from PTSD and anxiety.

Brenda writes:

“I met Madison and her mom, Robin, for a meet and greet with some dogs. They met Suzy, Rocky, and Rufus. Madison spent quite a bit of time with Rufus who, after getting some energy out, calmed down very well and kept going to Madison and sitting by her. He knows the verbal and hand command “sit” and seemed to like the praise even more than the treats. I could touch him all over and even pull on his ears and tail and he was not bothered. They are going to discuss it with Madison’s father, but Rufus could be the one!”

Cancer, Experience, Houston, Texas

Sia’s Story

Laurie had to share a beautiful story about a phone call she received the other day.

A beautiful, compassionate, courageous woman that I met from Houston called to say that she would like to get her white German Shepherd, “Rio”, trained as a Service Dog for her depression, anxiety, and arthritis. She told me the most beautiful story.

Her husband passed away just the beginning of May. They were soulmates. In March, he started losing weight rapidly and his blood sugars started fluctuating. Previously, they had been very adventurous – hiking, sailing, taking cruises – everything – and they are in their late 60s. They had even just returned from a trip to Hawaii, and were ready to settle down, retire, and enjoy their lives.

They took Sia’s husband, Gordon, to the doctor, and he was immediately sent to MD Anderson with the diagnosis of pancreatic cancer. Gordon was British, and had a wonderful sense of humor, but also was reserved when he started feeling ill – not telling anyone. But their amazing dog, Rio, knew something was wrong. When Gordon stopped eating, Rio stopped eating.

Sia realized that Rio needed to be with Gordon. So she brought him to MD Anderson to visit Gordon. Below is the picture of the visit. Immediately, Gordon’s spirits were lifted, as were Rio’s. Sia spent every day with Gordon in the the two months he was hospitalized – until the day he finally passed away. The staff at MD Anderson were so amazed by Rio’s gentle, loving, healing nature, that they asked Sia if she would consider bringing Rio in some day to visit the children in the cancer ward.

It all happened so suddenly, but Sia had so much family support as they had 9 children combined.

Now, she has decided she needs some time alone with her and Sia. She would like Sia, who is 5, to become her Service Dog to help with her depression, anxiety, and arthritis. Of course, we will help train Sia. But I had to share this beautiful story of love – between a husband and wife, and the love between a dog and his person.

God bless you, Sia. Gordon, rest in true peace.

El Paso, Experience, Texas

Welcome to Stephanie & Black Wolf

From our wonderful trainer, Terry, in El Paso, who did an initial assessment and session with Stephanie and her Husky mix, “Black Wolf”.

“Good Day to All,

I provided an assessment for trainability and temperament for “Black Wolf”, who is 1 1/2 years old, located in El Paso, TX. A temperament test was performed on Black Wolf and he passed with no issues to record. Black Wolf has limited knowledge of basic obedience commends. From my observations, I did detect a very strong bond between Stephanie and her SDIT. The dog has a willingness to assist, eagerness to learn, and desire to please his owner. This is a fairly large dog, and the living arrangement with other dogs in an apartment gave me some concern. However, they have areas where the dogs can run and play in a safe environment, while also socializing with other dogs in the complex. I checked the dog for any skin discoloration, scars, protruding bones, teeth decay, and any other sign that might indicate a pending health risk, and none was found. I would highly recommend Stephanie and her dog Black Wolf for training in the Service Dog Express Program.

Kindest regards

Terry”

Depression, El Paso, Military, PTSD, TBI, Texas, Veteran, Wounded Warrior

Wounded Warrior Rudy and SDiT Jenny = Part II

From our trainer, Terry, in El Paso, who is working with Wounded Warrior Rudy, and his SDIT, Jenny.

“Good day to all,

Another good training session with Rudy and SDIT, Jenny. This time, we went to one of our largest shopping centers “Cielo Vista Mall”. Here, we practiced entering and exiting the elevator, avoiding noise distractions, socializing with other people as well as children, and last – food distraction! In all tests, Rudy and Jenny did very well with no problems. If you train hard, you should enjoy the fruits of your labor, so we engaged ourselves with our spouses in a little socializing as well! Shortly, Rudy and Jenny will be taking their Public Access Test! Well done, team!”

Depression, El Paso, Military, PTSD, TBI, Texas, Veteran, Wounded Warrior

Wounded Warrior Rudy and SDiT Jenny

From our super trainer, Terry, who is in El Paso, and is working with Rudy, who is a Wounded Warrior suffering from PTSD, TBI, Depression, hyper-vigilance, sleep apnea, and nightmares, and his SDIT, “Jenny”.

Terry writes:

“We had a great outing and exposure to the mall, and all of its many distractions! Rudy and Jenny did exceptionally well on their first outing in the mall. We practiced and mastered the proper procedures of entering and exiting the mall, as it has double doors, and requires some skill level to get in and out successfully. We visited a couple of stores; some crowed with people, some crowed with merchandise, some empty with people, merchandise, and some with confined space for maneuvering. Rudy and Jenny performed exceptionally well in all situations presented!! We also made use of the elevator, and again, both parties performed so well! What a wonderful outing!”

Anxiety, Depression, PTSD, San Antonio, Texas

CONGRATS TO FRANK AND SD NICHOLS

From our brilliant trainer Pat, who performed the Public Access Test with Wounded Warrior Frank, and his now Service Dog, Springer Spaniel Mix, “Nichols”! CONGRATULATIONS TO FRANK AND NICHOLS!!! Frank suffers from anxiety, depression, and PTSD.

Pat writes:

“Frank, Nichols and I performed the Public Access Test at crowded HEB! CONTROLLED UNLOAD OUT OF VEHICLE was fine, but Nichols got a bit distracted when another dog was walked past. APPROACHING THE BUILDING was perfect, as was CONTROLLED ENTRY THROUGH A DOORWAY. HEELING THROUGH THE BUILDING was mostly perfect, but Nichols had a bit of a struggle readily adjusting to speed changes. SIX FOOT RECALL ON LEAD was brilliant, and SITS ON COMMAND was just fine. Nichols took a few prompts to “sit” with all the distractions, but he eventually got it down, with the same responses to DOWNS ON COMMAND. NOISE DISTRACTIONS were not a problem at all for Nichols, and he performed wonderfully in the restaurant. OFF LEAD work, DOG TAKEN BY ANOTHER PERSON, CONTROLLED EXIT, and CONTROLLED LOAD INTO VEHICLE were flawless. I encouraged Frank to praise Nichols a bit more when he did his commands well.”

WELL DONE, PAT AND TEAM!!!!

Military, PTSD, San Antonio, TBI, Texas, Veteran, Wounded Warrior

CONGRATS TO WOUNDED WARRIOR DONNY & MAX

CONGRATULATIONS TO WOUNDED WARRIOR DONNY, AND HIS NOW SERVICE DOG, BRILLIANT AND BEAUTIFUL SHARPEI-GREAT DANE MIX, “MAX”!!

Donny is an amazingly dedicated, confident dog handler who suffers from PTSD and TBI. He has done so much work with Max on his own, based upon his years of training his own personal dogs. From the first time I met them, I was already blown away by how much work he had done with Max. Donny followed all the training steps in the manual, and added his own training, which just enhanced Max’s already incredible abilities.

We took the Public Access Test at my favorite place to do them – the Bass Pro Shop. By now, I know just about every worker in the store – and they always greet each dog and handler with such compassion and kindness. They know to ask before petting, and all of them willingly participate in parts of the Public Access Test that require interactions with strangers.

We started from “unload”, then went to “controlled entry” (Max wasn’t even fazed by the rolling bars that let you in). We went all over the store, as I followed behind and let Donny know each command I had to see them do. Max scored an “Always” on every single part of the test. He adores children, and was gentle with each one that wanted to greet him as he stayed in a “sit” position. He was the same with male and female adults. I always add in some “extras” to the test, like showing Donny proper elevator entrance and exit with a Service Dog (Max loved the glass windows where he could see all the fish). We did fast heeling and slow heeling around corners and clothes racks, and when we did the “drop leash” command, Max stayed in a perfect heel far beyond what he was required to do! Donny and Max spend all their time together, so there is no doubt about how strong their bond is. Max loved the fish pond, and it was hilarious to see how he constantly cocked his head from side to side while watching the catfish swimming around! He didn’t attempt to jump in the pond, but I bet he would have loved to!

There were SO many people, including workers, who came up to us to express how beautiful Max was – and because he was so well-behaved, they asked for pointers for their own dogs! If the conversation went on a little bit too long, Max just laid down and rested. Max was SO intrigued by all the stuffed wild game they have there – Donny lives in an area where there are always deer in the front yard and even a small fox that visits – so Max would go right up to the huge stuffed deer and elk, sniff them, then look at Donny as if he was saying, “I don’t get it, dad – this LOOKS like a real animal, but it sure doesn’t smell like one!” Max’s face is so full of expression like that. Max didn’t really like the stuffed monkeys, because they are a bit scary looking, so when we went up to them, he did a back “cover” behind Donny as if he was saying “OK, that really freaks me out dad!”

We practiced slow walking on many of the different stair surfaces they have – “step, wait, step, wait”, and Max was perfect on each surface. He could sit/stay and down/stay with ease for as long as Donny wanted him to. Max was not fazed by shopping cars, people in motorized wheelchairs, crying babies (Max actually seems to really want to gravitate toward them as if to comfort them. There was even someone in the store with a very hyper puppy – and both the handler and Donny were hesitant to get them close – but I knew Max’s personality and told them to just relax and let the two dogs try and do a proper meet and greet – and they did! Max was gentle, and the little puppy quickly calmed down and they did the perfect “sniffing” pattern and became fast friends.

I am so, so very proud of this team. Donny said that Max always knows when Donny is having a difficult day, and comes to him instantly to give him comfort. Max’s recall is also profoundly good.

Well done, Donny and Max!!!!

P.S. – Check out Donny’s new Camaro!! A young couple visiting from Italy even came up to Donny and said, “How much for that Camaro? We’ll pay cash right now!” We all laughed and Max stuck his head out and said “No way, people – this is MY fancy car!”

Anxiety, El Paso, Texas

Nick and Hershel

From our trainer Terry, in El Paso, who is working with Nick, who suffers from extreme anxiety, and his SDIT, American Staffordshire Terrier, “Hershel”.

Terry writes:

A good example of Nick and Hershel performing the Controlled Load and Unloading of a vehicle. Nick and Hershel also performed quite well in Controlled Entry Through the Building. Nick & Hershel are a fun team to work with – I always look forward to their training sessions!

Experience, San Antonio, Texas

Noelle and her SDIT Hazel

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Our lovely trainer Brenda had a session with Noelle and her SDIT, “Hazel”. She writes:

“Noelle, Hazel and I met at HEB to work on distractions in public. We walked around the store and stopped to look at things to make Hazel sit and be patient. She did well walking around, mostly heeling and not pulling, and paid no attention to people or carts. She was, however, very distracted by food on the floor. It was a little struggle getting her to sit, but once she did, she stayed put. She did stop every time Noelle stopped. We stopped to sit at a bench outside to have Hazel “down/stay”. That was harder to get her to do, but again, once she was down. she mostly stayed down. Noelle said she minds better at home, doing the commands when they are first given, so I think she needs to do more work out in public. Noelle is going to get some “Pet Corrector” to try and get her attention back faster, and is going to take her out more often, especially to places that Hazel needs to sit or stay and relax to desensitized her and make sure she is ready to take to school next year.”