Anxiety, Epilepsy, Experience, San Antonio, Texas

CONGRATS to Candice and Trenton

From our trainer, Cherry, who has been working with Candice, who suffers from epilepsy and anxiety, and her now Service Dog, Trenton!!

“Huge congratulations to Candice and her little Corgi mix Trenton, who passed their Public Access Test!

Candice has worked very hard with Trenton, who in the beginning was anxious of big stores and busy places – but now he confidently goes with Candice everywhere!

Trenton has alerted Candice over nine times in the past couple of months to her seizures!

Off leash, load, unload, sit and stay, down and stay, wait, leave it, positioning in a restaurant and heeling were all done extremely well!!

Candice and her family are off on vacation soon, and she told me how happy she is that she will be taking with her Trenton, her Public Access Tested Service dog!

Candice’s dedication to training her beloved Trenton has truly paid off. She told me as we were leaving the store how excited she is to take off the ‘In Training’ badge and sew on her Service Dog patch!

And so she should be, she deserves it!

Anxiety, Equipment, Experience, Fibromyalgia, Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS), Self Training, Virginia

Catt and Baron

From our dear trainer, Catherine, in Virginia – and update on her own Service Dog, beautiful Baron!!!

BARON UPDATE

Service Dog Express's photo.

My Service Dog, Baron, is nearly 11 months old now, and after much debate with myself about when was the appropriate time to neuter him, I decided to

do it as soon as possible. He was neutered last week. I was an absolute disaster the day he was there; my childhood dog passed away during a routine surgery years ago, so I just was so worried about Baron.

I have discovered I am a very overprotective momma when it comes to Baron. Ever since my wonderful dog, Duke, recently died of a very aggressive brain tumor at such a young age (2), I worry (sometimes a little too much LOL) over Baron. At not even a year old, the vet receptionists all know my phone number when it pops up on their incoming calls! But he’s perfectly healthy!

Baron and I have continued our training since he passed his Public Access Test some time ago, and the number of commands he knows is astonishing to me. We’ve been invited to speak again to some of the Companion Animal classes here at Virginia Tech and I’m very excited about that!

Baron has helped me so much through my struggles with my health. As you may remember, I have chronic Lyme disease as well as a couple co-infections. I’ve had my PICC line in for about 3 months now – I believe it’s getting removed in a week or so – and have been on a lot of medications. I’m FINALLY starting to feel better!!! So thank goodness for that. One thing that has come up through all this is that I was originally diagnosed with POTS (Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome or Dysautonomia) after doctors examined me, because I had a lot of instances where I would be totally fine and then I would fall over unconscious. Baron alerts to it! So, since I’ve had him, I’ve been able to either leave class or sit down so that when I drop, it’s not in a public or dangerous situation. In the last month or so there has been some debate on if I actually have POTS or if these are mini drop seizures. Still debating that, but either way Baron keeps me very safe from them!

So now on to list the massive number of commands he knows:

– Sit/Stay
– Down/Stay
– Here (our version of Come)
– Heeling – both on and off leash
– Load Up
– Let’s Go – getting out of the car
– Drop – drop it
– Cover – front and back
– Get It – pick up and bring whatever I point at (literally anything, including a piece of bacon I made him retrieve without eating…I’m a meanie I know)
– Under – going under table, chair, etc.
– Focus – eye contact
– Interrupting anxious behaviors
– Waking me up from night terrors
– Alerting to my “drop episodes”
– Pull – helping me up stairs or hills
– Lay – deep pressure therapy
– Place – go to your bed
– Tug – open pull doors/cabinets or pulling doors closed
– Close It – closing doors/cabinets
– Light – turning lights on (we haven’t learned turning them off yet)
– Push – pushing button for elevator or handicap door
– Get _____ – he knows the difference between Phone, Book, Meds, Keys, Leash
– Hold – he likes to carry things for me LOL like grocery lists. He’ll just carry it around wherever we go
– Back Up – backwards heel
– Out – get out of whatever room he’s currently in
– Put it – point at table or wherever and he’ll put his object on it
– Take it to ____ – heknows me and my mom so far
– Shake
– Rollover – by far his favorite command ever; if I’m trying to teach him something new and he doesn’t know what I’m asking he just rolls over!
– Around – run around me in a circle
– Bang – play dead

As you can see, there are a LOT of commands LOL! He loves to learn new things though and he is such an absolute joy to train. There are of course some fun commands in there, too, because he has to have something to show off to the kids we speak to.  Anyways, that is my update! I’ll attach some pictures of Baron too! In one of them he is wearing his “doggy pajamas”. Yup you read that right!! Baron blew out his entire undercoat in November and didn’t grow one back…he’s odd – what can I say. He’s a shorter-haired Golden Retriever and he also has very thin hair. So he gets cold – he has 3 pairs of doggy pajamas (I only have pictures of the one) that he has to wear some days when it’s below a certain temperature. Otherwise, he refuses to go outside and if I force him out, his teeth chatter and he shivers. I think he’s actually a giant chihuahua, but that’s just me LOL.

Catt & Baron

 

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

Update from Ryan and Carl

An update from Wounded Warrior, Ryan, who was matched with SDIT, Carl! They went on a 3 day trip to a convention, and are staying at a nice hotel. Lots of time for bonding! We will do our first session in public at Bass Pro Shop when Ryan gets back. It’s a great place to expose Service Dogs to all kinds of distractions, especially the glass elevator. Ryan wrote:

“Carl loves the hotel! He just doesn’t like the elevator very much – but he is doing great so far! I hugged Carl on the elevator and reassured him that it was OK”.

I can’t wait to hear how the convention went – huge crowds for a Wounded Warrior with PTSD and TBI and a new SDIT – overwhelming, but hopefully having Carl there should help Ryan refocus and be more calm.

Anxiety, Experience, Texas

KayCee and Charlie’s Video

A wonderful update from our past client, KayCee, who suffered with anxiety, and her Service Dog, Charlie!! She writes:

Hi, Laurie! Today it has officially been one year since Charlie and I met and he came to live with us! He has done a great job for me so far, and he will keep doing so until his replacement is old enough to take his place (she’s only 7 months old right now.) Anyways, I made a video of all of our memories and photos of him throughout this past year and I thought you might be interested to see some of how he’s doing.

Much Love,
KayCee and Charlie

What a beautiful video tribute to her journey with Charlie!!!! Try to fast forward to the wonderful pictures of KayCee and Charlie, Charlie with KayCee’s mom, etc. The ones of them together are beautiful. The music is perfect!!!

Cancer, Medical Alert, Panic Attack, PTSD, Self Training, Texas

Update from Inuko

From our dear, dear Inuko who is battling cancer. Luckily, her Service Dog Gadget loves her so very much. We are so indebted to her for continuing to share her battles with us – but she is never alone. We love you, Inuko and Gadget! Keep up the laughter!!!

“Last night was another bad night. I had another one of my infamous headaches and was curled up on the bed, exhausted… But Gadget never left my side. When I was frightened from the pain, I curled up around my girl and her breathing calmed me. Its strange, looking back at it… When did this puppy capture my heart so completely? When did she become such an intricate part of who I am? My day wouldn’t be complete without snuggles from my Gadget. She has helped me immensely. My PTSD is still bad, and I am still very sick, but I am surrounded by the ones that love me.

I am also attaching some pictures from our outing to Petco today. We were being goofballs, and Gadget sat there, wagging her tail and making us all laugh. Its so nice to laugh! So I thought I would share my laughter with my SDE family! I hope it helps your day get better. It sure helped me.

With all my love,
Rain (Inuko)

Anxiety, Bipolar, Depression, Equipment, Houston, Texas

Elisa and her SDIT, “CB”.

From our dear trainer, Kendra, in Houston, with Elisa and her SDIT, “CB”. Elisa suffers from bipolar disorder, anxiety, and depression. Kendra writes:

I met Elisa at her house for the initial evaluation. At first, CB was shy; she was hiding behind Elisa when I came in the door. I had a treat in my hand and she would not take it. So Elisa and I sat down and talked about what she wanted a Service Dog to perform for her and more about the process.

After being there awhile, CB warmed up to me and I was able to do the evaluation. CB has already finished basic obedience at the Pet Store, so she knows “sit”, “lay (down)”, “off”, “leave it”, and loose-leash walking. I was able to handle CB with little problems. She is treat motivated, and has a strong bond with Elisa. We went outside to see how CB did outside of the home, and CB was much more outgoing when she was away from the other dog that’s in the home. I asked Elisa to work on getting CB to focus on her when out for walks by stopping at times and having CB do a “watch me”. The homework for Elisa and CB is to practice “watch me”, “sitting at the door” to go out, and socialization. We also talked about shedding, as CB sheds very badly. In one of these pictures, Elisa was having an anxiety attack and CB was comforting her!”

Anxiety, PTSD, San Antonio

Kathy and SDiT Olla

From our trainer, Andrew, who is working with Kathy, who suffers from PTSD and anxiety, and her SDIT, Olla.

Kathy and I met at the Lowe’s close by her house, and proceeded to work on practicing for the Public Access Test. We made it all the way through, but Olla has some focus and listening issues that still need to be addressed. So, we went over them and we practiced the focus exercises that I have given them. They scored about a 78% on the test. So, perhaps in a week or so at our next session, the team will pass! They have done a wonderful job so far!!

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

Wounded Warrior James and Sadie

From Wounded Warrior James, who is still active duty but suffers from PTSD and TBI – he was paired with Sadie! James writes:

Hi Laurie!

Sadie is such an awesome dog and companion! I take her with me everywhere and she relieves a lot of stress for me! She is doing great and plays all day with Colby when I get home! She is soooooo funny! Whenever I try to go to bed she beats me there and jumps into my spot and just looks at me like “where are you gonna sleep???”

SO HAPPY FOR YOU JAMES AND SADIE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Anxiety, San Antonio, Texas

CONGRATULATIONS TO LINDA & SERVICE DOG, SNOOKIE

CONGRATULATIONS TO LINDA AND HER NOW SERVICE DOG, SNOOKIE!!!!! From trainer, Cherry:

Huge congratulations to Linda, who with her now Service Dog, Chinook (they lovingly call Snookie) passed their Public Access Test today!

This awesome little dog performed perfectly in all areas; just look at how he focuses on his mother’s face when off leash and still walking right beside her. In the restaurant, Snookie did wonderfully, and was happy just to doze off under the table. He waited patiently for Linda’s command to exit his kennel in the car, and stayed in a perfect heel around the store. His “sits”, “downs”, and “stays” were excellent, and I was very proud to announce they had passed with flying colors!

Snookie has three specialized tasks: “cover”, “watch me”, and “check behind”. Linda likes Snookie to look behind her when they are walking which makes her feel safe and more secure.

Linda’s anxiety is so much better since shes been training lil Snookie, and told me that having a Service Dog has been invaluable to her. I am so pleased for her, and her devotion to training has truly paid off!

Anxiety, Bipolar, San Antonio, Texas

Candice and Trenton

From our wonderful trainer, Cherry, who is working with Candice, who has Bi-polar disorder and anxiety, and her SDIT, Trenton.

I had a great session yesterday with Candice and her SDIT, Trenton. Trenton is a Corgi-Lab mix, and can certainly have his.. “I’m a Corgi” days. But Candice has kept consistent with training, and didn’t let Trenton have his way – and the results show for themselves.
At first, Trenton refused to walk next to the shopping cart, this is very natural for many dogs.. I mean who wants to walk along with this big wire thing in their face? But I showed Candice the importance of keeping a short leash; the less leash the less room he has to move out from position. Trenton soon got the hang of it and was walking next to the cart like a pro!

Trenton’s off-leash work was very good as seen here in the pictures. He wasn’t tempted to walk away and kept by Candice. The gap needs shortening, as we’re looking for a neater heel off-leash – but Candice says she’s going to work on that. Trenton’s “sits”, “downs”, and “stays” were flawless!