Category Archives: Anxiety

Anxiety, Bipolar, PTSD, San Antonio, Texas

Carol and SDIT Kensi

From trainer Andrew, who is working with Carol and her SDIT, Kensi:

“Kensi and Carol are inching their way ever closer to to Public Access Test, and we are just continually reinforcing our out in public behaviors. This session took place at a dog park near Selma. Since it is right next to the highway, Kensi seemed a little put off by it so she didn’t perform as well as expected, and to make matters worse a garbage truck pulled up next to the fence and made so much noise that poor Kensi got scared and cowered a little; but we calmed her down quickly and walked around, helping her learn that loud noises and distractions can still be safe. We went inside to an agility course and Kensi seemed to do a little better once distracted from the garbage monster! We also worked on our leashing behaviors and sit/stay and wait/stay.”

Anxiety, Mobility, San Antonio, Texas

Nancy and SDiT STELLA!!

From our dear trainer, Cherry Jenkins, with In Dog We Trust rescue, who is training with Nancy and her SDIT, Stella! Nancy struggles with mobility issues, vertigo, and anxiety.

“I had a wonderful training session today with Nancy and her SDIT Stella! Its always nice when I see clients that have done their homework and topped up on training – and it was very clear that Nancy had been working hard with stunning Stella!

We have done sessions at home and in a supermarket setting, so today was getting Stella used to being in a restaurant. She laid down beautifully next to Nancy and while the table legs prevented her from going right under, she was able to tuck herself in close. Nancy’s homework of not allowing Stella to beg at the table at home paid off because Stella knew to lay quiet and ignore the food on the table.

Dedication like this to one’s service dog in training means the PAT will not be far away for these two!

WONDERFUL WORK, CHERRY, NANCY, AND STUNNING STELLA!!!

Anxiety, El Paso, Military, New Mexico, PTSD, TBI, Texas, Veteran, Wounded Warrior

Look whose adopted beautiful Nelly!

Look whose adopted beautiful Nelly! Nelly was rescued and fostered by Cherry Jenkins of In Dog We Trust!! Jason traveled all the way from El Paso to meet Nelly! Our trainer, Michelle, in New Mexico, will be training him.

Jason is a Wounded Warrior who served for 12 years. He suffers from PTSD, TBI, frequent migraines, flashbacks, night terrors, and anxiety. Let’s hope wonderful Nelly will be his best companion to help him as a Service Dog for all his troubles!!!

Anxiety, Dallas-Fort Worth, Experience, Texas, Tourette's Syndrome

Training at Trenton’s elementary school

From our wonderful trainer, Candace, in Fort Worth, who went above and beyond training Trenton and Priddy to pass the PAT!!!

“Today I spent five hours at Trenton’s elementary school. What an incredible day! Priddy, who passed her Public Access Test the previous weekend, did spectacularly! She stayed under Trenton’s desk or close by his chair the entire time. She was alert and aware of the children and classroom movement, but she did a great job of “blending in” as much as she could. Trenton did amazingly as well, both personally and handling Priddy. His symptoms were decreased or avoided!! (Tourette’s and anxiety). Not only that, but Trenton was the hit on the playground during recess. The only thing that Priddy didn’t handle too well was dodge ball!

Their homework is to get Priddy into the gym more around balls so that she becomes comfortable with them. Until then, an area was specialized for her outside of the immediate gym area. What a wonderful day! It was a pleasure being a part of Trenton and Priddy’s debut together in school!”

WHAT A MARVELOUS GIFT YOU HAVE GIVEN THIS FAMILY, CANDACE! TRENTON AND PRIDDY – WE ARE SO HAPPY FOR YOU!!! AND WHAT A MARVELOUS WAY TO TEACH OTHER STUDENTS ABOUT SERVICE DOGS!!

Anxiety, Panic Attack, Psychiatric, PTSD, San Antonio, Texas

CONGRATULATIONS to Tracy and Cooper

CONGRATULATIONS to Tracy, who suffers with extreme PTSD, flashbacks, and disassociation episodes, and her now SD Cooper!

Tracy has been through SO much over this past year. She was originally paired with SD Apollo, and at first, it was an instant bond. Tracy and her loving husband, Jon, met Apollo about one year ago, and immediately at my house, Apollo started doing covers for Tracy. For a long time, and with a lot of training, Tracy and Apollo passed their PAT together.

However, as time went on and Tracy’s therapy was not working, her disassociation episodes continued to get worse. She began withdrawing from everything – even Apollo – and Apollo started bonding more with her husband, Jon. Apollo would not sleep on the bed nor next to it to wake Tracy from her night terrors. They realized, sadly, that Apollo would be better off in another home. They gave Apollo to a Wounded Warrior, whose symptoms were not as severe. It was a bittersweet day for Tracy.

However, in the meantime, Tracy had already adopted Cooper, a magnificent dog fostered by a woman named Margaret, who already knew most of the PAT command – he had just not found the right “person”. Tracy and Jon adopted Cooper while still looking for a home for Apollo, and Tracy went right to work practicing everything she had learned from working with Apollo to working with Cooper. Cooper had the very opposite type of personality as Apollo – while Apollo was very laid-back and slow-moving, Cooper was more active and much more in tune with Tracy’s moods and behaviors. Cooper immediately started sleeping with or next to her, waking her from night terrors, and would alert every time she went into disassociation. It wasn’t that Apollo wasn’t a great SD – he just wasn’t the one for Tracy’s particularly strong needs.

They practiced and perfected each and every inside command – as Tracy made up her mind not to give up on the idea of a Service Dog – and they started going out into public (something that Tracy had stopped doing as much when her symptoms returned and Apollo was becoming unresponsive). She said it was like night and day. Cooper never let Tracy out of his eyesight, alerted the minute she would start to have a flashback, would get Jon if she needed help, and Tracy began to feel confident again.

After many intensive, multi-hour sessions, Tracy and Cooper passed their PAT! They were perfect together. They passed every command out in public over and over flawlessly. Cooper automatically covers Tracy without command from whatever direction she needs it. We even dressed Cooper up in Halloween attire, and he got a lot of meet and greets with happy little children! Now, Tracy is off to receive intensive outpatient therapy with Cooper ready and by her side, and she rests comfortably knowing that fully-trained Apollo is helping someone else.

BEST WISHES, TRACY, COOPER, AND JON! THANK YOU FOR YOUR BITTERSWEET SACRIFICE!

Anxiety, Austin, Panic Attack, PTSD, Texas

Hannah and SDIT Addie

From our trainer in Austin, who is working with 16 year-old Hannah, who suffers from PTSD and anxiety.

“Hi Laurie!
I had a great session with Hannah and SDIT Addie, her German Shepherd puppy!

Last time we met, we worked on Addie’s excitement towards people and dogs in public, and she has made HUGE progress! Hannah got Addie a head halter due to Addie pulling on the leash, and it made a huge difference!

We spent some time inside Petsmart to expose Addie to a dog environment and then went outside and worked on loose leash walking in the park with the head halter on. She is still getting used to it, but her walking with it made a huge difference for Hannah being able to control her. Addie has an obsession with little children, so we went over to a playground, sat on a bench and worked in on keep her settled while there was a child running around so Addie could get used to them.

I made the suggestion that they go to a playground, find a bench to sit on and over-expose Addie to kids so she gets desensitized to them.

Hannah also asked me about how to make Addie’s recalls stronger. I suggested putting Addie on a long leash and call her over and treat her every time she comes to her. Another way to make her recalls much stronger is doing it at a dog park when she is around other dogs and distractions, and just practice calling her back and highly reinforcing that.

They both did great today and can’t wait until our next session!”

Anxiety, Experience, Mobility, Panic Attack, San Antonio, Texas

It’s SUPER SERVICE DOG to save the day

What a WONDERFUL training session Laurie had with Nette, who has mobility issues and anxiety due to a stroke, and her beautiful SDIT, Ella!

Nette has just been doing a wonderful job training Ella between sessions. Ella knows all the basics – sit, down, stay, come, controlled load and unload, wait, and heel. She stays by Nette’s side and is of great comfort to her. Nette is beginning to take Ella out more and more, and her comfort level going out is increasing as she becomes more confident in Ella’s training.

We went to Costco and worked on training with electric cart, with Ella safely tied to it in a perfect heel position near Nette. We did sharp turns slowly so that Ella could get used to maneuvering alongside the electric cart safely and confidently. She learned SO quickly! It is helpful for Nette to know she can use the electric carts because sometimes her balance is off due to the strokes. We also walker Ella through the various sections of Costco, like the meat and bakery, and she did wonderful “leave its”. We also worked on Ella’s stay and come since we had an audience! Everyone was in love with beautiful Ella! We practiced staying focused while doing these tasks even with people watching, and Nette stayed calm and focused, which helped Ella . They have such a beautiful bond, and Nette is so compassionate and loving toward Ella – it’s truly beautiful to watch.

Nette sent me the following update on Ella!

“Just wanted to give you update on Ella. She turned one last week – can’t believe it! We are still working on meet and greets; she still gets really excited and forgets to stay sitting, but it’s more with kids than adults. Several weeks ago, I started teaching Ella the command: “take me to the car”. I would pick random times to suddenly stop and give the command, walk out to the car, and then give her treats. My purpose for this is that sometimes I become very panic-stricken if I am in a crowd and disoriented. I thought this might help me feel a little more confident about trying new places. In addition, my mobility is becoming more limited and I am spending more time in wheelchairs and electric carts.

Anyway, today was not a training exercise – but something triggered a panic attack in me, and I asked Ella to take me to the car – and she did it!! Usually, she looks back at me for assurance – but it seemed like she knew this was different. It’s a small thing, but it feels very empowering.”

NETTE – WHAT CLEVER AND HELPFUL TRAINING YOU ARE ADDING TO THE BASICS TO HELP YOU! WHAT ELLA DID BY TAKING YOU TO THE CAR IS NOT A SMALL THING – IT IS A HUGE TRIUMPH FOR BOTH YOU AND ELLA, AND IT SHOULD FEEL EMPOWERING! I HOPE YOU ARE FEELING MORE AND MORE CONFIDENT AND ASSURED THAT ELLA CAN DO HER JOB WHENEVER YOU NEED IT – AND THE FACT THAT SHE DID NOT LOOK BACK FOR ASSURANCE BUT JUST DID WHAT SHE HAD TO IS A HUGE ACCOMPLISHMENT. SO PROUD OF YOU!!!

I added this other quote from Nette’s FB page. It describes her and her husband to a tee.

Anxiety, Houston, Mobility, Texas

Cane Corso – SDiT Titan

From our wonderful trainer, Kendra, in Houston, who is working with Marissa, who suffers from severe mobility issues and anxiety, and her SDIT, gorgeous Cane Corso, Titan!

“We had a two hour training session. At first Titan is very intimidating from his pure size but he is so well behaved! He already knows “sit”, “down”, “leave it”, “stay”, “bracing”, and firm “covers”. He does get too excited at times so we started training “go lay down”. It’s a certain spot where he can go to just chill out and calm down. This spot will also be used for door manners. Titan will alert to the door, then be placed in his spot and taught to stay there until released. I talked with Marissa about being the pack leader and not letting Titan in front. I taught her how to claim her space and not just let Titan run in the doors ahead or through her. And she did beautifully! I told her to open the door fully instead of just cracking it open and stand in the door way (claiming her space) and tell him to sit once, then “Wait” for him to listen. This will build respect and Titan will learn to look to Marissa for direction on his next move. Once he was sitting calm and looking at her, he could enter in a calm manner. After she did this, Titan came in nice and calmly. We worked on “watch me” with distraction, and “stay” until released; we also worked on “sit/stay” at a distance. I also started to work on him leaving my hands alone if I have a treat in them; not nibbling on my hands. Marissa and Titan will continue to work on duration with the commands he knows well, will continue to teach “go lay down”, and Marissa will make Titan calmer by doing state of mind training with him. They will continue work on Titan’s door manners as well. Our next session will be outside.”

Anxiety, Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas, Tourette's Syndrome

CONGRATULATIONS TO PRIDDY AND TRENTON

CONGRATULATIONS TO PRIDDY AND TRENTON, WHO, WITH THE HELP OF TRAINER CANDACE IN FT. WORTH, PASSED THEIR PUBLIC ACCESS TEST!!!! Trenton has Tourette’s Syndrome and suffers from anxiety – but not so much anymore!!!

“Priddy passed her Public Access Test! And with flying colors, I might add! We started at a park where she showed that she was responsive to her handler only around other dogs. She then successfully unloaded from the vehicle and walked safely into a local mall. Right off the bat, there was a large crowd, and Priddy navigated young Trenton through at an appropriate speed. She reacted perfectly to the noise distractions and did not solicit attention from the public. When it came time for her to be pet by children and a stranger, she was a perfect lady and stayed in the appropriate positions. She passed the test in just under two hours. Great job to the Goodpaster family, who logged northward of 350 hours of training with Priddy over the summer months. They worked diligently with dedication and consistency. Congratulations!”

WHAT AN ABSOLUTELY DEDICATED FAMILY!! 350 HOURS OF TRAINING! MIRACLES HAPPEN WHEN EVERYONE IS PART OF THE PROCESS. AND THANK YOU, CANDACE, FOR MAKING THIS POSSIBLE TO HELP TRENTON!!!!!

Anxiety, Austin, Fibromyalgia, PTSD, Texas

Meghan and Precious

From our trainer in Austin, who is working with Meghan, who suffers from PTSD, flashbacks, and fibromyalgia.

“Hi Laurie!

I had a session with Meghan and Precious. Precious is heeling really nicely along Meghan’s side while outside. She is having difficulty with meet and greets and jumping on counters while food is on it.
So, we went to her apartment office and had Precious do a couple meets and greets with a couple nice ladies. I showed Meghan the appropriate way to have Precious behave if a stranger wanted to come up and pet him with her permission.

We went back to Meghan’s place and worked on “leave it”. I worked with Precious on leaving a piece of chicken on the floor, table, and kitchen counter. He did really well and did not jump at all (probably because he knew we were watching him . We wanted to catch him jumping and train him not to, so that is still a work in progress.
But, overall it was a good session. I told Meghan to go ahead and buy a vest for Precious. They are ready to do more training in public now.”

KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK, MEGHAN AND PRECIOUS. IT WILL COME!