For all of you suffering from panic attacks and anxiety – this program WORKS. I went through it and I never had a panic attack again. I was actually so healed that they flew us out and I was on one of their commercials. I know there are naysayers, but I can personally say it works.
The Midwest Center for Stress and Anxiety – The Most Effective Drug-Free Anxiety and Depression Program
From our trainer Beverli, who had her fifth training session with Alex and his SDIT, Rottweiler “Meadow”. Alex suffers from anxiety and Multiple Sclerosis.
Beverli writes:
“At this session, we worked at home doing intensive work on “give”, “pull”, (Alex needs assistance with his wheelchair at times) and some outdoor heeling with many neighborhood distractions. Meadow’s focus and ability to stay calm in stressful environmental situations has greatly improved! We encountered a hostile Rottweiler while on our walk who charged us barking, and Meadow stayed put and did not react at all. Homework given for the next session was to continue working on “give” and “pull”.”
From our dear client and friend, Christina, whose husband, a district attorney who helps sexual assault victims like Christina, organized this walk to raise money for other victims! She writes:
“Thank you to everyone who donated to raise funds for Eric’s Walk A Mile In Her Shoes! Eric and Scott you are my heroes! We were in some of the photos that the Palestine Herald – Press posted! A special thank you to Roxy, my forever companion and source of comfort! Your loyalty amazes me!!”
Roxy, her Service Dog, even did the walk!!
A HUGE CONGRATULATIONS to Greg and his now Service Dog, Missy!!! This absolutely remarkable team passed their Public Access Test flawlessly – and even went above and beyond by learning tasks and commands that were not even on the Public Access Test!
Greg’s compassionate, intelligent, and dedicated commitment to working with Missy, along with Missy’s remarkable ability to be trained and her remarkable, gentle temperament as a formerly neglected shelter dog have made this process so incredibly easy. Each training session is a joy for all three of us!!
The Public Access Test was done at North Star Mall. Missy took the bus for the first time (Greg does not drive), and she was a pro. We went into tons of stores and explored all kinds of distractions – but nothing fazed Missy. We performed each and every command in the Public Access Test, and she received a 100% PLUS. The most amazing thing is to watch how much people gravitate toward her. There is a softness in her eyes and in her demeanor that just draw people – from very young children to very elderly adults to want to meet her. She is loving and gracious toward everyone. She listens to every command that Greg gives her, without hesitation. Even the elevator ride was fun for her!! That tail is always wagging!
Missy had a lot of fun in the Disney store, at Spencer’s trying on eyeglasses, and going in shoe stores – she just LOVES the smell of sneakers! Especially blue ones!! (But none of them fit).
Greg has also noticed that now that she has switched foods to Evolve, Missy’s digestive system and appetite are working much better than the food she was originally on. I plan on maintaining a life-long friendship with these two – they have both significantly impacted my life. And Greg has been able to decrease his anxiety medications, get out and exercise more because of Missy, which has helped with his weight and diabetes, and he is much more socially engaged!
I also know that Missy would do amazing Therapy Dog work. Greg would love to try that with her.
What a blessing it has been to work with these two. Words cannot express.
CONGRATULATIONS TO SHELIA AND NOW SERVICE DOG, “CECE”! Our delightful trainer, Pat, had the Public Access Test with Shelia and her now Service Dog, Boston Terrier/Boxer mix “Cece”. Shelia suffers from anxiety, depression, fibromyalgia, severe pain, and needs medical alerts.
Pat writes:
“Shelia and Cece have done well with their obedience training! Cece is a happy and playful little girl who learned quickly that wearing her Service Dog vest means it’s “work time”. She learned her lessons through lots of good practice and public outings with her handler, Shelia. Her Public Access Test was finalized at Walmart in Helotes, demonstrating her willingness to keep her Boxer/Terrier personality in check with children, adults, noisy shoppers and carts. She even had the opportunity during her training to go to Laredo and watch a Cowboy Parade, with all the horses, crowds and chaos that goes with it. Cece was OK with all of it, and Shelia feels much more relaxed with her along.
Because Shelia has stability challenges sometimes when walking, particularly navigating stairs, Cece is continuing her training to learn how to retrieve a cell phone in the event Shelia falls. We are using the “Mark & Reward” technique to teach Cece to pick up and take an object to Shelia. Shelia is not getting in quality practice time on the retrieve training. Granted, it is precise and tedious work. Over the many weeks we have touched on it in sessions, and with the work I’ve personally done with Cece, I’m not seeing improvement in her retrieving behavior, so we will keep on working with that.
From our wonderful trainer, Kendra, who is working with Marissa and her SDIT, Xena. Marissa suffers from mobility issues and anxiety.
“I met with Marissa and Xena at Petsmart on Sunday. Marissa was babysitting a small baby at the time. Xena waited inside the car while the door was open for Marissa to unload the baby and get him in the stroller. Once Marissa gave Xena the ok to get “unload”, Xena was a little nervous because it is her very first time in public, but she did unload. We went inside Petsmart and it quickly became apparent that Marissa and Xena were feeding off each other’s nervous energy and it was not looking good. I knew something was off because Xena knows her commands, and when she did not want to obey, I knew we had to re-evaluate the situation and take a few steps back. Marissa was becoming frustrated and it showed in her tone of voice, then Xena started ignoring her. So we walked back to the front door, placed Xena in a down, and had a conversation. As a trainer, it’s my job to have open communication with my clients, so we I explained how frustration on the part of a handler impacts a dog. I told her of a situation I was in to help her understand to help empathize. I told her that sometimes I get so frustrated at home because no one ever helps with the chores and we have a family of 6, so it can be taxing. When I start getting frustrated and getting on to my husband to help me, then he tunes me out. But when I talk calm and nice he listens. Then, later on as a he does a load of dishes, he texts me to say that he did one load of dishes. He is looking for a “thank you, I appreciate that” and since we are creatures of habit, I know if I give my husband what he is looking for, then he will continue to help. But if I were to ignore his message and say “well that’s not good enough”, then he would stop helping altogether.
A dog is the same way; if you are ignoring them when they are doing what’s expected, and only giving them “attention” when they are misbehaving, then you are inadvertently praising the bad behavior and ignoring the good. That the total opposite of what is needed in dog training. I went on to explain that they are a team; they have to learn to use and trust eachother and work together. When Xena didn’t obey the first time, Marissa would get upset, then Xena would stop listening and focusing. So we tried again, and I asked Marissa to learn how to get Xena to focus on her first. There was too many distractions inside. We walked outside and quickly learned that when Xena is praised, it motives Xena more than treats! So every single time Xena looked at Marissa, she lavished her with praise. Soon Xena was excited to be out and Marissa had her confidence back! At that moment I knew they were a team!
We worked right outside the door of the pet store first; we had Xena practice sits and downs while people walked by. Then we worked on sitting and waiting before entering the store. We went right inside the first double doors where the shopping carts are. I made a loud noise and pushed the cart right next to Xena while she was in a down. Anytime Xena was starting to lose focus, I had Marissa get it back by waiting for Xena to look her way, then lavishing Xena with praise again. It worked like a charm! Soon Xena was ready go into in the store. We walked down isles, practiced sit, down, stay, heel, leave it, and meet and greets.
During the training, Xena was very attentive as Marissa’s pain level increased. Xena alerted multiple times to Marissa, and we went and sat down. At this point, it was too painful for Marissa to walk, so we found a wheelchair and Xena did great heeling next to it. We went into Bed Bath and Beyond and had Xena do some commands while Marissa was in the wheelchair. Xena was very careful when going through tight quarters and let Marissa go first while Xena followed. I gave Marissa the OK to start taking Xena out everywhere, including work.
They will continue to work on commands and also noise distractions. Xena takes a moment to recover from noise, so they will work on this until our next session. I also reminded Marissa to keep her frustration in check and remember when she is starting to get frustrated, it’s because she doesn’t have Xena’s focus before giving a command. So get her focus back, then give the command when out in public. Once Xena was focused, she obeyed flawlessly.
From our super trainer, Beverli, who is working with Client Alex, and his SDIT, Rottweiler “Meadow”. Alex has been diagnosed with spinal stenosis, osteoarthritis, spondylitis, sclerosis, depression, and anxiety. He has a permanent brace that he has to wear, and has to walk with a cane or a walker; sometimes when the pain is too much, he has to use a wheelchair. He needs help with balance and mobility and help with picking up items from the ground when he drops them.
Beverli writes:
“On our third session, we covered basic obedience; “sit”, “sit/stay”, “down/stay” (both while Alex was in sight and out of sight), and restaurant etiquette. We also walked through the mall, going into several stores and ate lunch in this very crowded environment. Meadow showed excellent improvement in all areas, especially “watch me”. She broke her “down/stay” while Alex was out of sight only a few times, so they will be working on that. Overall, both Alex and Meadow did a fantastic job in this very distractible environment.
Their homework is to continue working on the slow heel that Alex needs, working on staying under the table at all times while eating, and teaching “fetch” and “give” to help with object pick up for Alex.”
From our trainer Jackie, who is working with Carmen, who suffers from PTSD, anxiety, and panic attacks due to sexual assault, and her SDIT, “Ollie”.
3/8/15
SDIT Ollie recently joined SDE with handler Carmen. Ollie is a 5 year old Lab/Shiba Inu/Shar Pei mix, and yes, he is an interesting blend of stunning. Ollie was assessed for his capability to become a Service Dog for his handler, Carmen, who suffers from PTSD. Ollie already has passed the Canine Good Citizen Test, so has his basic commands down well. Ollie is very in tune with Carmen. The new team will begin working on more public exposure and re-enforcing Ollie’s current training.
3/16/15
Carmen and her SDIT for PTSD Ollie had their first session today. Carmen brought family members that she lives with to the training so that they could learn the do’s and don’ts related to Service Dogs. Additionally, we wanted Ollie to focus solely on Carmen despite distractions and despite the familiarity of others in the home. Carmen worked with Ollie on sitting and waiting at the end of every aisle. The younger children provided various distractions that Ollie had to work on ignoring. We worked on anticipating possible problems. For instance, Ollie is already has previous training and is in sync with Carmen. However, with a new role in her life, I encouraged Carmen to provide more hand signals and verbal feedback in advance regarding what tasks she wanted Ollie to perform. Ollie also worked on “leave it”, “stay”, and “recall.” The new team made great progress!
3/22/15
Carmen and her PTSD SDIT Ollie had their second session today. Again, Carmen brought a family member to continue to educate the family and to continue to work on Ollie’s ability to deal with focus and distractions. This session occurred at a local restaurant, which was only Ollie’s second time in an eating establishment. We continued to work on having Carmen providing continuous feedback to Ollie regarding what she needed from him and letting him know when he was on task. Ollie did great with “leave it.” He was very alert to everyone and everything around him. Carmen will continue to work on recognizing Ollie’s nonverbal communication to her. Ollie already has some natural alerting but will require some redirection in how to perform these tasks, and Carmen will begin working on noticing these behaviors more. Ollie responded very well in the eating establishment although he did get a little antsy when people walked by. Carmen and Ollie will continue to work on re-enforcing his commands in public settings.
From our trainer, Beverly, who is working with Wounded Warrior Ryan, and his SDIT, “Shade”. Ryan suffers from epilepsy and anxiety.
Beverly writes:
” This was the first appointment with Ryan and his new pup “Shade.” Shade is a very intelligent black lab who is bonding well with Ryan and fitting nicely into his family. His previous pup wouldn’t settle down and was causing more stress, so she was re-homed prior to him obtaining his new pup.
We worked on “Sit, Down, Watch Me and Leave it”. Shade picked up on all of them very quickly and did well during the session. Ryan will work in several short sessions throughout the day, since Shade is young (6 months) and he is a student (online) and home with her most of the day.
Since Shade is showing high intelligence and bonding well with Ryan, I believe she will quickly pick up on any chemical changes and will be easy to train to alert to seizures or anything else we ask of her. They make a great team!
UPDATE: They’ve worked together for 2 weeks on the above skills and Ryan says Shade is doing very well. We will meet on Wednesday for the next session to work on “heel, wait and stay”. I’m excited to see the progress and watch Shade and Ryan become a fantastic SD team!
Laurie had the most incredible first meeting with new client, Rhonda, and her SDIT, “Tank”. Rhonda and Laurie had tried getting together for a very long time for training, and finally, we had our first session.
Laurie writes:
Rhonda suffers from several medical conditions, including a heart condition with a pacemaker due to cardiomyopathy. She often has pain and some anxiety, but her AMAZING Staffordshire Terrier, Tank, is SO bonded with her, that he responds to her whenever she feels unwell physically or emotionally. When I met Rhonda, it was like meeting someone you have known all your life. She is absolutely beautiful both inside and out. Rhonda has such a passion for animals – especially those in shelters and rescues – and although she cannot work due to her medical condition, she spends all the energy she can helping out dogs and cats in need with local rescues and raising truly amazing children as a single mother. She just has one of those “auras” about her that is filled with light and love.
When I arrived, I was greeted by both Rhonda and Tank. Rhonda and I talked for quite some time, and we went through the basic commands with Tank – she had taught them all to Tank herself!! Tank, with his beautiful bright green eyes and soft coat knew “sit”, “down”, “controlled load and unload”, “heel”, “sit/stay”, “down/stay”, “come” (he will need a bit of work on that as Rhonda has quite a bit of land and when Tank runs, he RUNS!), “watch me”, let me pet him all over, put my hand in his mouth, is wonderful with children, other dogs, their cat, and never met a stranger he didn’t love! But he loves Rhonda so very much. It will only take a couple more sessions before Tank complete his Public Access Test. He already has a beautiful vest, with a pouch indicating all of Rhonda’s medical information clipped to it.
I cannot wait for our next session together, and I know Rhonda and I have already formed a friendship that I hope lasts for a very, very long time!
