Category Archives: Fibromyalgia

Anxiety, Fibromyalgia, San Antonio, Texas

Rhonda and SDiT Tank

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!

Anxiety, Fibromyalgia, Lupus, PTSD, San Antonio, Texas

Lori and SDiT Abbie

Laurie had a beautiful training session with Lori, who unfortunately suffers from anxiety, depression, PTSD due to a recent sexual assault, Lupus, Rheumatoid Arthritis, and Fibromyalgia. She initially asked if I would like assess her 2 year-old rescue Boston Terrier for possible training as a Service Dog. Lori rescued her about a year and a half ago, and said that “Abbie” has basic training, is totally housebroken, knows basic commands and tries very hard to do what Lori requests of her. Abigail is very good with people, totally non-aggressive with other people and dogs, and up to date on shots and takes her heart worm preventative. Lori explained that she finds it difficult to go into public places (like a store, etc.) due to anxiety and hypervigilance. She sadly stated that she has lost all of her friends due to her disability, but Abbie’s socialization skills make it easier for Lori to interact with everyone. Lori has to take her extremely supportive and brilliant husband or another housemate with her to most shops and restaurants because of her anxiety. She would really like to honor her Marine uncle by visiting him at the Ft. Sam Houston Cemetery, but she has been unable to do so because cemeteries are a trigger for her. She explained that “Abbie’s presence would make me less reliant on her medications, as Abbie is a calming, protective force in her environment. She simply stated, “We are in love!”

I had to admit that prior to going to my first session with beautiful, compassionate, and highly intelligent Lori, I was doubtful about how much we could accomplish with a Boston Terrier, as they are usually a bit difficult to train and have traits that are not what you would automatically associate with difficult Service Dog work. BOY, was I WRONG!!!! From the first meeting with Lori and Abbie, I was simply blown away by how incredibly smart Abbie is, and how much training work Lori had done with her! I could not say whether Abbie was just an extraordinary Boston Terrier or if it was the brilliance and attention to detail that Lori had working with Abbie, but walking into that house was like walking into a calm, beautiful, serene environment that simply emanated from every part of the home and from Lori, Abbie, Lori’s husband, and their housemate. Even in the midst of renovating their home, their experience with interior decorating, the soothing colors they chose for their rooms, and their amazing energy in the home was riveting. Abbie reflected this very same demeanor. She knew to wait at the door, obeyed gentle commands, had an unbelievably loving bond with Lori, made superior eye contact, and could perform so many commands already that I think I wanted to go out and pair up every client with a Boston Terrier!

Lori, her husband and I talked a lot about Lori’s experiences, and all the terribly unfortunate experiences they had encountered despite their desire and passion to help others where they used to live (and where the sexual assault occurred). Lori had a beautiful room for her office where she had so many computer monitors set up for her extensive knowledge about technology, and her husband, a professor of Art History and Philosophy, shared how difficult it was for them when they moved away from San Antonio down to south Texas to try and work with the people there spreading their knowledge in such a charitable way. After the assault, they had to move back to San Antonio.

Lori put Abbie’s beautiful vest on, which had all the appropriate patches, her ID with medical information on the back, and Abbie went straight into “working” mode. Abbie thrived on Lori’s love, so constant treats were not necessary (although she didn’t mind the few I gave her!). We easily went over all the basic commands in the house, and Abbie maintained constant eye contact with Lori when she gave commands. She was rewarded with hugs and kisses that she reciprocated and obviously brought tremendous joy to Lori.

At our next session, we will venture out into public. I have no doubt that they will do spectacularly as a team. It was humbling to say the least to see someone who had been through so much show so much determination and dedication to making the Service Dog process work. I am truly honored to have met this amazing family!

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

 

ADHD, Agoraphobia, Air Force, Anxiety, Army, Asperger's, Austin, Autism, Bipolar, Cerebral Palsy, Coast Guard, Conversion Disorder, Dallas-Fort Worth, Depression, Dysgraphia, Dyslexia, El Paso, Epilepsy, Experience, Fibromyalgia, Houston, Hypoglycemia, Lubbock, Marine, Medical Alert, Military, Mobility, Multiple Sclerosis, Muscular Dystrophy, Navy, Pain Management, Panic Attack, Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS), Psychiatric, PTSD, Rio Grande Valley, San Antonio, Schizophrenia, Seizure, TBI, Texas, Tourette's Syndrome, Veteran, Waco, Wounded Warrior

Assistance in the Rio Grande Valley and more

This is a message from our exceptionally brilliant and compassionate trainer, Jacqueline (Jackie). Her life’s passion is to help Veterans, and she asked us to post this for all Veterans, especially in the Rio Grande Valley (RGV), if they need help.

I have been a graduate psychologist at the VA down here in the RGV. After working in 3 different VA health care systems, I have seen the great need for Veteran care and have seen both good (actually excellent) and bad ways VAs are run and treatment is provided. It is with an EXTREMELY saddened heart that I can no longer allow myself to provide a lower level of care to Veterans than what they deserve, nor be forced into functioning in a treatment setting that is providing unethical care.

I LOVE my work with Veterans and see such a huge need for this to continue, but as I leave, I also see several other amazing psychologists leaving as well due to the same challenges. I continue to see a need for Behavioral Health Care in the Rio Grande Valley, with Veterans and Civilians alike. After 11 years of schooling and 7 years providing Behavioral Health (BH) Services, I was completing my licensure requirements as a psychologist to provide the highest and most comprehensive options out there, however, despite the need for services in the RGV, I ran into several dead ends for finishing this last piece. However, I am willing to put my own final step on hold to help two communities (Veterans and anyone in the RGV) in need of BH services.

I hold a Masters Level License in the State of Texas that allows me to practice independently (but with some restrictions from what I would have had with my psychologist license and obviously at about 1/3-1/4 of the pay). I am hoping to make some things come together over the next month or two (and will probably be open to picking up random general labor work as my student loans have gone into effect and I incurred debt moving from Idaho to here), but am hoping to offer TeleHealth (similar to Skyping but in a much more secure system) and/or in home therapy/animal assisted-therapy services here in the RGV at hopefully a fraction of the cost of some other places (most likely on an income based sliding scale fee basis) since I will not be accepting insurance and I am wanting to reach a larger population of those in need.

That being said, minus the in-home piece, I am able to offer this TeleHealth service within the scope of my practice anywhere in the state of Texas. I am most wanting to reach Veterans as I know for many, wait times between treatment sessions is 2-3 months in several facilities throughout the state. However, I am also really wanting to service Civilians in the RGV and throughout Texas. I am NOT bilingual unfortunately, but have a considerable amount of understanding of the RGV culture, the Hispanic Culture, and the Texas Hispanic Culture.

For those of you who may know of people who may be able to benefit from this, please feel free to contact me. I will gladly share my extensive training and treatment experience with anyone who requests this, and am hoping to start this as an option for the community within the next two months.

Please contact me at: Jacqueline Kappelman

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!

Depression, Fibromyalgia, Military, PTSD, San Antonio, Texas, Veteran, Wounded Warrior

Hope and SDiT Brooklyn

From our trainer Beverly, who is working with Hope, a Wounded Warrior who suffers from PTSD, Major Depressive Disorder, Fibromyalgia and asthma, and her SDIT, Brooklyn.

“We met at the dog park in Selma so I could not only assess how the dog (Brooklyn) acted with people, but around a noisy environment and other dogs. Brooklyn was appropriate although she still has some puppy behaviors since she is young (about 6 mos) but is calm and not fazed by anything I did with her.

I discussed training and procedures with Hope and at the end of the session even showed her how to begin working on “sit” with Brooklyn (who picked it up right away.) We plan to meet next week to begin her formal training. At the retail pet store there at Bluebonnet Bunk n Biscuit, where we were at, I showed her the different training collars and we discussed the pros and cons of each. Hope is excited to start this journey with Brooklyn and I think they’ll make a great SD Team”

Anxiety, Austin, Depression, Fibromyalgia, PTSD, Texas

Meghan and SDiT Precious

From our trainer in Austin, who is working with Meghan, who suffers from PTSD, severe anxiety/depression, and fibromyalgia, and her SDIT, Precious.

“I had a session with Meghan and Precious at Petsmart yesterday and it went really well! I had not seen her in three weeks and could see the progress of Precious’ eye contact and heeling. His heeling is so GOOD!

The major thing we focused on was Precious’ excitement when he sees other dogs. When he sees another dog, he starts to whine and then starts barking because he can’t go to them.

We tried working the “look at that” technique by treating him before he reacts when he sees another dog and bringing his engagement back to Meghan.

I suggested that he needs more exposure around dogs while on leash out in public. Our next few sessions, our goal is to go to Townlake where all the dogs are on the trail and desensitize Precious to dogs around him.”

Austin, Depression, Fibromyalgia, PTSD, Texas

Amy and Guzzo

From our trainer in Austin, who evaluated an SDIT, “Guzzo”, for client Amy, who suffers from fibromyalgia, depresssion and PTSD. Amy wanted to be sure that “Guzzo” was up for the challenge of being a Service Dog!

“I evaluated Amy’s 1 1/2 year old black lab/ old English bulldog mix, Guzzo. He is such a sweetheart. He is very dog-friendly and people- friendly. He knows the commands, sit, down and stay. The key thing I saw that he needs major work on is exposure to public places and settling down around busy areas.

Amy is a nice woman who was doubtful about Guzzo being a potential Service Dog because she felt she had been slacking in the training – but I reassured her she was on the right path! She was pleased to hear that Guzzo is made for her!”

Anxiety, Austin, Depression, Fibromyalgia, PTSD, Texas

Meghan and Precious

An update from our trainer in Austin, who is working with Meghan, who unfortunately suffers from PTSD, severe anxiety/depression, and fibromyalgia. She says that most nights when she sleeps, she has severe nightmares and wakes up every few hours. The anxiety from the PTSD, nightmares, flashbacks causes severe panic attacks. The anxiety leads to depression which makes leaving the house difficult. At times, the fibromyalgia leaves her exhausted, affecting her ability to stand and her general ability to function or concentrate. She will collapse or have to sit down wherever she’s at. Her speech can even become slurred. We hope with the help of SDIT, Precious, she can find some peace and joy, along with balance relief. Our trainer writes:

“Hello Laurie!

I had a morning session with Meghan and Precious. It had been a couple of weeks since we got together. Today, we focused on distractions outside. As we walked outside of her apartment over to the dog park in the complex, I noticed that Precious heels very nicely alongside her. Meghan rarely had to redirect or tell Precious to stay by her side.

We got to the dog park and there was nobody there, which was perfect. So we sat down and waited for Precious to settle into a down, and had Precious make several eye contacts before letting him off leash. After she took him off leash, he continued to stay in a down even though he had the freedom to roam in his environment! As soon as Meghan got up, Precious then wandered off to smell the dog park and do his business. We used this as an opportunity to practice his recalls so he could be immersed in his environment but still listen to Meghan when she calls for him. He did very well considering how much there was to smell around him!

When we headed back to her apartment, I showed Meghan some tips on how to stop Precious from jumping onto the kitchen counter and grabbing food that is left up there. We made some good progress today! My favorite part is how nicely he heels by her side. That is a HUGE help for her stability!”

Depression, Fibromyalgia, Military, Mobility, PTSD, San Antonio, Texas, Veteran, Wounded Warrior

Sonya and Princess

From trainer, Beverly, who is working with Wounded Warrior, Sonya, who suffers from PTSD, Fibromyalgia, Depression, and stability issues. Her beautiful SDIT is Rottweiler, Princess. Beverly writes:

“We worked more on having Princess sit/down and stay, and heavily on the recall as she likes to be a bit “lazy” and not come when she is called, but just lays down and stays there. Princess did better this session and is really motivated with hot dogs! Her “Watch me” with Sonya is spot on, and she is getting pretty good at “leave it.” Princess has sit, down, stay, watch me, leave it, and heel down pat. Sonya says that Princess is now sleeping upstairs (previously she wouldn’t even go up the stairs), and Princess is very good at watching who and what is around, making Sonya feel safe and allowing her to relax a little more.

We will continue to work on the “Stay,” the “Recall” and engaging Princess with everything Sonya is doing. Next session will be in another location outside of home.”

SOMETIMES IT JUST TAKES A LITTLE LONGER FOR DOGS WHO HAVE BEEN PREVIOUSLY USED TO A VERY “NON-WORKING” ENVIRONMENT. BUT PRINCESS IS HIGHLY INTELLIGENT AND HAS THE MOST GENTLE TEMPERAMENT, SO IT WON’T BE LONG UNTIL SHE GETS INTO THE GROOVE!