Category Archives: Austin

Anxiety, Austin, General, Medical Alert, Panic Attack, Psychiatric, PTSD, Texas

HAGGER THE HUMUNGOUS HAS PASSED!!!!

From our trainer in Austin! HAGGER THE HUMUNGOUS HAS PASSED!!!!

“I am happy to announce that Lee and Hagger have passed the Public Access Test! We met at Walmart this morning and took a nice stroll with Hagger heeling beside Lee the whole time. Lee took Hagger through some tight quarters and narrow turns and Hagger fit right in!

Hagger does sits and downs on commands just once. He has great stays as well with a shopping cart going by him!

We headed to Subway to eat and settle while Lee and I talked for a bit, Hagger made himself at home on the floor!

Lee has worked and trained Hagger TIRELESSLY to get him ready and he has been more than successful!

I am so happy for those two!”

LEE AND HAGGER, EVERYONE AT SERVICE DOG EXPRESS IS SO, SO VERY PROUD AND INSPIRED BY YOU BOTH – YOUR DETERMINATION, YOUR COURAGE, AND YOUR DEDICATION. THE WORLD IS TRULY BLESSED TO HAVE YOU BOTH IN IT! AND TO OUR TRAINER – WONDERFUL JOB!!!

Austin, Experience, General, Texas

Lucia Is Dedicated!

From our trainer in Austin, who continues to work with dear Lucia and Lily even though Lily has already passed her PAT – Lucia is just that dedicated!

“I had a session with Lucia and Lily yesterday at Petco. We worked on Lily’s fascination with the squeaky sounds! Lily LOVES toys but also gets really amped up when she hears a squeaky sounds and wants to go find it. So I came up with the idea for Lucia to desensitize Lily to the squeaky sound by finding a YouTube video of squeaky toy sound effects and work on keep Lily calm while the sound goes off.

They also worked on leave it with toys on the floor and Lily has gotten so GOOD and leaving the toys alone!

I brought my dog to the session as well to be a distraction for Lily and Lily did not mind her at all. She has this down!”

WHAT AN ABSOLUTELY INNOVATIVE AND CLEVER IDEA ON THE PART OF OUR AUSTIN TRAINER!! BRAVO TO OUR TRAINER, LUCIA, LILY, AND SQUEAKY TOYS!!!

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, Psychiatric, PTSD, Texas

Brooklyn and Starlette

An update from our trainer, Andrew, who is working with Brooklyn, who suffers from PTSD, flashbacks, anxiety, and nightmares, and his SDIT, Starlette.

“This was a wonderful session where we discussed the importance of duration. Since the Public Access Test requires that the dog stay in the commanded position (i.e. down or sit, for at least three minutes), we discussed that. Starlette is doing extremely well. She has taken to her new family, and has become very protective over Brooklyn’s son and Brooklyn himself, but in a positive and progressive way. In times of stress, Starlette will take the lead and push back in a “cover” position against Brooklyn as of to say “you can stand back I got this”, and she will hold her ground in a non aggressive way. She has learned to play a game which they have aptly named “find Sean” which is the name of Brooklyn’s son, where Starlette will go find the two year old boy, circle him, and sit next to him. Brooklyn has worked on the “find your spot” game. The “find your spot” game is the act of the dog finding a handler-designated spot for the dog to go to when told. Starlette has her spot in each of the three main rooms in the house (the kitchen, the living room, and the bedroom). She is doing so well that Brooklyn is going to begin taking her to work with him where he works as a chef in the kitchen at a hospital on 32nd street in downtown Austin!

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!”

Austin, Texas

Lily is truly inspiring

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From our trainer in Austin, who continues to perfect the work with dear Lucia and her SD, Lily. The trainer writes:

“Hi! Lucia and Lily worked on distractions yesterday at Petco. Lucia and Lily passed their PAT last weekend but want to continue their training sessions, improving Lily’s focus on distractions.

Lily was able to get close enough to the cat! We also worked on squeaky toys as well!

Lucia is so dedicated to perfecting Lily’s training and focus that I have no doubt that Lily is just going to get better and better!”

I personally have to say that in talking to Lucia, her determination to excel beyond expectations with Lily is truly inspiring.

Lucia and Lily

Austin, Marine, Military, PTSD, Texas, Veteran, Wounded Warrior

Scott met Milo

What a bittersweet day for Wounded Warrior, Scott, and Audrey and Nathan Maurer! Scott met Milo in person for the first time at Laurel Ridge last Saturday, after almost a month of waiting for him to be his new SDIT!! Audrey and Nathan, Milo’s former owners, were there to witness the meeting – and just as we expected, it was love at first sight for Scott, who had been waiting for so long to meet his new battle buddy! Scott had already studied the training manual and knew the commands inside out – and Milo knows them, too – thanks to the amazing work done by Audrey and Nathan! They just knew how special Milo was and felt he was destined for higher things. Their compassion and selflessness defies belief. On Tuesday, we all met at Petsmart – Scott drove down from Austin (where he will be training with our SDE trainer) – and Nathan came with Milo. It was so hard for Nathan and Audrey – they shed tears of sadness but also of joy knowing that they were giving someone else a new lease on life. After Nathan said his goodbyes to Milo, Scott and I shopped in Petsmart and got all the goodies Milo needs – his favorite food, training treats, a training collar, a reflective 4 inch Kong leash and collar (red, of course!), bowls, some toys, and the Maurers gave Scott Milo’s bed – a wonderful thing to use as a transition object to help with any separation anxiety. Milo was SO perfectly behaved in Petsmart – Scott was able to get him to sit, down, heel, stay, watch me, leave it, load and unload, and do meet and greets with other dogs and people without a hitch! Words cannot express how much this beautiful exchange means. On her FB site, Audrey wrote, “Sweet baby Milo is moving on to bigger and better things. He will start training as a Service Dog today. Although we will miss him terribly, we know this is the perfect thing for him. Of course we celebrated Milo with a hamburger from McDonalds, his favorite!” Of course, Scott was like a kid in a candy store – he couldn’t stop hugging and giving Milo hugs and rubs and praise – such joy!!!!! We can’t wait to see their beautiful future unfold! Scott posted a picture of Milo on FB, with the caption, “Probably the best thing that has ever happened to me.” Scott is in uniform on the right.

 

Anxiety, Austin, Bipolar, Depression, Hearing, Mobility, Pain Management, Texas

One more to go – Lee and SDiT Hagger

An update from our trainer in Austin, who trained with the amazing Hagger the Humungous and his dad, Lee, who suffers from Bi-Polar Disorder, Major Depressive Disorder and Major Social Anxiety. He also has major hearing loss in his left ear which also causes balance issues. He has scoliosis and chronic right shoulder pain.

“I wanted to let you know on Sunday afternoon, I did a 1/2 hour Mock Public Access Test session with Lee and Hagger. We went to Walmart and went over some all commands for the PAT. Hagger has his commands perfected and is so ready for the test in September! We practiced sit/stays while I rolled by with a shopping cart and worked on down.stays. Hagger has a strong “leave it” when it comes to food and certain things that can distract him. He heels next to Lee with no problems and never once strays from him! They are a great duo!”

WAY TO GO HAGGER AND LEE!!!!! SO PROUD OF BOTH OF YOU!!!

 

Austin, Experience, General, Texas

Public Access Test Session

From our wonderful trainer in Austin, who has been working with client Lucia and her SDIT, Lily!
“Hi Laurie!

Lucia and Lily did a mock Public Access Test session yesterday at Target! We went through everything according to ADI standards, and Lily did phenomenal!

We have set a date for next Sunday to do the official PAT at a shopping center that has a Starbucks, Petsmart and other shops. We will plan to do this for a couple of hours and go into different environments.

Here are some pictures!”


CONGRATULATIONS, DEAR LUCIA AND LILY!!!! YOU WILL DO WONDERFULLY ON SUNDAY! JUST REMEMBER NOT TO BE NERVOUS – THERE IS NO NEED TO BE, AND IF YOU ARE NERVOUS, LILY WILL KNOW IT!