Service Dog Express and our associate rescue, In Dog We Trust, would like to thank past client, Wounded Warrior Ken, for his INCREDIBLY kind donation of a truck full of dog food!! He just did this out of the kindness of his heart!! Needless to say, it was SO needed and we are forever grateful for this act of compassion. Ken is a very talented artist, and his best buddy is Service Dog, the magnificent Mozart!!!! Thank you again, Ken. You make the world a better place.
So, so proud of Gilbert and his Service Dog, Solea!!!! Just imagine – when Gilbert first contacted us, he couldn’t even leave the house. He lived a very lonely life. Then he found Solea, and with Solea by his side, he has found the strength and courage to do things he never imagined he’d do again!! And what a well-trained dog! Gilbert, the future is so bright for you!!!
We received these adorable pictures from our longtime client and friend, John, a Navy Veteran, who suffers from the after-effects of strokes and a heart attack, and his “partner in crime”, SD Sancho. John’s caregiver, Mary wrote:
“Hello Laurie,
We had to send you these. We gave Sancho treats and he earned them! If Sancho talked he would have asked for the treats. I laughed then I saw how Sancho waited with incredible patience until he got a treat. I could not get a picture before these and he had his nose to the treats, but he restrained himself! John could not be more proud of Sancho being Sancho. John laughed too, and then showed how much he loved Sancho by rewarding him for asking for the treats. This made John’s day!
Love ya – John, Mary, Michele, SD Sancho, SD Snowball, and Kathy”
It’s wonderful to hear that John was happy – he has been through so much – but he never lets his disability keep him from keeping up with training his SD, Chesapeake Bay Retriever 8 year-old Sancho. They have a bond that is truly inexplicable.
Cherry had a wonderful training session with Lauren, who suffers from Dysautonomia/Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS), and her SDIT, Decker. She writes:
“Lauren and I had a great training session today. We talked about the importance of having her “dog training voice” and not just the “mommy who loves Decker” voice. J I like to give examples, so I asked her how she would speak if Decker was walking towards something that would hurt him? She agreed her voice would be much firmer, and that’s the voice she needs with Decker who needs positive direction.
Their heeling, sits, and stays are doing very well as well. We also worked on stair climbing. Decker likes to go ahead of Lauren on the stairs, which can be dangerous for Lauren, so I taught her to get Decker into a firm SIT! before attempting the climb. This snapped Decker out of his mission to go on ahead, and he walked nicely next to her up the stairs and down again. Lauren agreed it made a huge difference!
We started working on their three specific tasks today. One of them was to fetch Lauren’s medications. We needed to start with an empty bottle; this was just for Decker to get the idea of bringing the meds to her but we didn’t want any risk of the bottle being punctured and Decker ingesting any of them. I also told Lauren that you should never try teaching a dog to fetch push out meds from a cardboard container; it’s too dangerous because the cardboard will soften in the dog’s saliva and then the drugs inside can accidentally be swallowed.
Once we feel safe and are confident that Decker will just retrieve and not try to chew or play on the bottle, we can start adding small amounts of meds so that he can get used to the sound of the bottle.
Lauren is going to spend lots of time practicing; next time we are going to do some more in-public store work.
http://youtu.be/XaqDUFTQha4
It happened at the home of our client, Gilbert, one of the sweetest people I’ve ever met. He has a Service Dog that is fully trained name “Solea”. I helped train her. Gilbert had severe agoraphobia, and Solea has helped him start to live a normal life. The police showed up at the door as Gilbert’s mother was coming home. They were searching for Gilbert’s sister, who had a warrant for her arrest. She does not even live with Gilbert and his mother. Gilbert said there were 6 officers there, all with guns pointed. He posted it on youtube, and sent it to us. It made me cry. You can bet the Atascosa County Sheriff’s Office will be hearing from me. We responded to Gilbert and asked him the following questions, and here are Gilbert’s replies:
1. What emotions were you going through during the encounter and after the encounter? Gilbert – “I was extremely upset/scared/nervous for us – me and Solea – before we could even step out.”
2. How did Solea help you cope? Gilbert – “She helped me stay as calm as I could under the circumstances of me almost losing her to the ignorance of these officers.”
3. What happened to you and Solea once you exited the home; ie – how did the officers treat you and Solea after the incident? Gilbert – “After we exited the house, a Captain continued to harass and verbally attack me, once again, Solea begins to bark because she can sense my anxiety and she’s protecting me; we have to remember these deputies had guns out and were wearing black vests outside their clothes.” Ironically – the Lieutenant that was the last to leave “apologized” for the Captain’s behavior.
4. How many people were outside your home and in what capacity? Gilbert: “There were 6 officers – all had their weapons drawn and pointed at us.”
5. Who was at home with you and Solea? Gilbert: “My mom and brother.”
There will be more footage of this tomorrow. Apparently, a detective had been out the day before and scoured the home, and was completely aware of the fact that Solea was a Service Dog. Gilbert is filing a complaint against the Captain that continued to harass him and Solea afterward, and is going to press criminal charges for harassment of a Service Dog and Service Dog handler, as well as a code that Gilbert looked up that states that in the state of Texas, if a Service Dog is Harassed or hurt in any way, the person responsible for that action is responsible for any rehabilitation that the Service Dog needs after this traumatization. Gilbert said that Solea is definitely showing signs of trauma.
I think this is definitely worth pressing charges for and alerting the media. Gilbert is handling it, despite his severe anxiety, like a true professional. I am so proud of him. – Laurie
A truly amazing update from our trainer, Kendra, who is working with beautiful Cole. Cole’s dear mother wrote:
“My 17 year old daughter, Cole, was diagnosed with severe social anxiety disorder when she was 14 years old. Once we understood the disorder, it became clear that it had started around age 11. Cole is high functioning around adults, but started having panic attacks around her peer group. She worked intensively with 3 professionals and has made great progress, but still has a ways to go. Cole lost her Dad to melanoma when she was 6 years old. That same year we lost her only uncle and grandpa. All the men in our life within 6 months. Cole was bullied at school during this time. Although she handled it well – she started showing signs of PTSD and OCD. In hind sight, Cole’s Dad suffered from social anxiety and some OCD too. Cole thinks everyone in her life is going to die any time she is not with them. Since I am the only one left – she still has anxiety if I leave the house without her or vice versa. If she goes in a public place and it is all adults, she is well-spoken and an impressive individual. If there are any pre-teen or teenagers, she will either have to leave or go into a state where she can’t even pick a chair to sit in. All the animals on our block come to see her daily, and one neighbor’s cat has moved into our yard for the past 3 years. Cole has a relationship with animals and any other living creature that is AMAZING.
I believe a Service Dog would be a critical component in helping Cole be able to become independent and be able to take college classes and interact in public. She needs to be able to become confident so that she can avoid panic attacks in public or work through them with her Service Dog the way she does with me. It is heart breaking to watch such an incredibly kind, intelligent and sensitive person not be able to pursue any interests or activities outside of our home independently.”
Well, dear Kendra, in Houston, has helped sweet Cole find the perfect dog for Cole! She writes: “I had the pleasure of working with Cole and her mom, Sherri today. After spending many minutes on the phone trying to find the perfect dog, we had a meet and greet today so I could see if the dog they found was finally the one. The dog was in a foster home with the greater Houston German Shepard Rescue; her name is Aurora. When we arrived, Aurora was in the kennel and she was barking because she was so excited to see Cole again. Cole and her mom had already met with Aurora when they went through the approval process. The foster mom let Aurora out of the crate and she ran to Cole! She was SO happy to see Cole again!
Aurora already knows many commands, such as “sit”, “down”, “stay”, and “shake”. I was able to touch all parts of Aurora’s body without any problems. I also was able to touch her mouth and all four paws. I made a loud noise behind her back and all she did was turn her head and look at me. She did awesome! After the evaluation, I went with the family to the pet store to help them get the items needed for Aurora. Once we had those items, we were able to go back to the foster and pick up the Aurora.
During this transition, Cole experiences a full panic attack and could not enter the home, so her mother and I went inside and brought Aurora to Cole. Aurora acted like she has been doing Service Dog work her whole life! She immediately leaned into Cole and licked her. Within a matter of minutes, the panic attack had passed and Cole was able to come inside. While her mom was signing the final papers for adoption, I worked with the team on walking in a “heel” and the proper placement. Aurora was already getting better after just a few minutes! After the adoption was final, I followed them to their house to help them get settled in. There, we put the kennel together and worked on some separation anxiety that the fosters had told us about when she is in the kennel. We worked on this until Cole was confident that tonight would go smoothly. We also worked on Aurora leaving the cat alone. Cole was having severe anxiety about the cat and the dog. The cat has been with her for 15 years! But it didn’t take long for the cat to establish her personal space. We also went over a feeding schedule, and got Aurora to sit while Cole put the food bowl down and release her to eat. We talk about so many things and Cole took to everything like a champ!
I know that Cole and Aurora are the perfect team, and I look forward to working with them again.”
An update from our trainer, Brenda, who is a paraplegic in a wheelchair and has a remarkably trained SD, Murray!! Brenda trained with Dennis, who was initially introduced to us by his pastor of 40 years, Mr. Adam Cork. He compassionately wrote:
“Dennis, who has been in a wheelchair for decades, just lost his dog of many years (not Service Dog trained) which has been very hard on him. His physical condition is declining. While he is still very independent, decline in his shoulders and decades in the chair are taking a toll. I think it would be good for him to have a Service Dog now to encourage him and provide a level of assistance.”
What a beautiful, caring Pastor who sought help for one of his congregation!!
Brenda has trained twice with Dennis and his dog, Lilly now, so that Lilly can become a Service Dog. She writes:
“At our first visit, Dennis and I met and went through the Public Access Test commands that we could do inside, as it was dark. Lilly completed #3, which is ‘controlled entry through a doorway’, #4, which is ‘heeling through a building’, and #9, which is eating at a table with Lilly in a down position under the table’ with ease. She is extremely obedient, even without treats; it’s out of pure love. The specialized tasks that Dennis wants Lilly to do are bracing, pulling, and offering comfort. I tested Lilly out with bracing like I do with my SD, Murray. Lilly was unable to keep her bottom up while bracing, which we will have to work on.
At our second session, we worked on outside PAT commands. Lilly did #1, which is ‘controlled unload out of a vehicle’ and #2, which is ‘approaching the building’ perfectly the 1st time, as Dennis has been taking her on rides. Dennis then took Lilly off lead, had her ‘sit/stay’, and rolled farther than 6ft with his back to her, turned and waited, then called her to him! He rolled up and down his driveway several times with her off lead, and was making sure she maintained the ‘heel’ position. Lilly was not distracted by anything, and was focused on Dennis. She is so easy to work with, and it only takes her a few times to understand what is expected of her. Dennis leashed her back up to see about pulling safely. Lilly did great, with minimal coaxing!”
Our trainer, Andrew, had a wonderful session with Don, a Wounded Warrior with PTSD and social anxiety who writes that he would like his Service Dog, Herman, “To be present with me in 90% of my activities. I wish to do car trips with him. He gives purpose to the things I do, including volunteer work at the hospital, church, or Police Department”. What a beautiful sentiment!
Andrew writes: “During this session, we went over the basics; “sit”, “down”, “wait”, “heel (loose)”, “don’t pull”, and some classical conditioning. This process is very effective, as Herman is already very well under control! The bond that he has with Don is joyful and happy. Herman is very attentive and very well-behaved. They are already well-practiced at walking to the coffee shop off leash!”
From our trainer, Brenda, who is finally getting to work with some clients who have wheelchair-accessible homes, as Brenda herself is wheelchair-bound. Brenda has brilliantly been working with her SD, Murray, for almost two years now, so she knows the specific challenges for those in similar situations!
Brenda had her first two sessions with Rowena, who has MS and is in a wheelchair, and her SDIT, Blessed. Rowena and I had worked previously with her former SD, Lei Lani, who passed away due to old age. Blessed was matched with Rowena shortly after, and after a few sessions, I thought Rowena’s needs with Blessed would be more easily addressed by a trainer who experienced similar challenges. They did brilliantly together!!
Brenda writes:
“At our session, we did a brush-up on the basic commands. Rowena wanted to work on bracing so Blessed can help her off the floor and position herself in the chair. I worked with her showing the the two of them the correct place to stand and how to keep Blessed’s bottom off the floor when Rowena braces.
Rowena needs Blessed to lay down on command better and stay put. She had to physically manipulate Blessed to get her to do it at first, then Blessed would pop right back up. We worked first on just solidifying down, then down/stay. Once she was staying better, we were ignoring her and talking and increasing her stay time. At the end, she was laying down with minimal coaxing and staying totally relaxed!”
From our trainer, Cherry, who is working with Lauren. Lauren suffers with Dysautonomia/Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS).
“Today was our first training day. We spent the first few minutes discussing Lauren’s needs and what she wants from her gorgeous dog Goldendoodle, Decker.
We did some leash and position training, and I showed Lauren how to encourage Decker to walk close to Lauren in a heel position. Lauren suffers with back pain and told me how much she would love it if we could train Decker to lay on her back, as pressure eases the discomfort.
We began by using her mom as help, and between us we slowly eased Decker into the position Lauren wanted. Decker was uneasy at doing it at first as it is not a normal thing for a dog to do – on the chest yes, but the back is a little different, especially asking him to stay there. But he did catch on soon and stay in position, and we were able to walk away.
Then we transferred the command to Lauren, who called Decker to her to lay on her back, pairing it with the words “walk on me” – which he did brilliantly. Lauren’s mom was so pleased she even took a video of it.
Tomorrow we are going to work on properly going through doorways and continue our leash work.
Lauren who is going to work hard on her homework!