From our wonderful trainer Kendra, in Houston. She is training with Ronnie, a Wounded Warrior with PTSD and TBI, and his SDIT, Roxy!
“We met at Target and practiced a mock Public Access Test. Roxy did perfect! We also practiced walking behind a cart, and they will continue working on that.
At our next met we will have the official Public Access Test. In the picture is Roxy in a dressing room; she goes right under the chair. She is going to rock the exam!”
WAY TO GO RONNIE, ROXY, AND KENDRA!!!!
From our trainer, Candace, in Fort Worth, who is working with the Morrison family. They have a very unique and special situation. Sean is a Wounded Warrior with PTSD, and they adopted a 3 – legged German Shepard. They were curious if her disability would disqualify her as a Service Dog. They will be looking at getting her a prosthetic leg as she was born missing her leg at the elbow, and has enough left for a prosthetic. The veterinarian said that she would be just fine as a Service Dog! She has the perfect temperament and trainability.
As a PTSD, service-related Marine, Sean struggles with thunderstorms, loud, sudden noises, and going out in public in general. The family were told by his psychologist that a service dog would help him greatly, and after looking into it and doing hours of research, they believed this would be most beneficial for him. It has been!! What a remarkable family they are to adopt this highly intelligent dog, and to do everything necessary to ensure that being a Service Dog will be healthy and productive for both the dog and Sean. They will constantly be reviewing progress with their veterinarian.
“I would like to introduce the newest member of the Service Dog Express family: The Morrison Clan. Yep, that’s right, Sean’s SDIT was born with just 3 legs! But, according to Sean, she is everything he needs. She will look around corners for him as they go down halls. She always remains on alert wherever they are. She passed her assessment with flying colors! The next step is working on their SDIT’s endurance and basic training. So far, she responds very well to Sean, and I think they will be a remarkable team.”
From our trainer, Candace, in Fort Worth, who is working with the Jaynes family, who have 2 severely autistic twin 8 year old boys and an 11 year-old daughter.
“The Jaynes family is dedicated to training Bear, their SDIT. He is a handsome golden retriever who is just as laid back as laid back can be. Really. He is content to just lay there and hang out with his buddy, Parker. But for this night, the Jaynes’ family mother and daughter have teamed up to work on the basics with sweet Bear Bear. He made some progress since the last time we met, but what I didn’t tell the Jaynes’ family is that we were really working towards increasing Bear’s attention span. And it worked! Together, we got Bear to participate longer in the training and he seemed a little bit more excited about the training process than he was the time before. He is such a sweet boy, we just need to get him a little more motivated to work!
From our trainer, Beverly, who is working with Wounded Warrior Nathan and his SDIT, Owen!!
“We worked on Owen’s sit/down stay, as he tends to become anxious and want to get up when Nathan is more than 10’ from him. Since we met at the dog park in Selma at Bluebonnet Bunk n Biscuit, and there were dogs present to utilize as teaching tools for Owen to “Leave it” and “Watch” Nathan, it was a very productive session! We also discussed using the Adaptil collar to help calm Owen’s anxiety and working on exposing Owen to short periods of separation from Nathan to reassure him that he is not being abandoned and to start getting him past his separation anxiety. Overall Owen did very well and picked up leave it and to ignore other dogs quickly!
During the week, Nathan will work on sit/down stays with distractions using his wife to assist with the distractions. Lots of rewards will be used and plenty review to help Owen relax. They will continue working on their PAT skills and we will keep reviewing each session until Owen is ready.
We did so much educating and discussing ways to help Owen with his anxiety that I forgot to take pictures!
WONDERFUL, INNOVATIVE WORK, BEVERLY!!!!
From our trainer Michelle, who is in New Mexico.
“I had the pleasure of meeting with Beto and his SDiT Osito. Beto is a Vietnam Veteran with memory loss, diabetes and agent orange.
Training went well and we worked on making sure Beto knows how to hold the leash to prevent Osito from running off when the team works together. Osito also worked on “Leave it.” He does that perfectly! While working on Sit/stay and down/stay, not so much. I have learned from watching this team that SDiT Osito needs to be at Beto’s feet in case something happens with Beto’s medical condition, as Osito is extremely bonded to Beto. SDiT Osito has also learned when Beto says “Medicine” he comes and alerts Beto to take his meds! This is awesome, as it was a concern in the beginning.
SDiT Osito does alert to Beto’s diabetes – low and high! Good work team! I believe that with the new training, Osito will be ready for testing within the next 2 visits. He is a perfect little dog, and is still getting used to his vest – he is adorable.
Great work Team…. Keep up the work and training!
Some very sad news. Ivan went into congestive heart failure last night. They wanted to keep him at the Vet ER overnight, but Daniel refused because he said he did not want his beloved SD to spend his final hours in a hospital. This morning, at approximately 10:00 am, Daniel, following the realistic but dreadful prognosis of Dr. Muisquiz, decided to end Ivan’s suffering as his murmur was so advanced his poor, 3 year-old body could not take anymore. I made sure I was with Daniel to interpret what Dr. Muisquiz was saying, and go over with him what to expect during the procedure, and help him sign the paperwork. Daniel’s 18 year-old son, Logan, was there to support his father. It was truly one of the most heartbreaking things I have ever seen. Ivan was everything to Daniel – just like his wonderful wife and other children. Daniel held Ivan until his final breaths. Daniel, as to be expected, is not doing well. And one of the saddest parts of it is that Daniel had taken Ivan to a different veterinarian about two months ago, because Ivan was losing weight drastically, not eating, lethargic, and was having constant nosebleeds. That veterinarian apparently did not even listen to Ivan’s heart carefully. A grade 5 heart murmur can be detected just by FEELING the dog’s chest or one of his pulses in the leg arteries, as Dr. Muisquiz showed us. Of course, I will be giving this “veterinarian” a call, because I truly believe this was a case of malpractice. Ivan’s congenital heart murmur would have eventually caught up with him, but had he been diagnosed properly earlier, the process could have been slowed and Ivan would not have had to suffer so much.
Please “friend” Daniel Stroud on Facebook to express your condolences.
Thank you for bringing Daniel out of his shell and helping him to regain some normalcy to your beloved Wounded Warrior father, Ivan. You will be missed beyond belief. Luckily, you had 3 years of the best care and the deepest love a dog could feel
From Jennifer, who has been training with Candace in Ft. Worth.
“I am so thankful for our trainer, Candace, from Ft. Worth. Today was my son’s first day at school with his SD. Candace made sure the day went well, and I am so happy. Thank you SDE for all you have done for my son, our SD, and our family..”
THANK YOU, JENNIFER, FOR THAT BEAUTIFUL ACKNOWLEDGMENT. WE ARE SO FORTUNATE TO HAVE CANDACE AS PART OF OUR TEAM.
A write-up from our trainer, Beverly, who is working with Wounded Warrior, Yolanda.
“While Yolanda was having and recovering from major surgery she sent Dante to a local trainer to stay for 2 weeks. Dante was PERFECT in the store and his handsome good looks got a lot of attention. We reviewed all aspects of the PAT and discussed restaurant behaviors. Although she practices at home, Yolanda didn’t want to take Dante out to a restaurant as she did not want the hassle of people giving her a hard time. I gave her several of the ADA law cards and SDE business cards and discussed with her what to say to defuse difficult situations and what to do if a business refused her service.
Next session will be the PAT as Dante is a very well-behaved, stately SD who is highly bonded to Yolanda. She also states he already wakes her from nightmares, detects her migraines when they are coming on and appropriately responds to her anxiety by nudging and distracting her. Dante is AWESOME!
WONDERFUL JOB, YOLANDA, DANTE, AND BEVERLY!
From our trainer Candace, in Fort Worth. She is working with 7 1/2 year-old Marcus, who suffers from PTSD, night terrors, and extreme anxiety at such a young age. Heather, Marcus’s mother, says that Duke is such a good friend for Marcus son, Marcus. Heather says that Marcus, who was adopted at age 4 1/2, is a bright, compassionate, energetic young man who is being limited by the ghosts of his past. She loves him so much, citing that “I am in awe at the resilience he shows in just getting up and facing the day every morning. He always asks for me to stay with him at night and he says he wishes his dog (an adopted chiweenie) was bigger and could watch over him at night.” What a beautifully supportive family dear Marcus has!
“Marcus’ family is doing a wonderful job with their son’s SDiT, “Duke”. Duke miraculously keeps up with young Marcus, as he is so active and upbeat! We worked on proper leash walking. Heather did most of the walking, showing Marcus how to go about properly himself. Marcus is doing a great job as well, minding his mother and doing his best to work with Duke. We also played a game where Marcus hid under his covers and Duke jumped up to find him. This will help when Marcus has his nightmares and Duke needs to comfort him. Other than that, the family is working on basic training like “come,” “stay,” and “leave it.” Duke is doing very well, and picking up on things quickly. The challenge will be to transfer those training skills over to Marcus and having Duke mind him. This will take time, patience and consistency on the Wilson’s part, especially for Heather. So far, she is remarkable. Keep up the great work!”
REMARKABLE, INDEED. WE ALL LOVE YOU, DEAR MARCUS!!!!
PLEASE say prayers – many prayers – for one of our dearest clients, Wounded Warrior Daniel, and his SD, pit Ivan. Ivan had stopped eating and was acting lethargic, and obviously losing weight. The first veterinarian Daniel took Ivan to just gave him some medicine and said he’d be fine. Well, that was about a month ago. Today, I talked to Daniel and told him to go to St. Francis of Assisi Veterinary Medical Center on Potranco where I advise all of our clients to go if they can get there. Ivan had lost 9 pounds, and they detected a heart murmur and an enlarged heart. Ivan goes back on Monday for an EKG and more testing. This is very, very hard on Daniel, whose stress exacerbates his symptoms very much, and he has difficulty comprehending certain things do to his TBI. Ivan and Daniel are literally inseparable – they do EVERYTHING together. I am going to call the doctor tomorrow to hear the report from him, as Daniel was too upset to comprehend all that was going on. We need to pray because Daniel needs and loves Ivan with all his heart. I will let you all know as things progress. I DO know that Ivan is in the best hands as far as veterinary care.