Category Archives: Texas

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, Bipolar, PTSD, San Antonio, Texas

Carol and SDiT Kensi

From our trainer, Andrew, who is working with Carol, who suffers from bi-polar disorder, anxiety, and PTSD, and her SDIT, Kensi.

“For this session, we went over some basic obedience like “down/stay” and “sit/stay”. We talked about the importance of speaking the word, then making the gesture, then immediately rewarding the proper execution of the command. I played a relationship game with her called restrained recall. This is the act of the dog learning to come quickly and enthusiastically to the handler once she has been released by the helper. Kensi seemed to get it right away, but only strolled up to Carol. I can see with practice that Kensi will build drive for this exercise and become more enthusiastic as the repetitions progress. I showed Carol the “cover” maneuver, and she seemed understand, but has a little trouble with reaching around and luring the dog behind her. I gave her some tips on how to ease that a little and we will see how Kensi is taking to “cover” next week.”

 

Anxiety, Depression, Hearing, Military, Mobility, PTSD, San Antonio, Texas, Veteran, Wounded Warrior

Amber and Brinn

From our trainer Andrew, who is working with Wounded Warrior Amber, who suffers from PTSD, Major Depression, General Anxiety Disorder, cervical strain, lumbar Degenerative Disc Disease, Right Knee meniscus tear, and hearing loss, and her SDIT, “Brinn”.

“On September 22nd, 2014, I had my first session with Amber and Brinn. We mainly talked about the expected capabilities of her Service Dog in Training, what she has already worked on with Brinn, and what help she needs from Brinn the most. Brinn already knows a plethora of commands, as Amber has been working with her daily for the month that she has had her. She knows basic obedience such as sit, down, come, wait, leave it, load, unload, and already how to “cover”. What Brinn needs is reinforcement, so we focused on that. Brinn does have a problem pulling on the leash when she has on a normal nylon collar, so I showed Amber a technique for loose leash walking. Amber has begun working with Brinn on it already.

Amber’s family is also fostering a dog named Wendy and, together they both are not good at focusing on the commands as they want to play instead of listen. Wendy is more versed than Brinn is and responds better than Brinn to the commands when she is alone with a handler. We discussed working with them and scheduling times to teach the more difficult commands.

All in all, we had a good session. I was only needed to instruct them on reinforcement of the commands that Amber has already been working hard to teach Brinn and we will continue to do so in future sessions.”

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!

Cerebral Palsy, Experience, General, Houston, Mobility, Texas

Emileigh visits Disneyland!

Look at this remarkable article regarding our dear former client, Emileigh!!!!! We were training with Emileigh and her mother, Kelly, until our former trainer in Houston had to go elsewhere due to changes. But we have been following lovely Emileigh and her search for the perfect SDIT after she had a few sessions learning about SDs with us – and now she found a beautiful Labradoodle that will become her SD!!!! What a remarkable family – and we are all praying and wishing for happiness for the entire Marsh family!!!

Cypress girl gets her wish to visit Disneyland

Houston, Military, PTSD, Texas, Veteran, Wounded Warrior

Wounded Warrior Ronnie and his SDIT, Roxy

From our wonderful trainer, Kendra, who is training with Wounded Warrior Ronnie and his SDIT, Roxy!

“I met with Ronnie and SDIT Roxy today at Toys R Us. Roxy did a controlled load and unload of of the vehicle. She walked safely in the parking lot and entered in a controlled manner. We walked with a cart to practice and Roxy was not at all distracted by the cart. She does tend to move to the side to be able to see around the cart, so we will work on having her follow right next to Ronnie’s side. I told Ronnie when walking with a cart, practice walking right next to the isle so Roxy can’t veer ahead. This way she will learn where she needs to be beside the buggy in a heel.

We went to the ball isle and worked with tossing and bouncing balls, as this is Roxy’s weak point. At first, Roxy was very intent on watching me with the ball. So I moved a bit further away as Ronnie got her to sit and watch him. I bounced and threw the ball in the air and she stayed sitting and looked right back at him. So slowly I moved closer and closer until eventually I could walk past her. She then did something really awesome. As she was in the aisle and I was walking past her bouncing the ball, she scooted over to give me more room to pass! So we moved on, and I sat on a skateboard and pushed myself toward her and past her. She wasn’t bothered.

We walked through the store and Ronnie and Roxy had a meet and greet with a customer and she did it perfectly. I also put some quarters in the ride on machine at the front of the store to see what her reaction would be, and she was unsure at first, but with some reassuring she was over it in a matter of seconds. Ronnie also put her in a sit/stay and walked to the other side of the aisle and around the aisle (I was holding the leash) and she stayed. She did, however, stand up when he was back in her sight because she was so happy to see him again! Roxy does have some anxiety when Ronnie isn’t in her sight in public, but I more believe it’s because she knows he needs her – it’s just the way they interact and how she is constantly looking at him and how he interacts with her. She just lays on the floor and watches Ronnie.

Roxy’s bond with Ronnie is amazing. They are best friends and she will do anything for him. He told me that the other day there were out and a man was standing entirely too close to Ronnie, so he just tugged on Roxy’s leash and she went between Ronnie and the other man – and the man was so close that Roxy moved him away as she got in place. Roxy is a natural and Ronnie’s dedication really shows. I am so proud of both of them!

We also walked next door to the grocery store. We worked on walking through the store and practiced “leave it” with Roxy not sniffing. We will continue to work in that. We will work some more at the mall next week to see how she does at sitting down and eating and also work on Roxy’s nervousness around the bedding aisle. Ronnie taught Roxy “belly rub” and “Shake” and “hugs”!

Anxiety, Depression, Dyslexia, Experience, Panic Attack, Texas

In Inuko Own Words

 

A beautifully written message from our dear client, Inuko, who lost her first SDIT, Trooper. She asked me to share this. We so appreciate her words. We love you dearly, Inuko!

“Dear SDE,

Let me start off by saying thank you… Thank you for giving me my life back. When I found Trooper, I was wasting away, sick, depressed, and scared. I barely slept at night and when I did, I had awful nightmares. I was miserable. And then… Trooper saved me. Suddenly, I knew I wasn’t alone, no matter where I went or who was around. When I got to places I couldn’t get back from, he chased me down and loved me until my demons were gone. They couldn’t touch me.

When Trooper died, I was terrified. I was upset and hurt. However… He had brought somebody else into my life. Orianna. He called to her and she came, and when he passed, she helped to take care of me. She means the world to me. She’s helped so much.

Incident struck again, and I’ve been graced with a third dog. Right when we realized that Orianna is too skittish to be a good SD, we talked to wonderful Cherry at the perfect time, and we were led to Gadget.

I wondered why this happened, and now I know. My spinal surgery – done before Trooper passed – failed. My disc herniated once more, worse than before, and now I’m going to have to get a spinal fusion. Because of all of my other health problems, I will most likely spend three weeks unable to walk and will have to go through extensive physical therapy. A close loved one recently passed away. I felt completely alone, terrified, hurt. I felt like I had nowhere to go. Then, one day, I curled up on the floor to cry… and both of my girls crawled over to me to lie down on me. They licked away my tears, made me feel like I wasn’t alone, and then… I slept.

I’m sure people at SDE will understand the beauty of that statement. I slept. I rested. I dreamed a happy dream and I woke up smiling. I slept! Through the pain and the fear, I managed to sleep…. and it was all because of my girls.

All three of my dogs have come into my life purely by chance, and all three of them have changed everything. I’m still sick. I am going to have to have surgery again. I will be even worse after the surgery. But you know what? It’s okay. It’s really, really okay. I’ve got my Family; people who love me eternal. I’ve got my haven; my home is finally safe and secure. I’ve got my World again… and it’s all thanks to my girls.

So dear everybody reading this, let me tell you something, okay? It gets better. It may seem like it never will. You might be scared. You might be hurting. You might be sick… I’m right there with you… and let me tell you: you’re not alone. You’re never alone. You’ve got the people at Service Dog Express, just like I do… and you have your dogs. They change lives.

They changed my life.
Thank you.
Inuko