From our dear trainer, Kendra, in Houston, with Elisa and her SDIT, “CB”. Elisa suffers from bipolar disorder, anxiety, and depression. Kendra writes:

I met Elisa at her house for the initial evaluation. At first, CB was shy; she was hiding behind Elisa when I came in the door. I had a treat in my hand and she would not take it. So Elisa and I sat down and talked about what she wanted a Service Dog to perform for her and more about the process.

After being there awhile, CB warmed up to me and I was able to do the evaluation. CB has already finished basic obedience at the Pet Store, so she knows “sit”, “lay (down)”, “off”, “leave it”, and loose-leash walking. I was able to handle CB with little problems. She is treat motivated, and has a strong bond with Elisa. We went outside to see how CB did outside of the home, and CB was much more outgoing when she was away from the other dog that’s in the home. I asked Elisa to work on getting CB to focus on her when out for walks by stopping at times and having CB do a “watch me”. The homework for Elisa and CB is to practice “watch me”, “sitting at the door” to go out, and socialization. We also talked about shedding, as CB sheds very badly. In one of these pictures, Elisa was having an anxiety attack and CB was comforting her!”