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!”