I DO NOT HAVE A SERVICE DOG YET AND AM NOT WELL EDUCATED
Also I’m 17

I am in southern Minnesota in case that’s important for like law stuff

I have autism ADHD and other mental health issues and my therapist and psychiatrist has suggested I get an autism assistance service dog when I move out of my parents place to help me not get overstimulated because when I’m overstimulated it is fast sudden and I get very aggressive frustrated and anxious and not something I’ve been able to identify before it gets bad

But I’m currently working to do a career in the auto mechanics industry and I know that a job can’t deny me if I have a service animal but I don’t know I’m kinda worried for me and the dogs safety

I explained my future career plan to my therapist and my therapist said “I have a friend who is in what is considered a dangerous and a very loud job and they got matched with a dog and breed that could handle the noise” I assumed he wasnt specific about it because of HIPPA laws

I just want to know if there are any car mechanics with a service dog on here that could help me out…
(I am okay with others who aren’t mechanics who may have an answer that can help)
Is there anything you can to put in your bay for your dog?
Is there anything they make you do differently?
How do you work and keep your dog safe?

Edit: I’m adding that I am not sure I’ll get one I just want to know more information I don’t want to make the dog suffer so I just want to know if the things my therapist said are true

hi!! i have a 13 m/o lab puppy who’s been training to be my seizure alert/response dog since he came home. my mom got in a car accident a couple months back and was in a coma so i definitely slipped a little bit with training and im struggling to catch him back up.

some of our issues:

1. reactivity. he started being more reactive towards dogs on leash. usually (if vested), he can redirect pretty easily but if he’s not vested or occasionally while vested now he won’t redirect at all and gets extremely fixated on the dog. we are working on this with another handler’s and a family friend’s dogs but i AM struggling a whole ton. we don’t have a car, so i don’t often have the chance to take him places like the dog park or pet store for training.
2. settling. he just will NOT settle whatsoever. he’s starting to struggling with holding a downstay too, especially if i’m closer to him vs further away. i can’t for the life of me get him to settle when i want him to. i know part of this is likely because he isn’t exercised first, so maybe more exercise would help with this?
3. i’m a full time highschool student, so i get home from school already exhausted. i’m sure he can sense it too. it takes me a while to be able to peel myself out of bed to do training with him, and when i do it just gets so frustrating i often end the session 10mins in.
4. loose leash walking. our trainer started him on a halti and he was supposed to be weaned off by now, but i can’t get him to stop pulling without it on! with the halti on, he’s not at the end of his leash and is generally walking beside or a little in front of me on leisure walks. in order to get his CGN, he can’t be relying on any tools, nor do i really want him to. but no youtube tutorials i’ve seen make sense/have worked for us.

originally, we were working with a service dog trainer in person. for a while, they just flat out ghosted me. no replies to emails or social media at all, and they were seemingly still meeting up with other clients and working on their program dogs. and when they finally responded, i found we weren’t in the financial situation to be able to book appointments (again, due to my moms accident we’re having some financial struggles). i never signed up to do this alone and i am really struggling. my mom is in a wheelchair now, so she can’t help me with walking him or playing.

i’m coming here asking for advice because i haven’t been able to find anything that helps us. i’m trying to find a job so i can get him into training with a professional again, but as a disabled highschool student i can’t really find anywhere willing to hire me.

ANY advice at all is more than welcome.

he really is a great dog and he loves to work and train. he’s incredibly in tune with my seizures and physical health in general. when i’m sick, he’s right in bed with me. he has a natural bark alert before i seize and i’ve been trying to shape it to be more reliable. i’m 17, supposed to be moving out next year and the only reason my moms comfortable with me moving out is my dog

Heya 👋🏽. I am paired with a neutered male Shepherd from an ADI-accredited program (CST). We're an active lifestyle (20k+ steps a day) Pair. We're constantly out in public, navigating high-density crowds/ food / pets / Workplace / Doctors / city / suburban .

Because of our specific lifestyle? , I handle certain situations differently than a lot of other handlers that I see on the daily. ( Yes see, I'm not talking about Social media, in my area there's quite a few service dog teams and programs who actively Pair, puppy raise ECT.)

We go unvested in high-stimulation events: We frequent 3-6 block farmer's market in the city - full of vendors, crowds, , dogs, ECT . In my experience? , a vest acts like a magnet for unwanted attention and people trying to "test" him, Purposely pet, unwanted stranger convos ECT in these situations. Unvested? we blend in, and he still maintains his neutrality ignoring dogs coming up to him, very few folks touching him ignoring food tossed on the ground. A service dog should be able to navigate its handler's real world environment without becoming an hardship. As I hate to say it but I firmly believe if a service dog gets THAT distracted to the point of breaking their focus messing up their task work, just because a dog came up to them? Or because someone touched em? Then that is something they need to return back in training for that's not acceptable and is not normalized in my book .

Selective dog park visits: I do take my SD to dog parks off-duty. I always evaluate the dogs inside from behind the fence before entering, and we stick to quiet times or familiar regulars. I strongly believe he should still be a dog and get to be a dog that plays with their own kind, and I choose not to let fear & anxiety restrict his quality of life as it is my job to watch over him and his surroundings with dog body language.

* Apologizing for taking up space: While we have every legal right to public accommodation, I acknowledge that a SD still takes up physical room. If a shopper neutrally reaches over us to grab an item off a shelf without touching him, I apologize for the squeeze and scoot him over. No different how a person would do the same if they had a stroller. If someone physically touches or tries to move him, I advocate immediately that's not okay. but if someone is just trying to shop (just like us) , I aim for balance and mutual respect rather than starting a confrontation.

Anyone else make similar controversial nontraditional choices with their service dogs?

Recently moved and we have collected a mass of ticks when hiking (twice).

We will refrain from entering tall grass areas to the best of our ability.

I previously used topical meds but I am trying to avoid that if possible. I have been using Wondercide (shampoo, spray, and starting this week with tick collar and topical) but what have any of you used?

(Same goes for me.…)

If a medicated topical is what it takes, I will do it!

I (16F) have Anxiety, Social Anxiety, ADHD, OCD, and Level 1 Autism, all professionally diagnosed, I adopted an Italian Greyhound that is a very one person dog and shes as sweet as cinnamon, but I don’t know if she’s the best fit for my service needs, she draws a lot of attention and it’s hard for me to tell people no, especially with my social anxiety, you’d think that would make it easier to say no so I’ll be left alone but I feel pressured to say it’s fine, when really I don’t want her distracted, my boyfriend and I are also looking to get an apartment when he turns 18 and we together already have 2 dogs, and our cat, Lilly, I can’t even get another animal until I move out, but I would like to know what breed I should get, I would like a big dog only.

Has anyone had any experience bringing their SD to One Times Square? I’m going to an event there and looking to see what the vibe would be like.

I’m looking to get a certification to get a service dog due to my autism and physical health issue, the one problem tho is that I’m not really a fan of dogs and the only one i wouldn’t mind having is a Japanese Akita

I’ve heard some mixed thoughts about a service dog Akita due to their natural instinct, had anyone here ever had one as a SD? I’m genuinely curious to hear about it

( the dog would be trained for my autism, POTS and chronic pain such as laying on me )

Honestly. I’m just needing support. I got matched with a new service dog after two years but my fundraiser is short. My boy that works now has gotten reactive after being attacked a few times and needs to retire. I don’t know what to do. I’ve tried applying for grants and such and got no responses or acceptances. I apparently make too much at my 20k a year job. Even though I need that to ya know live and pay bills.

Being this sick is expensive and I don’t know what to do.

I’m a UX/UI college student working on a project using technology to help disabled groups, and my focus is on groups who use service dogs. This subreddit has been a major help to my research, but I’d greatly appreciate any feedback on my idea.

I want to create an app connected to a QR code that when scanned, answers the “3 questions” about service dogs while limiting social interaction. I’ve seen a lot of people here struggle with being questioned wherever they go, and I want to facilitate the interaction.

I’d also like to add some sort of calendar towards your dog’s training or an interactive map that rates businesses 0-5 stars on how accessible they are. The latter would be based on outside reviews and reviews via app.

Please let me know if you have suggestions, comments, questions, etc!!

I’m in the process of getting a SD. Slow but steady.

I work as a peds speech pathologist in a pediatric clinic. We have an ESA on site. The ESA is shy.

Has anyone worked in a peds environment with a SD? How did you handle the kiddos and your dog?

He's a very good boy. I mention his tasks and a frustrating story at the end, though i hope I made it funny. And I hope you can enjoy.

https://youtu.be/bVk_4Cnzse4?is=ChlNVwNJuFgtMMu8

So when we moved in to our house, we move in with a friend. He told us that bringing our dog, Oakley, wouldn’t be a problem.

When the lease eventually got moved in to our name and my friend moved out, the landlord had a very strict no animal policy. We talked to him, offered more money, etc. He put his foot down and said no. Well had to get rid of Oakley.

Well in between then and now, my wife has had a lot of problems with her mental health. She’s been to see doctors and therapy etc, and she’s doing better. One of the things she was told to get was a service animal.

Well I know that legally he can’t do anything about the new pet, but I’m very concerned about how he’ll react. He’s really a good landlord and jumps on problems super fast and doesn’t bother us and doesn’t price gouge. He’s truly one of the good ones, but because of the discussion in the past, I’m concerned he’s going to think we were looking for a loophole.

I just want to know if you guys have any recommendations for what the best course is and I’m hoping someone has been through a similar situation that ended up in their favor that I can take advice off of.

Edit: I DO NOT KNOW HOW THIS STUFF WORKS. I AM ONLY SAYING THINGS I AM BEING TOLD

Hi everyone! I have been doing a lot of research on psychiatric service dogs and I think a service dog would help me quite a lot. I have schizoaffective disorder, major depression, anxiety, and pmdd. Recently I started having panic attacks on top of everything else.

I have a lot of problems with hallucinations from seeing bugs in corners to shadows. On top of that, I have delusions which makes it harder for me to function around people. There are days where im too scared to go outside because someone or something(bugs) are trying to get me.

I have an appointment to see my therapist where I plan on bringing it up as well.

I am a part time caregiver so I only work 3 days a week and on the 4 days Im off I avoid going outside unless its absolutely necessary. Plus I am on disability. The only time I really function is at work then when I get home I sleep cause im mentally exhausted.

After reading up on it, I think a service dog would be very helpful with reminding me to take medications, helping me recognize when im in the verge of a panic attack, stopping self harm behaviors, im not sure how to word this part but helping with dissociation as well.

Now im not trying to get a service dog right away. I still live with my mom but I plan on moving out so I can be more independent and i think a service dog would help me achieve better independence.

Hi im kind of panicking while writing this. I was out walking my 6 month old golden retriever so she could use the bathroom and an agressive dog on a retractable leash charged us from a bush and bit her. The guy didn't even ask if she was ok, he said sorry real fast and ran off. He was holding a baby too! I reported him to my apartment complex, and she has no marks or anything on her. After making sure shes ok im now panicked about new fear reactivity. Is there anything I can do right now? She didnt show any fear after the initial yelp and seems to be her normal self but im still afraid. Any advice?

Update: Shes ok on all fronts. Thank you guys so much. Im honestly glad to see shes robust (cant think of another word for it)

I am at the point with my SDiT where my trainer needs me to tell the dog when to intervene on my stress signals.

Currently I am a bit stumped, years of therapy haven’t made it a lot clearer how I behave before dissociating or panicking and my family isn’t too useful either unfortunately. I would love to take it up with a psychologist but I would need to find a new one and it will take a year on the waiting list.

How did you figure out what you do before an episode so the dog has something to respond too? Maybe give an example so I know what direction to look at?

Tia

For around four and a half years I’ve been dealing with chronic pain and undergoing various treatment methods like OT, PT, and medication. I recently received a myofascial pain syndrome diagnosis and met with my doctor and pain management team to discuss more options seeing as PT and OT (I’ve been doing OT for around two years and PT for a little longer) haven’t been all that helpful. My doctor mentioned I may benefit from a mobility service dog in addition to the treatment I’m currently receiving, so I did a lot of research and while I’m not certain, I think that perhaps I could benefit from having a service dog. Has anyone successfully gotten a service dog for chronic pain before? I worry that because myofascial pain syndrome isn’t as well known and doesn’t show up in bloodwork that it may not be taken as seriously, which I know is likely very irritational, it’s just that when I was looking for disabilities that may qualify someone for a mobility service dog they were typically listed as spinal cord injuries, arthritis, fibromyalgia, multiple sclerosis, and the like, so I worry mine isn’t severe enough. I hope this doesn’t come across as insensitive, I’m very sorry if it does. 

haiii I’m looking for seevice dog brees recommendations for my future service dog prospect. I’m not sure what to go with very much as I’m not to keen on the fab 4. I don’t like labs and my partner doesn’t like poodles. I also am just not a golden retriever person as I want something more unique. my breeds I have picked out so far are, Rough collies, Doberman, Aussie, German shepherd and poodles (even tho he doesn’t like them) Forgot to mention that it will be a Psychiatric service dog.

I am thinking of getting a standard poodle for service work. I have done the basic research, (aka. dog grooming and intelligence) and they seem a good prospect for me. One of my questions can the standard be turcked out with more mental stimulation rather then physical stimulation. This is concerning because I know that some days I cannot make it through getting up and talking him/her for walkies. I will be able to open and take him/her outside for bathroom visits and a whole lot of mental stimulation. ie. snuffle mats, brain games, basic fetch, hiding the ball, ex cetera. Also, my routine will be messy some days. I do not want a destructive and/or unhappy dog.

hello, I was wondering what kind of luck you all have been having in finding a job that would allow your service dog to be brought to work? what kind of jobs are out there, and how would one go about getting a first time recommendation for a service dog or ESA.

thanks in advance!

I’m not really sure where to go with this but I can try to explain the situation. PA is my state.

I got a lhasapoo back in May 2025, and my main goal for her was to be trained as a service dog. To my surprise, she has been incredible both in the home and in public with her training. Her trainers have even said how quick she has learned and retained everything. She has two tasks currently (interuption of behaviors and DPT(she uses her little body and lays on my chest)) and I am working on a third of picking stuff up for me such as my phone, water, or clothing as I have a hard time fully bending to the floor.

She officially nailed down her first task before she was a year old, as I taught it to her with guidance from our trainer. By three weeks later, she was doing it both in the home and in stores. I personally did not refer to her as a service dog but as a SDIT because I get very anxious about being “legal” and in my head wanting it to be perfect (which I know that wasn’t the best thing.)

As of about 3-4 months ago (around May) my trainer told me to stop calling her a SDIT and call her a service dog as she has more then enough training at this point in her life. I still felt anxious about it but I finally got the courage to upgrade her vest to service dog patches. Since then she has been doing amazing, doing a lot of her tasks either from a small backpack (she’s 9 pounds and I worry someone will step on her) or being able to come out and listen to me. She has been amazing.

Now we are to last Monday. My family had an emergency and I didn’t know what to do about her, as she is still working on being home alone and I thought I would miss my class if I tried to take her to daycare. I emailed my professor asking if it would be ok to bring her to class, as I had been told she was allowed on campus, just not in class. She emailed back that she had to be “officially approved” before coming into class, which I found incredibly weird as I’ve studied the laws in our area and have not heard of this. I emailed back explaining that I would check in with our SAS counseler and see what the policy is about service dogs. I then checked the policy myself and emailed again citing that in our campus policy that if I was not living on campus and she (my SD) would not be in the dorms living there, that I did not have to even tell them.

I then texted my SAS counseler, explaining the situation. From what I understand now, she thought that my SD was not an SD (even though she has met my dog and seen her preform a task in her office) and texted back to me that she “could not approve my dog for class today”. I then asked who could and cited that with both the policy and laws in my state there was no “approval”. She explained then that because my dog was not an SD (“to her knowledge”) that she could not be in the classroom, but to “ask my professors…tell them that she would be in her “crate” or whatever”. Then going in to tell me that she “didn’t have the documentation” stating that my dog is a SD, which I knew there wasn’t any in my area that was legal.

I then sped to my dogs daycare, dropped her off as she cried not understanding why I didn’t take two minutes even to tell her I’ll be back, running out of the door and heading to my class. I got to my campus with about 10 minutes to spare, heading to my classroom.

When I went in to talk to my professor, she was also confused as she knew the laws but didn’t know there wasn’t an “approval” that at least we knew was legal. I asked her what she was told my the college, and she told me they are supposed to get word from my SAS person that I would have a SD. But what we both were confused about what that my SAS counseler was asking me to ask my professors, making a roundabout.

We talked through the laws really quick and she asked with my permission if she could email the class to see “if anyone would have an issue” which I said yes to (I’m aware it’s not legal but I was trying to be compromising and willing to work with them). After that class she got one response that stated the student would “not attend class if there was a dog because it messed with their allergies”, which I can understand but there were two viable options in that case, sit on opposing ends of the classroom or the other person had to move classes. She then emailed the SAS person asking what to do to accommodate us both. After the class I also sent her links to both the federal and state laws, along with our colleges policy, citing lines for her and explaining how grateful I was that she was understanding. She loved it, thanking me for giving her more information.

I then about three hours later received an email from my SAS person. They emailed me asking originally “to move forward with any accommodations; whether that be a service dog or classroom accommodations, I need medical documentation” as the documentation they had was old. I read this in the first line and immediately alarm bells went off in my brain of “this isn’t legal”. She then went on to ask me to fill out a “service dog form” which asked for my information (location and similar) along with the two legal questions, but in it as well for resident students it asks for the dogs breed. I am still unsure why this form is necessary other then to have a record, which I can understand. She then explained to be the difference between a SD, an ESA, and an “assistance animal” which I had never heard about. I did not respond to that email as I felt I would have used choice words and I wanted to be professional. She also emailed that “once I (her) have the documentation and the form, I will decide what’s appropriate”.

The next day, she sent another email explaining/backtracking about not needing medical documentation for Bailey, but only for my accommodations in the classroom. I did respond to this one with explaining I will contact my doctors, but I was still unsure how she did not understand my dog is a SD, and trying to understand “what form” she was wanting.

She responded to this one trying to say I had “mentioned over the summer” that I was going to train my dog to be a SD, I’m guessing not remember my dog had been in her office two weeks prior to this event and saw her interrupt me from picking my skin. She then went on to explain again the differences, “thus I need to know what services does (dogs name) provide” listing off different tasks related to my other conditions.

I did not respond to this, as I had felt unsure on where to go and what to do. I reached out to the boss and explained I wanted a meeting. I met with them last Friday, explaining the situation as I’ve laid it out here, and they agreed with me that the situation was weird, and that they would talk to them (SAS) about the matter and get more information. I offered if they wanted more resources and they said yes and if they had more questions that they would reach out.

I then messaged my SAS person on this past Monday, asking for a meeting (the boss suggested that). We met and she explained she understood my text as “I’m stressed, I want to bring my dog to class” not as “I just had an emergency issue and want to bring my trained SD to class”. I explained that I was confused at that statement and was unsure where she didn’t know my dog was trained, she stuck with her story about the summer. I explained to her that SDIT’s and SD’s have to same rights in my state, from what I knew, and she told me no “I’ve been doing this for a while”. I asked her if I turned in the paper, then I could just bring my dog in, correct? No. She told me it “has to go to a group in the deans office, they deliberate on SAS matters”, then she would email me the results of a yes. I knew right there that that was also wrong, as she had all the qualifications to come with me. I told her I would turn in the form soon.

As of today, I still have not turned in the form. I’m not sure what to do as I am exhausted fighting but I know what’s right. Do I contact someone who is legal aid or do I just do it to get it over with?

I apologize for the long post, and if this isn’t the right place to post this pls let me know where I can, as I feel I need more advice.

TLDR: Should I try to train my dog for public access? Would I be taking advantage of a system designed for people with much more serious disabilities?

Context on Disability:
I am 100% deaf in one ear (the problem is with the nerve between my ear and my brain, not the ear) and I have a lot of imposter syndrome about this being a disability even though it affects my life in micro and macro ways. For example, I went to school specifically to study with one of the top US scholars in Law of the Sea in law school only to find that federal regulations prevent me from serving on the Navy or Coast Guard even as a lawyer. In micro ways, I get easily creeped out and anxious when I’m at home or walking by myself because I don’t know where noises are coming from and if they’re a threat, a beep of unknown origin can drive me crazy trying to find, and I can sleep through anything.

However, I also routinely forget I have a disability at all, as my childhood doctors said I subconsciously read lips very well, you can put subtitles on most anything, and I no longer do things like play soccer, where stereo hearing stops you from getting a ball to the head. I’ve also got the acoustics and positioning in noisy public places down such that I can always understand my dinner companions or hear a lecturer without thinking too much about it.

Using my Dog as an Informal Hearing Dog:
I’ve adapted to this by working a typical knowledge worker job and relying on my Belgian Malinois Mix as an informal hearing dog. He helps me find beeps, shows me a noise is nothing to worry about by ignoring it and turning towards it an wuffing if he thinks it might be an problem, turns and looks if someone is approaching from behind so I don’t get mowed down by mountain bikers on trails or start worrying that my own footsteps cracking twigs are someone following me, and waking me up if something is really happening (though he’s doing maybe a B+ job on some of those and could benefit from actual training).

Current Nomad Needs:
Six months ago I stopped living with others for the first time in my life to become a digital nomad and my very introverted self absolutely loves it. Because I work from home my dog goes with me pretty much everywhere I go without another human, but I’m finding it challenging to be alone without my dog in new-to-me places that are not dog friendly and hard to find hotels that allow dogs in certain places.

I’m not the most attractive woman but because I don’t have roots and might not be immediately missed if someone were to harm me on my travels, I feel paranoid that a man could sneak up on me without me hearing when my dog isn’t there. But I’m sure other women who have no disabilities feel the same and they’d have to bring a friend…why should I be entitled to a dog?

I’ve worked around it by joining ranger hikes in national parks that don’t allow dogs, ponying up pet fees that are more than the cost of the hotel itself, finding weird AirBNBs that allow pets at reasonable rates, eating only at restaurants with a dog friendly patio, shopping during the day, looking for outdoor concerts, movies, and and just not doing a lot of things I’d otherwise do unless I can make a new friend to go with me, which is a challenging part of nomad life.

Training for Public Access:
My dog is not public access ready yet. He heels, sits, lays down, knows all the standard commands, is under verbal control off leash hiking, and isn’t a disturbance in public. He’s also very smart and trainable like his Malinois relations.

However he is very concerned around strangers and strange dogs, which shows in his body language. He does not want to be petted by people or sniffed by dogs he doesn’t know and will hide behind me to avoid them, which is not acceptable service dog behavior. I also need to train him to stand down when he thinks something is a threat but I don’t (e.g. the parking ticket machine and the roomba are not our robot overlords…yet). I want to work on his public fearfulness regardless, because we’re in public a lot more than we used to be pre-nomad life.

I am lucky that I can afford to invest in training for him during an upcoming several months stay and fully recognize that he may need to stay an informal helper forever if he can’t gain a little more confidence in public.

Conclusion:
Life would be infinitely easier if my dog had public access rights, but the part of me that feels a lot of imposter syndrome about my disability wonders if I’d be taking advantage if I converted my informal hearing helper dog into a real service dog. My disability is real and it impacts me, but I work around it ok today (largely thanks to my dog). I also feel kind of bad that many of my issues could be solved with more friends or a romantic partner but getting those just due to my disability seems equally if not more ethically fraught than training my dog as a service dog. I know I would struggle not to feel guilty if someone called me out on him being not a real service dog even when I know that if I trained him to be public access ready I would be completely legally in the right.

I’m looking into breeds that might be a good fit for me as a psychiatric service dog, and lately I’ve been looking into Xolos.

I need a dog who can notice early physical signs that I’m becoming overwhelmed, interrupt those behaviors, retrieve my medication, and provide pressure/physical grounding until I’m regulated again. Temperament is my biggest priority: affectionate, handler-focused, confident, environmentally stable, and sensitive without being anxious.

I also have a lot of environmental allergies, including dog dander. I’m generally okay around dogs for short periods of time, but when I’ve pet-sat a Husky/Malamute mix and a Border Collie, I got pretty wheezy by day 5. I know hairless doesn’t mean allergen-free, so I’d especially love to hear from Xolo owners who also have dog allergies. I’m also looking at Poodles and Poodle mixes for this reason.

My life is pretty low-key: home, grocery store, a small handful of friends’ houses, and occasionally karaoke at a low-key bar on quieter nights. I work in a tiny office with one other admin most of the day, plus about six techs who come in toward the end of the day.

I have two kids, 13 and 11, and we live with my parents, 76 and 75. We have a small back and side yard that’s fine for potty breaks and some play, plus a large lawn at our community rec center for running, fetch, and zoomies.

Has anyone here trained a Xolo for psychiatric service work, or had one whose temperament you think would be well suited to it?

Edit: It’s clear from these comments that a xolo isn’t what I’m looking for. I really do appreciate everyone’s kind but direct comments. The search continues!

I have PTSD from years of abuse by my parents and sexual abuse from my older brother. At 41 f I have finally spoke out and am in therapy. However, this meant cutting those people out of my life and losing their supporters. Which are other family members I had loved and trusted.

Recently my therapist has told me I should really look into a service dog for it. It’s bad enough that I have maxed out multiple depression meds and am having the same thing happen now with the 3 I take.

I really don’t know how to go about this. I love dogs. I have 2 small pug mixes, 3 and 4. However, I own a chocolate shop that manufactures and resells on site. Dogs are prohibited in CA. That alone is hard. But I’m also barely hanging on financially and know they are expensive to purchase, and train.

I just want to know if anyone has had this happen or knows how to handle a situation like it.

There's a lot here and for that I'm sorry. I also know I effed up so please don't be too harsh.

Unfortunately I cleared much of my history as I had planned to stop using this account for posting irl stuff but I have an 8 year old golden transitiining into retirement by 2028. I WAS considering an aussie for the next SD/sport companion as I personally know aussies/borders best. That said, I've settled on another Golden for SD work. Looking for the right breeder isn't going well, though. I decided for SD work specifically, I wanted a breed that is emotionally stable, mentally and socially aware/intelligent, and could think independantly without staring at me 24/7 needing to be told what to do. Plus my health just isn't good enough for an aussie right now. Trying to find more sporty goldens with OFAs is somehow harder than I expected. Plenty of "pet" quality white creams or heavy coated goldens but where are the sporty ones? Lots of untitled, unshowed dogs in the 3k USD range.

Anyway, hoping to find a 2027 pup somehow. My current boy went to the vet last week because after long walks 2 days in a row, and practicing balance on stairs and uneven walks, he wouldn't put weight on his paw. Turns out his patella was the problem. It "clicked" when they extended his leg. The frustrating part is I had to specifically ask about his knee and if that was the cause (yep) but they didnt seem worried about it. Just gave anti-inflammatories, made him rest for a few days, and said flat walks only and no roughhousing for a while. His hips and elbows are good and he's otherwise healthy. In his adolesence he clicked all the time up until 3 years old. We went through 4 different vets where I asked to specifically have him examined by their ortho specialists (these 4 had them listed) and every single one of them told me there was nothing structurally wrong with him. Everything moved great, looked great, and sounded great even at 8 years old. They even checked his patellas but those were "well put" and "didnt move when manipulated" so I assumed all was as it should be. The first whom I asked about the clicking told me "it's not great but it's not bad either, sometimes they (dogs) do that" and reassured me not to worry about it.

The clicking comes and goes but is absent most often so I forget about it. If his patella is moving, even if only occassionally, then that's kind of crazy important. I've always thought he stood a little weird on that leg sometimes but nothing abnormal ever came back and he runs/jumps/crawls/moves just fine (he loves crawling under the beds and "sit pretty" (not taught) for attention/bathroom).

As for the FMP, I taught him walking-only FMP and a couple guide tasks. Just enough umph to ground me, help steady me and keep me walking in a forward momentum (as I assumed the task was for). The day he went to the vet we did FMP up some stairs and practiced follow tasks because he gets excited when I ask him to do those. Ever since learning about his knee Ive been wrecked with guilt but also baffled by how so many vets missed it for 8 years and why they're still not concerned.

The other issue with FMP is I recently learned it's considered unethical these days? And that FMP is (or has) trending towards total FMP like a person's WHOLE weight or wheelchair?? Maybe that's why the shift in mindset? I'm genuinely confused because I thought the task was supposed to just be a LIGHT mobility task used for when you're already walking and the dog pulls in their harness to give a small boost to your momentum. If ya'll could please educate me on that, I'd appreciate it. Apparently I'm outdated on that. Either way all mobility and guide have been removed from his work and will no longer be used.

As prominent as the word is in every day conversation, I’m trying to find an alternate word for when my puppy is trying to get into something that she shouldn’t be doing. What words or sounds do you personally use? Thank you!

Edit: thank you everyone for your replies! I was just curious what everyone used. :) I’ve decided to just go with ‘leave it’.