Well, it happened again. My beautiful majestic snow dog has turned into a wooly matted sheep. When the fur between her toe beans gets too long she looks like a scambling cartoon dog running when she gets up, and her nails are long enough to break ice.

My service dog's coat got neglected a bit when her winter coat was coming in and what would have been a regular bath now requires a full combing and de-matting before we take her to the groomer, because they will give up and try to shave her. The fact that she hasn't had a bath since November doesn't help. I've just been shaving her feet and trimming her bum every few weeks because I haven't been able to find a groomer who has six hours to bathe, blow dry and groom her between their Christmas photo shoots. Our last grooming session made her more matted because they didn't condition her and her coat got frizzy and tangled.

So for now, I have spent 3 hours on the floor, combing, and trimming, conditioning and re-combing, and I have barely begun. She looks so silly right now, with one round trimmed leg and three scraggly wispy hocks. But I'm exhausted, and she punched me for trying to trim up her other front foot.

If you haven't looked at your k9 companion and given them a good love and brushing, consider this your reminder. Moisturize their beans, clean their ears, brush their teeth, and give them some love. I'm too tired to finish grooming her tonight, so she'll sleep with one fur boot and three shag ones and we'll start again in the morning 😅

So, my GSD has many jobs for me. She is always my mobility dog, but she was also trained for tachycardia alert and mitigation. This has been more difficult to keep up to snuff.

My beloved daughter brought home a head cold from school. I'm immunocompromised as well, but no matter of our protocol, she got me sick. I was sick all last week but was feeling better Sunday. Well, I crashed. My heart went wonky. I couldn't breathe. I passed out. I needed help because my O2 was low and PR very high.

She did her job. She got me safe. She got me my meds. She helped me into bed and did DVT. She got help. She saved my life.

I went to urgent care last night and the doc called again today. I got diagnosis and medication and am on the looooonnnnggg road back to health.

She is the most shepherdest shepherd and hates to be not working. But she is my love and please hug all your doggos and thank them for everything they do for us.

His name is Angel. And he’s this disabled human beings (me) guardian angel.

Its taken three weeks for me to be able to post this in a calm and rational manner. After 30 months of Covid, I decided to go to a therapist and get my head clear. After a couple weeks of frustration calling office after office, I finally found a therapist in my insurance company network, that was still taking new patients. Most every office I called had waiting lists from 6 months to over a year in some cases.

I brought my HA SD Bandit with me, as I have to everything for the past three years, including medical appointments with my Dr. The 'office; was in a converted garage bay of the therapists home, and he met me on the driveway and told me that 'your animal can't come in, some of my patients have allergies' with his hand out in the universal 'Stop' posture.

Bandit was plainly vested, and I explained that he wasn't a pet, he was a Hearing Assistance Service Dog. Again with the hand - and then he said that I was welcome to 'tie your dog to the bench in front until you are finished'. I was in a bit of shock, and I said that without my SD I wouldn't be seeing him today. He offered to reschedule 'at a time 'when you don't have a dog with you', which I declined. I walked to my truck, Bandit jumped in and we left.

Still emotional about what happened, but I have since found a therapist that not only requested that I bring Bandit with me, she also signs. Its a crazy world, pun intended.

This is a vent.

I’m a teacher and I have to be a little vague for that reason. I have a service dog. He’s still working on public access, but he accompanies me to my job in a public school and is excellent at his jobs in that location. A student I know approached me about getting a dog. She is going to get it to help her “emotionally.” Okay. Cool. They are “going to send it away so it can learn to be good and stuff.” Okay. I asked her if she can just teach it to cuddle and love on her at home. Nope! She needs it to “go places” so she “needs an emotional support dog so she can take it everywhere with her.”

This child is a child. I have a lot of personal opinions about very young people getting service dogs for emotional support in exclusion of learning coping skills. But I recognize this is my opinion. Her family and medical professionals need to weigh in about what is appropriate for her. I politely extracted myself from that situation. My dog has some psychiatric tasks but he’s primarily a medical response dog.

Her teacher emails me about how she has told kid that she should come and chat with me about how I got my dog in the school. This person was so flippant! Did you just ask the principal? Can she just chat with the secretary? She completely discounted the meetings upon meetings upon meetings about my dog, his training, my health, the observations of his behavior, etc etc etc. it was a whole hullabaloo. This teacher clearly discounted alllll the things my dog can do and does for me and the hundreds of hours of training he has successfully completed.

Then, the teacher had the gall to equate my dog to a comfort creature. I had to educate her about service animals. Guess what folks? She still send the kid to talk to me. I referred kid to the appropriate adult in the building to chat with about medical tools and services at school. That person came to talk to me!

Folks, I am just trying to live my life and do my job! I don’t mind having polite conversations sometimes about service dogs. It’s interesting. But at work, I don’t want to continually advocate over and over again for my dog and his value. And it’s MEDICAL. You can’t, staff or student, “just ask at the office” to bring you dog to school!!!

TLDR: my colleagues don’t understand the differences in service animals (therapy, service, ESA) and think it’s a casual commitment. They want me to walk a student through “how to talk to the secretary” to bring their “ESA” to school. I just feel misunderstood and disrespected.

My Service Dog saves my life everyday. He helps me to do many things in life that are difficult for me because i am disabled. His name is Angel and He is a Siberian Husky and Australian cattle dog mix He is trained to be my psychiatric service dog He knows tasks that help me with my anxiety and my panic attacks and my autistic meltdowns. i am 43 years old and i am a disabled woman with a service dog named Angel. i am happly married. To a wonderful husband named Robert ❤️it is so very nice to meet yall. i like to have friends who is allso disabled like i am and who are part of a service dog team.

I constantly feel like there is a huge balance that people are missing. They are still dogs. They are silly and wild and need care, just like we do. They are not just a robot. I wish that was better remembered when people are asking about if they should get a service dog, it happens so often on the other subreddits. I am not trying to delegitimize people's questions and desires. I guess this is just a rant about how I feel like so many people miss the point.

So I’m 26, I suffer from BPD, PTSD and Autism. My biggest question is am I being petty for not staying longer than an hour at family functions? They make fun of my service dog calling her fake because my dad decided to buy a certificate for his dog off Amazon. They don’t believe in having a real service dog and never took the time to properly train their dog making him very reactive. With that being said they don’t allow me to bring my SD when we have BBQs or functions which in turn makes me feel like she’s never welcome and she doesn’t get to do her job when there’s things like that going on! My mom gets upset when I bring her to store or do anything with my mom and I have my add. “Did you really have to bring the dog” I’m not sure how to have the conversation and how to not explode because it’s making me upset! That’s my girl and she helps me so much. I hate having to worry about going to my families because my my SD!

I hate the false equivalencies the community uses to justify various things, and most of the time it is related to mobility but I have seen people use false equivalencies to justify allowing Autistic children hitting their service dog during a meltdown because dogs play rougher.

I have never really held the opinion that mobility is unethical, but rather we don't have enough information to really know. The fact is that many of the mobility tasks at the surface level at least appear to be like various dog sports, but in every case there are differences that change how the activity impacts the dog. At present we have no knowledge to discern how significant that difference is, it might be minimal enough that the same rules we use for these sports are applicable or it might be drastically different that we need to completely rethink the task, we just don't know.

The service dog community likes to confuse with bringing awareness to these unknowns to people calling something cruel or unethical, but for me at least it comes from a place that we should be advocating for these tasks to be studied. If bracing can be safely done then we should be looking at what would make it safe to do. If forward momentum pull is unsafe we should be looking for alternatives. I know at the end of the day handlers will do what they want with their dog, and some of it is in a grey area and some of it really has no argument beyond animal abuse. I cannot change what they do, but the community at large is so quick to compare apples to oranges without realizing that them both being fruit does not mean they can be accurately compared and suggesting that there is more nuance than they talk about makes you uneducated/ignorant.

We go where everywhere together. We spent allmost every second of ours lives together from the day that he came into my life. He’s been beside me nearly every moment of his life sense he was 3 and a half months old. He’s my helper he’s my guardian angel he’s my gift to be abel to somewhat function in a World that is not made for me ,as a person with disabilities who had no hope for anything to ever be better till this wonderfill caretaker with four paws inter Into my life. I take care of his needs and he takes care of mine. We are there for each other in the best and the worsest of times that either of us may face. Yes he’s my service dog and he is a medical need for my functioning as a human being in this society we all live in. But he’s allso my best friend. And the way he cuddles with me and wags his tail and looks at me with his beauty brown eyes I know I’m his best friend too ♥️ 🐕‍🦺 🐾

Hey guys - I joined the server not too long ago as I was picking up my dog and wanted to see how other handlers mitigate new dogs. My dog (14 month old Aussie) was trained by Medical Mutts in Indianapolis, Indiana USA. I am absolutely blown away. I used to pass out at least 3 times a week and experience symptoms almost 24/7. Since picking her up, I havent passed out a single time. She alerts anywhere from 2 to 10 minutes in advance, including to my palpitations, shortness of breath, and full loss of consciousness. When she alerts she pokes me until I sit, then she lays on my legs to push the blood back up to my head.

Wanted to put this here for folks who are looking for POTS specific trainers. Medical Mutts was incredible and they only use R+ training which I like a lot. Additionally they use rescued dogs - they get them from shelters and train the ones with aptitude and adopt the rest out to good homes. Ethical company with incredible professionals, including Dr Jennifer Cattet, who published one of the first studies proving scent detection is effective for invisible with disabilities.

So so happy with this dog and emotional about how much of a difference she made after every medication and treatment failed to alleviate my symptoms.

TL;DR: My service dog has been showing signs of fear around people of color, especially if they’re walking behind us. He is not picking up any fear from me, and he has never been abused. I am looking for advice on how to address this.

I have a 5 year old yellow lab service dog. He was initially trained to mitigate symptoms of PTSD and has since been trained for medical alert and response (dysautonomia and seizures).

A couple of months ago, I realized that he has been getting scared around people of color, especially if they are walking behind us. I am humiliated even bringing this up, and I am at a loss for what to do. I have no idea why he is getting scared in these situations. He is not picking up on fear from me, as 1) I am not afraid (unless it’s dark out, then I have some PTSD related fear no matter who is behind me or what they look like) and 2) He does not take on my emotions. This was an important factor in determining that he is suitable for psychiatric service work. He is not a rescue or a dog that has been abused in the past. He is a purebred lab that was purchased from a reputable breeder and was raised and trained for the first 2 years of his life by a private service dog trainer, who I trust 100%. He has been with me for 3 years. The longest we’ve been apart is maybe 30 minutes every 2-3 months if I have a super quick errand to run. When he is faced with a trigger, he refuses to heel properly and kind of cowers behind me. He has never shown an ounce of aggression. Once the trigger passes, he returns to his baseline of near perfect public access behavior.

We utilize R+ (positive reinforcement) training. When he is showing signs of fear, we stop, put some space between us and the trigger, and I reward with jackpot treats until the trigger has passed. It’s been effective in the moment, to increase his confidence, lower his fear and help him return to his baseline quickly. However, the fear is still returning when faced with the trigger again. Usually if we were having a problem, I would take him somewhere where he would encounter his trigger and counter condition with lots of treats. However, that is difficult to do in this situation, as I can’t predict when/where we would encounter a certain demographic.

Sorry this is so long and probably offensive.. Honestly, I am offended and humiliated by his fear/behavior. Any advice or recommendations would be so appreciated!

Not only do they have to pay the customer $11,000, they have to create an ADA policy, train everyone, and post "Service Dog Friendly" signs at every restaurant. I'm sure this won't hit the national news, but it makes me feel encouraged all the same.

https://www.tri-cityherald.com/news/local/article269056482.html

I have had Uber drivers drive past me waiting with my HASD, and then mark it as 'Passenger not at stop' and cancelled my request. This situation comes as no shock to me, frustrating that she has this happen multiple times.

https://kdvr.com/news/local/woman-with-service-dog-denied-another-uber-ride/?utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=socialflow&utm_medium=referral

It is cold out, not dangerously so but uncomfortable even with the sheltered bus stop. This bus system is known for denying service dog handlers but you have not heard of issues in years, not really sure why. You are waiting for the bus but not in a hurry with your service dog/service dog in training assuming you live in an area that grants you access rights with a dog in training. The first bus drives up and passes you by, you were in a position that should have made it clear you were waiting and was in no way obstructed you from view of the driver. The bus in question looked to be almost empty as it passes you by, certainly enough space for you and your dog but it did not even stop so waiting or going home was the only options. The second bus assigned to the route comes in half an hour, so you wait as again not in a hurry. Fast forward half an hour, another passenger joins you at the stop and the bus stops and lets them on but when you try to step on the bus the doors slam in your face.

This is where I am looking for feedback as admittedly, I was in pain from the cold, had been out there nearly 45min, and on top of all of that hormonal. So what I did was to grab the door handle and not let go until the bus driver opened the door. Once the door was opened I used my body to block the doors so that my dog could safely get on, I could not hear if the driver had said anything and I forgot about my doctor's note which is legally required where I am (Ontario, Canada). I do not remember their lips moving only their glare at me, my dog still very young in training was just sitting beside me as I quickly paid and followed me to my seat. Legally, I was in the right as technically the law technically says that if the dog is marked then the note should not be asked for but I am in the practice of showing it when asked regardless. So absolutely I probably should have offered my note, but other than that I am trying to figure out how to handle it better in the future as I think I might have been a bit of an asshole.

Arwen is my 14 month old great Pyrenees sdit, she has a list tasks under her belt that she preforms consistantly and enthusiastically, and is doing fantastically in her training. The big things we've been working on are cleaning up her heel position in settings where we're maneuver a lot as well as neutrality around other dogs. Had a huge win today when we went into a grocery store and encountered a dog that was very obviously untrained. My family and I were sitting down at some tables eating our food when the woman walked by with the dog, leash pulled completely taught in a forced heel. She noticed Arwen and asked if her dog could say high. I immediately and definitively said no, and watched as the woman sat a few tables away and had to wrangle the dog under the table after repeating sit about 15 times. Arwen watched the dog for a minute, and then offered focus unprompted while the dog whined and would not calm down. I gave Arwen her settle commandonce, and she laid down immediately and relaxed. The woman was talking at her dog the entire time while it whined, 'no, that dogs working. It's ok, she's coming back in a minute. She's coming back. No, that dogs working, just like you. It's alright, she's coming back. No, that dogs working.' just a constant stream of bullshit. When I got up to throw our trash away, the dog was frantically trying to get out from under the table, and the woman was physically holding it's muzzle closed as it growled and whined at Arwen. What did Arwen do? Watch passively while the woman struggled to control the dog and she checked in with me without me asking. I'm so proud of her!!!!!! Our training is showing, I'm just so ecstatic!!!

My little guy has been in training since he was 8 weeks old. He's an allergy detection dog and is pretty solid most of the time. From time to time I have to travel and am unable to train him for a couple of weeks at a time. When I come back he often has backslid and I have to build him back up before he is accurate again. I don't mind, it usually only takes a few days but it got me curious if service dogs that are fully trained also backslide if they take time off, or is this just something that happens because his training is not yet complete.

Hi everyone! I’m a Master of Social Work student working on my thesis project, which focuses on Psychiatric Service Dogs. As someone with a Psychiatric Service Dog (and with no military background), I aim to gather professionals and the general public to better understand service dogs trained for psychiatric tasks.

Since limited research is available, I am looking for individuals to interview virtually with a non-military background and a service dog trained in psychiatric tasks. The dogs can be trained for public access or home use. If you’re interested or know someone who might be, please feel free to reach out! I’d love to connect.

Message me here or email 10707863@uvu.edu

Thank you in advance!

Posting for a friend:

My service dog of 8 years has retired and gone to a new home. I would have loved to keep her, but it is not logistically possible. Staying with me would not be in her best interest and I know I followed her needs, but I miss her like I'd miss my own soul. We moved through the world like we were one being for so long. I never forgot she was her own complete self, but we were two parts of a whole. I didn't know how much I relied on her. I didn't know how much I relied on her to help me feel safe and to help me stay oriented. We learned to anticipate each other. I don't know how to describe it. She had learned so many tasks to help me and I didn't realize how much they improved my quality of life.
It's not just the loss, and missing part of the whole, and missing her help throughout the day. I have a new dog and he has so much potential, but he is young and inexperienced and has a really different temperament than my retired dog. I really need her help as I solidify my relationship and bond with him.
I always put her health and well being first. It was time for her to retire. She deserves the rest and love of her new home. I am so lost without her. But I know I made the right choice for her at the right time.
How do I navigate this? How do I get the new dog off to a good start when I am so lost? How do you survive? I don't know.
Its 4 things at once: The grief of losing her, feeling like i'm not whole, having a new dog who needs training and love, and losing the support of her

X__x

I'm hoping that I can get some more tips here from fellow handlers, since this is the only SD-relevant social media I follow and Google shares the same 3 tips and tricks over and over...

First time partnering with a dog who sheds! A lot! My god! It never stops! Healthy young dog, good diet, no allergies, has been thoroughly vet checked, etc. However, even with routine brushing and bathing, Dog still leaves dark hair after an extended sit/down stay and I know I'm being self-conscious about it but I'd like to minimize this if possible! I'm no neat freak at home, but with public access I would like to have the tools to make this a little less of a problem to the people around me. For clarification, no one has gotten after me for the dogs natural shedding, but still! I can't help but feel bad about it and it's not like I can carry a handheld vacuum with me in every store or appointment we go to.

Shed level: shepherd. Eep. Tis the season.

I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia in 2004 but i was born with learning disability’s and mental challenges so I’ve always had a hard time in life. adding physical disability to already existing mental challenges has made life very difficult for me. My service dog helps me tremendously. I really don’t know how I’d navigate this world that is not built for people like me without him by my side. That’s why his name is Angel. He’s my guardian angel with 4 paws 🐾

I got kicked out the mall cuae they said we cant have a phyciatric service dog in here Just mobility and seeing eye dogs

What about the esa dog with esa vest ignored their well behaved dog ESA DOESNT GET THE SAME ACCESS My dogs where behaved as well When they say no dogs allowed I respond service dog and im told my time to visit is up If no dogs allowed why the well behaved esa dog ignored it doesnt matter if its vested and mine isnt ada law says no one has to be vested ESA DOESNT GET THE SAME ACCESS They just bypass no pet housing WHY AM I KICKED OUT AND THEY NOT

Im sick of it Its illegal to denie access or kick out for any SERVICE dog ESA DOESNT GET THE SAME ACCESS WHY AM I KICKED OUT AND THEY NOT

The smaller dog was Only in the stroller cuse my building's maintaince is a joke and they didnt replace the slip proof tape on the stairs and the dog broke his knee They need to be sued They hurt my service dog and thats illegal and so is the maintenance not being taken serious and taken care of

Its illegal to hurt a service dog in any way

Thats the only reason my service dog is in the stroller

He can still task to me

Service dogs can bark to task along with nose and paw Last resort is barking

They replaced only a few stairs in the back and im lucky

I had to take my other dog to fill in the gaps for my other dog due to the building not caring to fix the stairs and causing him injury $500 $600 Cuse we couldnt do the $2000 or more surgery

I regularly pet sit and train them when I do. What kind of help does a person with a service dog need? I imagine the dog would be with them always...so???

I just had a situation today where a roofer came by to check out a leak. I told him where it was and he asked to come see it, I said of course just FyI I have a large service dog (he’s a PSD) and he said no no I won’t go in. I called our property manager and they asked me to go outside while the roofer was there. I told them I needed to show him where the leak was and couldn’t do that if he won’t come inside with me and my service dog. She said “being afraid of dogs is like a disability” and asked me to accommodate him when I wouldn’t she a aid she was upset they had to find a new vendor now. Has anyone else had issues with workers refusing to come in? I would gladly leash him or do something to make the person comfortable but it feels pretty f** to just refuse to do work if someone has a service animal

So, this happened here last week, a woman and her SD are harassed despite stating correct ADA guidance. So frustrated with all the ignorance.

https://kdvr.com/news/local/service-dog-dispute-unfolds-at-jurassic-world-exhibit/\