Dancing with Strangers

The past few months have been rough for the blogging team here. Trying, exhausting, and absolutely tragic. There are some things in life that you can never plan nor prepare for. The end of this past year was very much that. My partner in crime lost her service dog suddenly to what vets could only theorize was a neurological disorder. I pulled Loki from public access work maybe...

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My Service Dog has greatly eased my symptoms, but she did NOT cure my disability!

Saxon is amazing and everything I could want or need in a service dog. I have had her for just over a year. She came home on October 14th, 2014. Many of the things I could not fathom doing due to my psychiatric conditions and symptoms I have since been able to not only do, but succeed at. Since Saxon's arrival I have been able to: -Start doing paid speaking engagements...

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Physical Fitness and Safety with Mobility Service Dogs

The job description of a mobility dog can include a myriad of things. Wheelchair pulling, button pushing, flipping light switches, counter balance, bracing, item retrieval, door opening and closing and momentum pulling, just to name a few. Whatever mobility tasks a service dog is trained to do are things they should be more than physically competent to perform. For example:...

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Disabled dogs as Service Dogs - Not a good idea!

This is my mom's dog Maddox. He has three legs. He isn't a service dog, even though he is conditioned and takes joint supplements, it wouldn't be fair to work him. After a while he  does get tired of walking. He enjoys running, playing, hiking,  and has a keen nose for sniffing out treats....

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How to handle encountering another service dog team

My service dog and I have been a team for long enough that she is now a natural extension of me. We move together as one. I put on her gear every day and take her out wherever I go. She is just another part of my life. I have normalized life with a dog by my side, so it is just a piece of that norm to have her with me when I shop, when I go to the doctor, and when I eat...

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The power of Stay

Things we should train for but don't for fear of the service dog community, otherwise known as "Why I included both an out of sight stay and a 30 foot down stay on my newest public access test." Recently I've been revamping my public access test. I don't formally take clients for training at the moment, and unless something in my health improves I likely won't for the foreseeable...

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Owner Training - A Novice's View

People seem to think OTing is easy. In reality it's a crapshoot. There are some guide schools that have been breeding dogs from their own stock for 60+ years, yet the percentage of dogs born that go on to be full working guide dogs average at about 50-60%. This is from programs who have puppy breeding, puppy rearing, puppy raising, puppy training and furthered training...

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