Though Robbie & I have only been together for a little over a year, we have accomplished so much together. We embarked on this adventure with only horse training knowledge on my part and my fiance's complete lack of animal training experience, but working with Robbie turned both of us into competent dog trainers. We still have a lot to learn, and I am currently in the process of learning how to work through a training plateau with Robbie, but we have a great teacher. Most people think that the best way to learn how to train is to have another trainer teach you, and while working with a professional can do wonders, I've found that the best teachers are the animals themselves. In this post, I'll cover 10 things that Robbie has taught me, so far. #1 - Not to Let Fear of Pain Keep Me From Doing Things
Robbie has helped me cope with that fear of increased pain, and even work past it in some situations. I learned early on that in order to train Robbie with the right amount of strength and confidence, I had to figure out how to just push through & do things with him, instead of half-heartedly giving corrections or doing exercises in order to spare myself. Behaving that way made me an easy target for a stubborn breed who loved to challenge my authority. Standing up to his adolescent challenges and doing exercises with him worked more effectively when I pushed my fear aside, stopped worrying, and just did it. There were plenty of days when he would accidentally hurt me, either by body slamming me or suddenly bolting after a rabbit, but with every blow I got stronger. The pain became even more of an accepted fact, and Robbie's stubbornness taught me that extra pain wouldn't break me. As I got stronger too, he accepted my authority and slowly challenged me less and less.
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Being disabled and trying to train a dog can be incredibly difficult. I am still learning how to be calm, confident, and consistent with Robbie every day. Some days, I let him down when I push us too hard or raise my voice to him purely out of frustration. I am not perfect, but I strive to encourage both of us and believe in our ability to work effectively as a great service dog team. Sometimes I forget that we don't have to be perfect, we don't have to be like other teams, and that our best is good enough. I am sure I am not alone in my struggles. I write this post as a reminder for myself and other handlers, as well as people who are considering owner-training and aren't sure what the level of commitment is involved in being a part of a service dog team. To My Service Dog, I Promise...
People are extremely curious. Sometimes this curiosity leads to people not acknowledging or completely ignoring personal boundaries, while other times it makes them do the unthinkable. When a person sees another person walking into a store with a beautiful dog by their side, their innate curiosity kicks in and the ability for them to respect boundaries goes out the window. I wish this wasn’t the case, but unfortunately, it is a hard truth about society. In addition to this, most people love dogs. Seeing a dog makes some people lose their heads. They desperately want to pet it, snuggle it, play with it, and know everything possible about it. So, naturally, when a person walks into a non-pet friendly store, such as Wal-Mart, with a dog by their side, other customers in the store are immediately drawn to the dog and its handler. They often don’t respect the handler’s personal space or privacy, and demand to know as much about that dog as possible. Some believe that it is their right to pet the dog simply because it is out in public. A few people recognize that a dog in a non-pet store is a working animal, but many either don’t know or don’t respect that fact. It can be overwhelming for a handler to deal with the public attention towards them and their service dog, especially when all they wanted to do was go in, buy a few groceries, and leave. Due to public attention, a routine errand that should only take 30 minutes suddenly takes an hour just because strangers insist upon stopping the team to ask very personal questions or harass the team for bringing an unsanitary beast into the establishment.
In this post, I’ll talk about my experiences with the public, how I field their questions, popular phrases or questions that teams get, and advice for other teams dealing with public scrutiny. He was a saint. Robbie is only two years old, and yet he continues to surprise me & make me proud of how amazing he is doing not only with training, but also the socialization required to be a service dog. In this post, I will talk a little bit about why I had to go to the hospital, but mostly about how Robbie behaved throughout the long day of pre-op procedures and then the unexpected overnight stay that we were luckily already prepared for because of our always ready to go Go-Bag! Why I Had to Be in the HospitalIn the past, I have had problems with my jaw dislocating about once a year. In February of 2016, my jaw dislocated and stayed that way for 4 weeks, which prompted a discussion with an oral surgeon about having an Arthroplasty done in late March. For those interested, an Arthroplasty is when a surgeon files down part of the jaw joint so that the jaw can no longer dislocate. Over time, the bone will grow back, but it will take several years, so for the next 10-15 years I won't have to worry about my jaw dislocating anymore! As exciting as this is, it unfortunately meant a 2.5 hour drive to St. Louis for a pre-op appointment one day, then a 23 hour overnight stay in the hospital after having the surgery done that day. We were not given the details of the procedure or told about the overnight stay until the day of the surgery, which was extremely rough on me, Robbie, and my boyfriend, but we got through it together. The whole thing was very painful for me to endure, and Robbie was mildly stressed out about all the traveling and me being pain, but he did great nonetheless. We are safely home & recovering now, and while I am on bed rest, I wanted to take the time to write up a post about how wonderful Robbie did throughout the entire ordeal. There were a few points where he could have performed better, but he is still growing and learning as a service dog.
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My Name is Sally...I have a condition called Complex Regional Pain Syndrome. This blog is about my journey training Robbie, a dog who helped me regain independence, confidence, and achieve the impossible in the face of my disability. It continues on with the training of Austin, Robbie's successor. Check Out... - "More than a Dog" was published on a site called The Mighty Categories
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