Today is doggy day for Robbie, which means that he gets a break from training and working to just do fun dog things. This afternoon, we played a game that worked on strengthening Robbie's drive and problem solving skills to find and recover 5 peanut butter treats hidden throughout the house. Since everything is training, he was being trained to solve problems using skills he already knows - getting on a table, tugging a rope, jumping into something, and using his mouth & paws to lift a basket off one of his prizes. In this post, I'll give a quick overview of the game, the expectations/rules, and how he did! The GameCommand: "Find Treat"
Objective: Sniff out the treat and eat it once he found it. Solve puzzles to reveal treats in some instances Rules: Must use ropes for tug puzzles, must get on table using ramp, must get inside tub to retrieve that treat Skills Used: Tug, In/Out, Up/Off, Find Treat: Peanut Butter Treat Holders: 4 paper cups with a dollop of peanut butter in each, 1 kong filled with dog treats and peanut butter as final jackpot reward Time Elapsed: 20 minutes Location: In Our House
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CRPS makes everything 10x harder. Simple tasks become equatable to running a marathon. Well-meaning comfort hugs feel like an assassination attempt. Showers are acid rain, and going outside takes careful thought when deciding what clothes are necessary. A colleague joking around and tossing a foam football at you makes your arm go paralyzed. A paper cut feels like a samurai sword has sliced you open. Training a 70lb puppy to help you? It's overwhelming, it's painful, it's extremely difficult & harrowing, but it's certainly worth it. This post will lay out 10 situations where my CRPS has clashed with having & training a service dog. Many of these are applicable to those who receive a program dog, because CRPS is CRPS no matter where your service dog is trained, though the list is based on my experience with training Robbie.
What can a dog do for severe, erratic, chronic pain? Most people would say nothing. They’re just dogs. I strongly disagree. In this post, I’ll give an overview of the various tasks that could be beneficial to someone with CRPS, how a dog can prevent flares, and how my own service dog helps me specifically.
Robbie is my service dog. He helps me manage my Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS) on a daily basis by preventing flares that might be caused by opening a door or falling down. His tasks help make my life with pain a little bit easier. The world sees Robbie as a dog. The law sees him as an assistive device. Strangers see him as a mythical being. My fiance sees him as a reason to be a little less worried about leaving me when he goes to work each day. Friends see him as a loving goofball. I see all of that and beyond. To me, Robbie is more than a dog. Me and Robbie are the epitome of a package deal. He is with me always; always watching, always helping, always loyal. Robbie is more than a dog. He and I go everywhere and do everything together. He comes to the bathroom with me. When I shower, he sleeps on the bathmat right outside the shower door. He stands beside me while I brush my teeth. He braces when I wobble on one foot as I fumble with my pants, steadying me long enough to get dressed safely. If I disappear from his sight, he wanders room to room until he finds me again. When I call out for help, he'll leave his warm, snuggly bed to come to my aid. If I sit on the floor too long, he pads over to volunteer a bracing stand. He sleeps on the kitchen floor while I make dinner or do dishes. He goes grocery shopping with me. He comes out to dinner on girls’ night, and naps under the table on date night. If I could go to movies, he would come with me. He lets me fiercely clutch his neck fur during doctor appointments. He carefully eyes the doctors when they take my blood or check an IV drip, like a silent guardian angel. He wags his tail gently when I call him to me. He looks at me reproachfully if I get out of bed on sick days. But as long as it's his idea, he will coax me into playing with him when I’m supposed to be on bed rest. He silently hopes I’ll share my beef pot roast, but never takes it from me. He stops on a dime when my legs give out. He licks my face when the pain almost makes me blackout. He catches me when I fall — literally. We spend all of our time together. By default, I spend more time with him than my fiance. Robbie is the last "goodnight" given, and the first "good morning." When I have small triumphs during the day, he is the first to enjoy them with me. He hears all my worries, all my fears, all my doubts. He gets to hear my rants long before they reach their intended audiences. His golden ears soak up every detail on daily to-do lists, and his amber eyes soften when I speak. He snuggles me on the bad days, and joyfully bounces around me around the good ones. I am never greeted after a long day apart because we are rarely apart. When I ask Robbie to hold a position farther than 50ft away from me, his eyes never leave me. He quivers with excitement as I return and gently wiggles all around me once released to say hi. When he needed to have x-rays done to certify healthy hip joints, we were separated for 4-5 hours. In that time, I felt lost and empty. When we were reunited, I felt whole again, like a person that had been placed on life support until a vital organ could be returned. Robbie is my vital organ. He is a piece of me, a piece that I desperately need & love. Robbie is trained to great precision, and held to lofty standards, but he is more than his training. He is kind, soft, gentle, intelligent, stubborn, manipulative, and strong. We spend more time training and playing than doing anything else. We get annoyed and frustrated with each other, but it's understandable. We both get bored spending so much time together, but then something exciting happens that makes it all worthwhile again. His triumphs are my triumphs, his setbacks mine. We grow together. We learn together. We work together. We thrive together. Robbie is more than a dog. He is more than an assistive device. He is more than a mythical being. He is more than a reason to be less worried. He is more than a loving goofball. Robbie is my life. Robbie is my everything. |
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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