Honesty about life with a service dog is my policy, so here goes.
A few months ago, I asked a family member if she could ask her pastor & congregation for permission for my service dog and my friend's therapy dog to attend church one Sunday, for socialization and an extension of training to be okay with being bored. Neither myself or my friend are religious, but we do what we need to for the purpose of further our dogs' educations, and being only a Therapy Dog, her team was running out of challenging places to train. For us, though, here's the kicker... I, a disabled individual, asked for permission to go to a place where I have to be invited in purely because I need a service dog to function, only to listen to a Thanksgiving "thankful" themed sermon where the primary take-home message was, "We should feel blessed and thankful because we're NOT DISABLED." Wait. What? WHAT? I really wish I was kidding. Or being dramatic. There was no reading between the lines. There was no mistake. There was no metaphor. At the start of the service, my family member had me stand up before the congregation, introduce myself, talk about why we were there. I got "we're happy to have you here" multiple times, even by the pastor himself, and "please come back." I had a large service dog beside me. I introduced myself as having a disability. I explained my disability. I thanked them for allowing us to be there. And then, sitting in a cramped pew, rapidly approaching a 10/10 from the uncomfortable seating, loud music, and hard flooring, I got to listen to their honest, and absolutely ignorant views of people with disabilities. People to be pitied. People to celebrate when they're happy, because "good for them!" People who aren't as beautiful when you realize they only have one foot. People who can't possibly figure out how to enjoy the company of other people because they themselves are deaf, ergo won't be able to participate. People to judge. People to use as a example for why your life is much better. Because you aren't disabled. Your life is blessed. You can be grateful for your woes and struggles, because Hey, You have two feet. You can see. You can hear. Never mind the woman with a severe disability, sitting up front, with a service dog at her feet, who you invited to hear your ignorance spouted as gratitude. All around me, I heard murmurs of agreement with the pastor's words. People were nodding, smiling at each point. They were oblivious to their own ignorance. It took an enormous amount of self-control to say nothing. My friend and I both reached down to interact with our working dogs, for comfort, and grounding. Up until then, it wasn't too bad. In that moment, I felt sick. You can't look at people the same way after you've heard a diatribe like that, revealing their beliefs. Each time someone approached us after, all I could think was, "Do they feel blessed they aren't me?" How can they believe their God gives people disabilities because he knows they can handle it and because he - according to scripture - favors the weak, and in the same breath, thank God for not giving them that life and allowing them to truly be blessed? I'm not sure it was worth it for the dogs. I know I could have done without being made to feel small, worthless, and something to be pitied. *disclaimer: I am not painting all Christians by what happened, but it does explain a few past experiences if they shared the same belief
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A service dog team is made up of two components, dog and handler. Sometimes, an additional person, but for simplicity's sake, let's stick to one dog, one handler. Often, people zero in on the dog's training, the dog's skill set, the dog's capabilities, and the dog's temperament/drive, and assume the handler is simply along for the ride. It's my belief, that that miscalculation might just be why so many teams struggle to overcome challenges they face in the real world or never make it to the upper stages of training. For service dog training to be successful, we need to consider the dog's training, the dog's skill set, the dog's capabilities, the dog's temperament/drive AND the handler's training, the handler's skill set, the handler's capabilities, and the handler's temperament/drive. There must be balance. We're called "handler" for a reason. We're the tiller, our service dog is the boat keeping us afloat. Last weekend, Robbie and I journeyed into his past and our future together. A friend of mine has been looking for a dog for several months, and finally found one available to meet and greet who met her list of criteria for a new companion dog. I accompanied her to meet this pup, partly because she wanted my opinion. When my friend called the shelter ahead of time to talk about the meet and greet, she asked them if it would be okay for her dog trainer's service dog to be at the meeting, and they signed off on it. We weren't quite sure what to expect, but in this post I'll share how we handled it and offer tips for anyone else who might find themselves in this kind of, odd service dog PA adventure. During the Meet and GreetSince it was cold, Robbie was vested in his black winter coat with patches identifying him as a service dog. I used a hands-free leash, so I was able to use my hands to take notes on the potential dog for my friend, and shoot a little video to evaluate for later. Robbie did not seem to remember the shelter, but it was a long time back for him, as this happened to be the same shelter where Robbie grew up. We met the other dog, Max, in one of the shelter's large conference rooms. Robbie and I picked a chair off to the side, against a wall, where I could watch the interaction between my friend and the potential, but not be in the way or a large distraction. I asked Robbie to remain in a down the entire time, which he did wonderfully. Any time the other dog passed us, I asked Robbie to Leave It, and he did. The odd whine or neck crane happened, but that was fine because they lasted a second or two, no more. The shelter staff seemed surprised at how chill and under control Robbie was. I could have left Robbie at home, but, in a year or so, we'll be looking for his successor, and may need to take him with us to provide me assistance during the meetings and to see if any prospects clash with him. This was a good trial run to see how Robbie would handle that type of access experience. Additionally, as my friend would need to be focused on her objective of looking at a dog, she wouldn't be able to have a split focus to help me as needed. While we were there, Robbie braced to help me move from sitting to standing, and was ready in case the cacophony of dogs barking caused me to blackout from sensory overload - a very real possibility. As it turned out, the barking triggered head spasms more than sensory overload. We stayed inside for a bit, then went outside. Robbie laid down by the outer fence while we watched my friend play with Max, and Robbie was a rock star for it all. At my cue, Robbie and the other dog were permitted to sniff through the fence, but then back to work. Both dogs seemed friendly towards each other, no strong reactions from either. Both wanted to play. Robbie is also somewhat of a barometer for me on other dogs, so his response to them tells me valuable information. Bringing My Friend's New Dog HomeThis was going to be the interesting bit, wrangling two dogs into one car. One dog with 6 years of training, the other with basically a clean slate. Robbie did good in the lobby while my friend signed paper work. He mostly ignored loose shelter dogs who barked at him through a glass barrier. I turned him away from the entrance, and gave low corrections for turning to look behind at the dogs. We did not take him into where there were loose dogs.
During the ride home, Robbie and the new dog both fell asleep in their respective, separate car spots. The new dog checked out Robbie once, then ignored him. Once we returned to my friend's house, we took both dogs for a walk, cleaned them up, then I put Robbie upstairs to decompress. Although, he did not. He stayed alert the entire time, listening for sounds of being needed. I know this because the day after, he was extra sleepy. So - keep that in mind if you are not often separated from your service dog. They will settle, but they will mentally stay "on the job" until you return. How I Hope to Handle the FutureRobbie and I had never been to a dog shelter before, so this was reassuring for me. I was uncertain how either of us would handle all of the barking noise, or how a meet and greet could be handled with Robbie in the room. When it is my turn to search for and do meet and greets with a prospect, I'd like to do the following:
Additional Advice
Thank you for reading our latest post! If you plan on visiting an animal shelter soon with your service dog, I hope this post gives you a better idea of what to expect. Also, keep in mind, that they may not have been as accommodating if we had been visiting a cat. Technically, yes animal shelters are public venues, but there's a certain level of mutual respect that has to be considered as you don't want to stress out their animal charges by your working dog being present.
Sort of like the zoo rules.
Complex Regional Pain Syndrome, in shorthand called CRPS, is officially recognized worldwide in November every year to raise awareness about this disorder. Every year for the past few years, I've contributed to this cause on my personal Facebook page to teach friends and family more about my life with CRPS, and on Robbie's Facebook page, I've shared facts about CRPS service dogs, and suggestions on gear a team might need. This year, I'm casting a wider net and taking a slightly different approach. On Robbie's Facebook page, every day this November, I'll be posting a legal fact card with a link to the resource to help educate CRPS service dog teams on important laws, protections, public access details, and more, that they need to know to be more aware as handlers. These facts will benefit any service dog team, but my main focus is on the CRPS teams who aren't necessarily getting these lessons from a program because they had to owner-train, or are working with a trainer who may not know the ins and outs of service dog training. On my graphic design Facebook page, Country Flame Designs, I'll be sharing a fact a day, as well as resources for people with CRPS, links to other artists who have CRPS, and videos that go more in-depth on my experience living with CRPS for the past 10 years. I hope you'll be following our page in November to learn as we go, but if you missed the posts, or want them all in one place, the slideshow below is for you. |
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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