While Robbie was enrolled with the Missouri Pups for Parole program, he was taken on various outings to local mental health hospitals and nursing homes. We were told that on these outings, he was on perfect behavior and was everyone's favorite dog. This tidbit of information was just an added bonus that would help make Robbie a good service dog. It also gave him a head-start for going into public areas as a working dog. Still, we have been taking Robbie's introduction to public areas slow as to not overwhelm him. Robbie has some mild separation anxiety, so leaving him at home while we run errands isn't an option. For the first few months, we only took him inside dog-friendly establishments and would trade off who waited outside with him if we needed to run into a non-dog friendly place. As his training progressed and we became more confident in his abilities & understand his stress signals better, we slowly took him to more and more places. Short trips, lots of praise, and always making him the priority. Recently, we did research on Missouri law and discovered that Service Dogs in Training have the same public access rights as full service dogs, and have begun taking him into more challenging places. After all, he has to learn somehow! Below is a list of a few of the places Robbie has been to (please keep in mind the SDiT Laws in your state may be different from those in MO, so be sure to research them & respect them):
So far we have not yet had any public access issues, but just in case we do have cards typed up with MO law to hand out to people. The key - so I've been told - to dealing with issues is to be polite, remain calm, and aim to educate, not confront.
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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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