Category Archives: San Antonio

Anxiety, PTSD, San Antonio, Texas

CONGRATULATIONS to Elizabeth and SD Zoe

CONGRATULATIONS to client Elizabeth, who suffers from PTSD and anxiety, and her now Service Dog, ZOE!!!!!

Laurie has been training with Elizabeth and Zoe for some time now, and they passed their Public Access Test at Laurie’s favorite place to give the test, the Bass Pro Shop! They went through each and every command, and received outstanding results on every part! The only one that needs a little more work is the six foot on leash sit/stay. Zoe is able to do it when Elizabeth is at work, and Zoe is tied to her desk when Elizabeth walks away to go to the water fountain or supervise someone at their desk, but in crowded places, Zoe is so incredibly bonded to Elizabeth that she can stay for about three feet and then doesn’t want Elizabeth too far away. Zoe is extremely attentive to Elizabeth and seems to understand her moods and need for Zoe to be near – she follows Elizabeth everywhere at home, too. These two have worked extremely hard at all commands, and Zoe does them all without treats needed – she just seems to know when she has done something well because Elizabeth is so proud of her. Elizabeth says that now if they are at home and Zoe does something she shouldn’t, Zoe wraps herself up in her blanket and looks at Elizabeth as if to say “I’m sorry, mom!”

We ended up the successful test (she will continue to work on the six foot on leash sit/stay) with a score of 95% by behaving perfectly as Elizabeth and I had a sit-down lunch in a very busy restaurant with food on the floors – and Zoey did not need extra corrections if Elizabeth said to “leave it”. Zoey just laid down near Elizabeth’s feet the entire 45 minutes, drank some water, and watched the scenery – but did not once try to get at the food even when a delicious hot pizza was brought to our table! Elizabeth takes Zoe to work at the call center every day, where Zoe is accepted and behaves perfectly.

I am so very proud of Elizabeth, who takes wonderful care of Zoe along with her fiancé, and we plan to keep our friendship going!

YAY FOR ELIZABETH AND ZOE!!!

Anxiety, Fibromyalgia, Lupus, PTSD, San Antonio, Texas

Lori and SDiT Abbie

Laurie had a beautiful training session with Lori, who unfortunately suffers from anxiety, depression, PTSD due to a recent sexual assault, Lupus, Rheumatoid Arthritis, and Fibromyalgia. She initially asked if I would like assess her 2 year-old rescue Boston Terrier for possible training as a Service Dog. Lori rescued her about a year and a half ago, and said that “Abbie” has basic training, is totally housebroken, knows basic commands and tries very hard to do what Lori requests of her. Abigail is very good with people, totally non-aggressive with other people and dogs, and up to date on shots and takes her heart worm preventative. Lori explained that she finds it difficult to go into public places (like a store, etc.) due to anxiety and hypervigilance. She sadly stated that she has lost all of her friends due to her disability, but Abbie’s socialization skills make it easier for Lori to interact with everyone. Lori has to take her extremely supportive and brilliant husband or another housemate with her to most shops and restaurants because of her anxiety. She would really like to honor her Marine uncle by visiting him at the Ft. Sam Houston Cemetery, but she has been unable to do so because cemeteries are a trigger for her. She explained that “Abbie’s presence would make me less reliant on her medications, as Abbie is a calming, protective force in her environment. She simply stated, “We are in love!”

I had to admit that prior to going to my first session with beautiful, compassionate, and highly intelligent Lori, I was doubtful about how much we could accomplish with a Boston Terrier, as they are usually a bit difficult to train and have traits that are not what you would automatically associate with difficult Service Dog work. BOY, was I WRONG!!!! From the first meeting with Lori and Abbie, I was simply blown away by how incredibly smart Abbie is, and how much training work Lori had done with her! I could not say whether Abbie was just an extraordinary Boston Terrier or if it was the brilliance and attention to detail that Lori had working with Abbie, but walking into that house was like walking into a calm, beautiful, serene environment that simply emanated from every part of the home and from Lori, Abbie, Lori’s husband, and their housemate. Even in the midst of renovating their home, their experience with interior decorating, the soothing colors they chose for their rooms, and their amazing energy in the home was riveting. Abbie reflected this very same demeanor. She knew to wait at the door, obeyed gentle commands, had an unbelievably loving bond with Lori, made superior eye contact, and could perform so many commands already that I think I wanted to go out and pair up every client with a Boston Terrier!

Lori, her husband and I talked a lot about Lori’s experiences, and all the terribly unfortunate experiences they had encountered despite their desire and passion to help others where they used to live (and where the sexual assault occurred). Lori had a beautiful room for her office where she had so many computer monitors set up for her extensive knowledge about technology, and her husband, a professor of Art History and Philosophy, shared how difficult it was for them when they moved away from San Antonio down to south Texas to try and work with the people there spreading their knowledge in such a charitable way. After the assault, they had to move back to San Antonio.

Lori put Abbie’s beautiful vest on, which had all the appropriate patches, her ID with medical information on the back, and Abbie went straight into “working” mode. Abbie thrived on Lori’s love, so constant treats were not necessary (although she didn’t mind the few I gave her!). We easily went over all the basic commands in the house, and Abbie maintained constant eye contact with Lori when she gave commands. She was rewarded with hugs and kisses that she reciprocated and obviously brought tremendous joy to Lori.

At our next session, we will venture out into public. I have no doubt that they will do spectacularly as a team. It was humbling to say the least to see someone who had been through so much show so much determination and dedication to making the Service Dog process work. I am truly honored to have met this amazing family!

Experience, San Antonio, Texas

Noelle and SDiT Hazel

From our trainer extraordinaire, Brenda, who was meeting with our current client, Rowena. Rowena, also a dear, dear friend, has Multiple Sclerosis that is getting worse, and her current Service Dog that trainer Laurie trained through the PAT, “Blessed”, was just too big for her to be able to handle anymore. She loved Blessed so very much, and Blessed loved her, but Rowena knew that Blessed would be better suited for someone else who had the mobility capacity to use a larger dog.

Brenda was working with a new client, Noelle who, with her parents, fell in love with Blessed’s description on our website. Brenda writes:

“I met up with Noelle, her parents, Rowena, and Anthony (Rowena’s husband and also our client) for a meet and greet with Blessed. Rowena told them all about Blessed’s temperament, personality, and what she could do. Noelle and Blessed hit it off right away – and once Blessed sat down next to Noelle, Blessed never really left her side! It was like Blessed just knew what was going on and was telling us that she was ok with it! I had Noelle give Blessed some commands to see how she would respond to her, and Blessed did all that was asked of her without any hesitation. Blessed’s former trainer, Laurie, had just done a “refresher” course on all the PAT commands with Blessed, and knew she still was perfect. Noelle’s family had brought their little dog Lucy to make sure that the two dogs would get along, and they did, so that just sealed the deal. Rowena didn’t want a long, painful parting, so she passed the leash to Noelle, and with that, Blessed became Noelle’s Hazel.

Since now “Hazel” has already passed the PAT as mentioned above, she just needs to get used to Noelle being her new handler, and Noelle needs to learn how to apply the commands. She had already been working on “sit” with her. Noelle wants to be able to bring Hazel to school ASAP, and Hazel will of course need to mind her manners there – so we were working on “down” and “stay”. Then, we added some distractions in for Hazel to ignore, “leave it”, and getting her attention back on Noelle if she went to investigate the distraction.”

Anxiety, Mobility, Multiple Sclerosis, San Antonio, Texas

CONGRATULATIONS BROOK AND SD TATER

From our wonderful trainer, Pat, who performed the Public Access Test with client Brook and her now SERVICE DOG, TATER!!! CONGRATULATIONS BROOK AND TATER! Pat writes:

“Brook and her SDIT, 7 year-old hound/Boxer, “Tater”, are wonderful students!!! This week, I conducted their Public Access Test and they passed with ease! Brook was recently diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis after over 2 years of evaluations, tests and frustration with the pain and lack of answers. We both knew that Tater’s age would limit his length of service and ability to be a mobility dog. However, Brook hoped he would offer her some assistance – long enough to buy time to find and train another dog. She has rapidly been losing her balance and dexterity, she gets dizziness and weakness, and often drops things.

Our objectives for Tater were for Brook to be able to grab his handle just for some stability, and to teach him to pick up things that she drops, because bending over to do it herself was a risky endeavor. He had never had any formal obedience training, and also had a lifelong playmate that was recently lost, leaving him with a hole in his soul that resulted in sadness and loss of interest in life. He also had never had any interest in retrieving or playing catch or any such thing, so Brook had serious doubts whether we could teach him to pick up items for her.

Brook’s ability to absorb my coaching, her commitment to and quality of practice, and Tater’s willingness to try/do new things, were delightful and rewarding. His obedience training came along smashingly, quickly progressing to almost perfect control on the leash. However, both of us had reservations with his response to click/reward training for the retrieve. He was so keenly motivated by the treats that nothing else, including a toy, existed during the first two weeks of training.

Then, during the third week, the lightbulb suddenly came on! He started picking up a toy and placing it in Brook’s lap on the floor. Then, this progressed to when Brook was seated on a chair! And then, Tater started transferring the knowledge to other toys. WaaHooo!!! He got it! So on the 4th week of retrieve training, we started back on the floor with her keys. That very evening, he began picking up keys dropped on the floor and placing them in her hand while she was standing!

By then we were ready for the PAT, and in Walmart, while performing his new ‘tricks’ (like picking up keys, and “sit-down-stand” in succession on command), I suggested that another important skill would be for him to pick up the leash should she drop it. She agreed, and promptly dropped his leash and told him to ‘get it’. Not only did he get it, but he picked it up by the handle no less, and placed it in her hand! AMAZING! Then, Brook’s husband tossed his wallet on the floor, and on the third try (the first two of which he picked it up), Tater picked it up and gently gave it to her.

Now Tater is a 7 year old pup! He is excited about life, can’t wait to train and do new things, and once and for all puts to rest the ancient adage that “you can’t teach an old dog new tricks”!!!! Congratulations Brook and Tater! Tater, you have a wonderful career ahead of you!”

 

Depression, Military, PTSD, San Antonio, Texas, Veteran, Wounded Warrior

CONGRATS TO WOUNDED WARRIOR DON AND SD HERMAN

CONGRATULATIONS TO WOUNDED WARRIOR DON AND HIS NOW SERVICE DOG, HERMAN!!!! THEY PASSED THEIR PUBLIC ACCESS TEST!!!! Don is a Wounded Warrior who suffers from PTSD and Depression, but also does amazing volunteer work at the hospital, church, or Police Department. Now, he and Herman can not only help each other, but will go on to offer comfort to others!

Trainer Andrew writes:

During this first section of the Public Access Test, we went to New Braunfels Feed and Seed, where we went through the test. Both Don and Herman did a wonderful job! We discovered that Don needs to communicate a little more with Herman, and Herman needs to be work a little more on focusing on Don around groups of people; but this is very minor, as Herman just wants to say hello!

Next, we worked special tasks that Don needs for Herman to provide for him. Herman has a habit of putting his paw on Don’s leg when he wants attention, so we turned that habit into something useful by teaching Herman to do that with the command “touch” when Don was feeling anxious or depressed. After that, we brought in the specific ringtone that Don has on his phone which, although it is very loud, Don still has trouble hearing. We taught Herman to alert Don when the phone starts to ring. Next, we worked on teaching Herman to hold things in his mouth, which is the beginning of our work to teach him to fetch items and hold a specific object at the door to help remind Don if he has forgotten anything.

Anxiety, Bipolar, Depression, San Antonio, Texas

Greg and SDiT Missy

From our trainer, Jackie, who had her first training session with Greg and his SDIT, Missy. Laurie will continue to work with Greg and Missy after this point. Jackie writes:

I met with Greg on March 1st to work with him and Missy on her Service Dog Training for some cognitive developmental delays, depression and anxiety. Greg has continued to work with Missy on sitting. This week, we worked on having Missy sit at the door before she is allowed outside. If Missy broke her sit-stay once, the door was opened, and she had to be placed back into a sit before being released to go outside. Greg also worked with Missy in “catching in the moment” of her “down” to decrease the amount of time it takes her to learn his new command.

We noticed Missy is obedient but has a short attention span as many dogs do that are new to training. Training accommodations and recommendations were made and written down for Greg to continue working with Missy. They are: 1) Missy must sit and “wait” at door before going out. 2) Practice with Missy from only 10 minutes at a time three times a day at this point because Missy has a short attention span. This amount of time will increase as we continue to help you train. 3) Keep Missy in a harness for now so that you can easily put a leash on her if someone comes to the door 4) Do not assume that Missy understands the “stay” command yet. For example: I would not let loose of the leash anywhere thinking that Missy will stay. Do not let Missy off leash at parents’ home in backyard because Missy could easily escape through the barbed wire fence until she learns “come” and “home”. 4) Whenever there is food anywhere (table, counter, tray table, etc.), assume that Missy can reach this food while still untrained.

Overall, it was a very good and enjoyable training session!

San Antonio, Texas, Veteran, Wounded Warrior

Prayers to Nate Perry

Please send prayers and positive energy to Nate Perry, the son of one of our beloved clients, Linda Koler. His mother a veteran and our client, died unexpectedly last night (not sure if due to her cancer or diabetes complications).  She was training her SDIT, “Sadie”. He posted a picture of her this morning, saying how much he loved her and that now she had no more pain.

Anxiety, Epilepsy, Experience, San Antonio, Texas

CONGRATS to Candice and Trenton

From our trainer, Cherry, who has been working with Candice, who suffers from epilepsy and anxiety, and her now Service Dog, Trenton!!

“Huge congratulations to Candice and her little Corgi mix Trenton, who passed their Public Access Test!

Candice has worked very hard with Trenton, who in the beginning was anxious of big stores and busy places – but now he confidently goes with Candice everywhere!

Trenton has alerted Candice over nine times in the past couple of months to her seizures!

Off leash, load, unload, sit and stay, down and stay, wait, leave it, positioning in a restaurant and heeling were all done extremely well!!

Candice and her family are off on vacation soon, and she told me how happy she is that she will be taking with her Trenton, her Public Access Tested Service dog!

Candice’s dedication to training her beloved Trenton has truly paid off. She told me as we were leaving the store how excited she is to take off the ‘In Training’ badge and sew on her Service Dog patch!

And so she should be, she deserves it!

Military, PTSD, San Antonio, TBI, Texas, Veteran, Wounded Warrior

Update from Ryan and Carl

An update from Wounded Warrior, Ryan, who was matched with SDIT, Carl! They went on a 3 day trip to a convention, and are staying at a nice hotel. Lots of time for bonding! We will do our first session in public at Bass Pro Shop when Ryan gets back. It’s a great place to expose Service Dogs to all kinds of distractions, especially the glass elevator. Ryan wrote:

“Carl loves the hotel! He just doesn’t like the elevator very much – but he is doing great so far! I hugged Carl on the elevator and reassured him that it was OK”.

I can’t wait to hear how the convention went – huge crowds for a Wounded Warrior with PTSD and TBI and a new SDIT – overwhelming, but hopefully having Carl there should help Ryan refocus and be more calm.

Anxiety, PTSD, San Antonio

Kathy and SDiT Olla

From our trainer, Andrew, who is working with Kathy, who suffers from PTSD and anxiety, and her SDIT, Olla.

Kathy and I met at the Lowe’s close by her house, and proceeded to work on practicing for the Public Access Test. We made it all the way through, but Olla has some focus and listening issues that still need to be addressed. So, we went over them and we practiced the focus exercises that I have given them. They scored about a 78% on the test. So, perhaps in a week or so at our next session, the team will pass! They have done a wonderful job so far!!