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Should You Get a Service Dog?
Before I got Crush, there was so much I didn’t know. I did hours upon hours of research trying to figure out if a service dog was right for me. It’s all about your condition and lifestyle. My dysautonomia makes it difficult for me to balance and bend down to pick things up. Crush’s tasks mitigate that really well. He has a hard harness and is trained to get anything and everything off the floor for me. To go through all of what Crush does for me would take a long time. Here’s what I considered before getting a service dog. Your Condition Like I said earlier, Crush aids my…
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I Still Get Nervous…
Let me start off by saying, bringing Crush places, in general, doesn’t make me nervous. It makes me feel safe. He provides a lot of mitigation for my symptoms. He also helps take care of me when those symptoms are too much. I had a situation come up last week that made me question my own stigma. I needed to go car shopping. Out of respect for the dealers, I chose not to bring Crush. Although it is legal for Crush to be with me, I know how annoying it is to clean dog hair out of cars. Since Crush didn’t go with me to shop, I felt awkward bringing…
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STOP INTERACTING WITH SERVICE DOGS
The general public rarely has the opportunity to interact with service dogs. There are thousands of service dogs working throughout the United States. Most people don’t know how to interact with them. I’m going to explain why Crush and I need space in public. In addition, I will talk about why in general you shouldn’t interact with service dogs when they are working.Crush is with me in public to do a job. He is my lifeline. When my blood pressure or heart rate gets too low, he alerts me. When I’m starting to itch the precursor to a life-threatening allergy attack, he alerts me. His job in public to help…
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How to Keep Your Service Dog Occupied in Quarantine
If your service dog is anything like Crush, they have a lot of energy. I’m lucky to be in close contact with the organization that gave me Crush. They have been proactive about coming up with helpful solutions to doggy boredom. They’re not all perfect but I’ll take what I can get. So here are some ways to keep your dog occupied and trained during quarantine. Keep Training Crush knows a lot but there’s always more to be learned. I want him to be able to know objects by name. When I say get “XYZ” he’ll know what I’m talking about instead of having to point and direct him to…
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Calming My Anger and Resentment
In the past two weeks, I’ve been excessively angry. I have regressed from the mental state of radical acceptance. I have become filled with resentment. I’m actively working to remedy this change, as I don’t like the effects anger has on me. I like feeling warm and cozy within my body and anger doesn’t provide that home. This anger has been focused on individuals who don’t interact well with Crush. It’s rare that I encounter people that are rude or unpleasant towards Crush. Rather it’s people who are overly excited about seeing a dog that have the ability to ruin my day. When I say they ruin my day, I…
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Dealing With Ignorance
It’s interesting to me that I have to address this topic. After this week, frustrated. I have noticed that people have started to treat me differently since getting Crush. Most people are very accommodating or overly nice but there are others that are not. I recently watched a video on Youtube. A blind woman described her experience with her guide dog. She recalls times of being denied by a Lyft or Uber drivers, simply because of her dog. I can’t say that I’ve ever experienced this. I can’t imagine. I’m sure it will happen eventually but the Twin Cities is very accommodating. Let me preface this with the fact that…
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We Graduated!
Last Saturday Crush and I graduated from our program! Although Crush has had the official title of service dog for sometime, this event marked a special occasion in our journey together. Getting Crush was such a journey. From when the idea sparked in my mind to meeting him for the first time was a process, to say the least. There is so much to know before you get a service dog but nothing can prepare you for the beautiful reality of it. I’ve been brought into a community of people that is unlike anything I’ve ever experienced. Everyone is kind and loving. I had the joy of meeting the people…
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Service Dog Essentials I Carry With Me
As I was reminded during the training process, Crush is still a dog. It wasn’t Crush who reminded me of this, it was the trainer. Of course, Crush has his essentials. This includes his hard handle harness, halti, and leash. That’s not what I’m discussing in this article. Although few and far between Crush makes mistakes. Whether he needs more payment for his work and focus or if he ever had an accident, I’m well prepared. Here are all the things I carry with me for Crush… Extra Treats This is important. He may not need extra treats but there have been times where I forget his treats at home…
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Navigating the World With a Service Dog
If you have a service dog, you know how much it changes your world. After having Crush for over a month, I realized there’s a lot of things people don’t tell you about having a service dog. Getting Crush is the best decision I ever made. I am free to do things independently, but it doesn’t come without a few ups and downs. There are times when people interfere, causing frustrations. When we’re out in public, there’s a spotlight on us. That’s not always a bad thing, most times it brings a smile to my face. Crush is such a helper, he is a safety net. When shit hits the…
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Service Dog Etiquette
I’ve had Crush for a month now. It’s clear that there are some large pitfalls in the education system about service dogs. I haven’t had any intolerant or inconsiderate encounters. For that, I am grateful. That being said, people do not respect the sign, please don’t touch. So, I’m taking this time to set out a basic guideline for how to interact with a service dog. Don’t TouchThis should go without saying but apparently it needs to be said. Despite the sign that says, please don’t touch, I often have people ask to pet him. If Crush is working, you can not touch him. It’s that simple. I’m not being…
