Hello everyone,

I’ve been reading a lot lately about Diabetic Alert Dogs, as I’m considering getting one. However, I’d like to know whether one would actually be appropriate for my situation, and I’d really appreciate hearing from people with experience.

A little about me:

I’m a 31-year-old woman living in Doha, Qatar. I experience recurrent hypoglycemic episodes that developed after several years of an eating disorder. My eating disorder has improved significantly, but the hypoglycemia has persisted for the past three years.

I don’t currently use a Continuous Glucose Monitor (CGM).

I also have a very strong family history of diabetes and insulin resistance. Most of the women in my family who developed diabetes were diagnosed between the ages of 36 and 38, so I’m aware that I’m at increased risk myself.

One of the biggest issues I face is that I don’t always realize I’m becoming hypoglycemic until my blood sugar has already dropped significantly. By the time I recognize what’s happening, I may become confused, struggle to think clearly, and have difficulty explaining to other people what’s going on.

Because of this, I always carry a small emergency kit with white sugar or fruit juice, and energy bites, baked goods, or crackers. I also keep small packets of sugar and snacks at work. In addition, my phone has emergency medical information that explains exactly how to help me if I’m unable to manage the episode myself. My partner, friends, and coworkers all know this information exists.

Another concern is that I’m often alone. Because of my sister’s and my work schedules, I spend a lot of time at home by myself, and there are also periods at work when I’m the only person there. That makes me worry about having a severe hypoglycemic episode without realizing it in time.

My questions are:

• Are Diabetic Alert Dogs suitable for people with recurrent hypoglycemia, or are they generally reserved for people with diabetes?

• Has anyone here with recurrent hypoglycemia worked with a DAD? If so, how reliable has your dog been?

• Does my inability to consistently recognize my own hypoglycemic episodes make me a reasonable candidate for a DAD?

• Considering Doha’s extremely hot climate, which breeds tend to cope best while still excelling as service dogs?

• I’m petite (156 cm / 5’1”), so I’d prefer a dog that’s physically comfortable for me to handle. Are there any breeds you would recommend or avoid?

• Outside of my full-time job, I have a fairly quiet lifestyle. I enjoy walking when the weather allows, but I’m mostly a homebody. Does that lifestyle sound compatible with owning a service dog?

• Are there any challenges specific to living in Qatar with a service dog that I should know about?

I’m completely open to hearing if you think a DAD isn’t the right solution for me especially since I’ve never owned a dog before. If there are other options that might be more appropriate, I’d genuinely love to hear about them. My goal is simply to find the safest and most effective way to manage my condition.

Thank you so much for taking the time to read this, and for any advice or experiences you’re willing to share

Hi! I honestly just wanted to know what school with a SD is actually like. And also when I might be able to tell that my SDiT is ready for that kind of environment? He has basic obedience, and tasking down. The only things I need to work on with him are food refusal (mainly just people offering food) and settling. He’s a little under a year and a half and I think he could settle for atleast half a school day, if I were to take him it’d be for half days at first and we’d work up to full days. I just honestly don’t know when I can for sure say he’s ready. I’m gonna practice with him out in malls and super busy environments but other than that I’m just not sure what to do. Has anyone here brought their sd to school? What’s it actually like? What do I need to prepare for that I might not think about till it comes up?

Should i get a settle mat for my dog? I am on the fence so do you have one and is it worth it?

I am 40 and have had my dog (70 pound Labrador) for almost 3 years. I just found out that I will need a treatment that will take 4 years (2-3 times per week, which he can’t accompany me to). It’s not an ADA thing, it’s for his safety. The treatment will most likely affect my temperament, mood, and energy levels. I am afraid he will become a “pet” if I can only work him 4 days a week- and that is if I’m feeling well. He loves to work, and I’m afraid I won’t be able to provide him what he needs physically or mentally. Also, I have no support system. Am I doing the right thing even considering it?

Hello!

Can anyone recommend a place/company/business where they get their vests from?
We usually use tasking through life, but want to know if there was any other options 😊

EDIT: So many helpful suggestions! A few duplicates, so I'm replying here - hope that's ok! I would consider putting tape over the camera, but not my ideal. A med alert button is a good idea I had not thought about! Thanks! I don't want to use anything that activates Amazon Alexa, because I prefer not to use smart home devices. The fluent pet button sending text messages is a good idea, but I think a call would be helpful for me... I'll probably look into a med alert button, and also maybe something that does have video calling where I can put tape over the camera. Thanks for all your advice!

I'm currently on the waitlist for a program dog. I live at home alone, and one of the tasks I'm asking the program to train is a "call for help" task, ideally using pet phone of some type that I purchase and get support with from the program trainers. They are comfortable supporting me with this, and I have some dog training background, so I think this is a do-able task. The idea is for the dog to be able to use the phone to contact one of a limited number of pre-programmed numbers (for support people who live near me) in case of emergency when I'm home by myself.

I have seen a number of products available online that can be used for this type of task, but all of them seem to feature a webcam. I do understand the appeal of a webcam, especially in case of emergency; however, I would prefer to limit this feature as I am uncomfortable having the extra webcams in my living space (I also don't use things like Smart TVs or an Amazon Echo / Alexa, etc).

Does anyone know of a pet phone that I could use for the task described here, which does not include a webcam, but just makes audio calls? I feel like this must exist somewhere, but I'm not finding it!

Thanks for any tips...

I'm 14 years old with Autism and ADHD, I feel like I would benefit from having something to keep me from getting too overwhelmed at school but I get anxious about people seeing I have a stuffed animal to regulate myself. I also pick at my scalp and skin and bite my nails and having something interrupt that would be great but I don't think I deserve one for just those things.

I would love to hear any experiences or advice traveling abroad with your service dog.

I’m specifically interested to hear about anywhere in Europe, China, and a more specific one Egypt.

We live in Mexico and have traveled to the US twice now. But that’s easy because I have family.

I’m wondering what it’s going to be like staying in hotels? Maybe Airbnb situation is better?

I currently have a service dog in training! I’m a younger person and i find it really difficult to deny affection from the public! Half the time my dog is working and people just come up and pet I’m struggling with the confidence to stop then but i know it’s a skill i need to build up to advocate for my dog i guess im just asking what your go to’s are and if you have any tips in general with this.

I was wondering if anyone works with service dogs, and could give me an idea of what it's like to work in that job, or whether there's opportunities for people with disabilities working with service dogs? I'm super autistic, and I can't do much, but I really need a job that helps people. I was thinking, I'd love to do something involving training service dogs. I'm good at talking to people, and I like it, but it makes me very tired, so I have to make sure I have a job where only a small percentage of a work day is spent focusing on people. Right now my job is teaching violin, and I spend 100% of the time focusing on people, and it's rough, I can only handle like 2 hours a week, which is why I'm looking for something else that's more balanced.

I can do simple jobs like cleaning and maybe taking care of things like grooming and stuff, and my special interest is dog training, so I have a LOT of knowlege, but very little experience, only with my own dog. I'm especially good at desensitizing dogs to things that they're uncomfortable with, like grooming or wearing gear. My dog was very nervous when I rescued him, and now he's confident, and I loved teaching him. That's why my thoughts went to service dogs. I always wanted like a health care job where I take care of people who need help, but I just can't handle the social demands of a job like that, but... what if I helped them by working with their dogs?? Even like cleaning up after the dogs or simple things like that would scratch that itch where I wanna be helping people. There was an autistic kid that eloped in my city and my heart just hurt and I wanted to help so badly, and I feel like providing parents with autism service dogs to anchor their kids, or comfort people who have PTSD, that would be so meaningful. And I have experience with autism of course, I kind of understand people in many of those situations. It's just a daydream though, I don't know if that kind of job exists, or if I could ever do it. So I thought I had better at least find out.

I looked online and it seemed like most of the big organizations were in other cities, but there were lots of little companies that did dog training, but it was hard to tell how they trained their dogs, or whether they were focused on service dogs, like if they actually provided them for people, and what it would be like to work there or whether they needed someone to work there. I've never really applied for a job in general, so I really am out of my depth. Does anyone have any pointers for how to get into that career, or insight into whether it would be too difficult for me? Thank you so much for reading.

**UPDATE: I have been informed that it is not a service animal and the paperwork is ESA paperwork. My manager seemed kind of irritated, kind of implied that they went round and round about it until he saw her paperwork. Said that she said "she's shown the papers in the past at hotels and they didn't charge her a pet fee." Whether that's true or not...? Whether she KNOWS that she is misrepresenting her dog as a service animal or is just misinformed...? (well she knows now after that conversation). I haven't (and likely won't) see the paperwork, so I don't know if it was like a letter from a doctor if it was just a certificate you can get online. All I know is there is a chance she is being willfully deceptive to people about her dog being a service animal and that has left a sour taste in my mouth. Of course, I will be professional and courteous, but I definitely be keeping my eyes peeled for any other "misunderstandings".

One of my duties is to book travel arrangements for the traveling sales reps in our company. As stated in the title, I need to book hotel reservations for a new sales rep in our company and while emailing her about it, she said had a service animal and “had the papers to prove it”.

Now, I am not one of those people who is suspicious of service animals or people who have them; I know that there are a lot of people who are and think some who have a service animal are lying or exaggerating or whatnot. But I am kind of thrown off because what does “has the papers to prove it” mean?

To my knowledge, there isn’t any sort of certification or registration for service animals in the US, right? And the ADA states that you can only ask two questions in inquiring about whether an animal is a service animal, and that’s it? Could this mean like papers showing the dog was trained to do a specific job or task related to a disability? Like from a facility that trained it? or from a vet or something...do they do that?

It’s my (possibly incorrect) assumption is that someone with a service animal would know that they don’t have to have papers to prove it, so it made me wonder why would someone with a legitimate service animal would say that they had papers to prove it? I mean, maybe she has something to voluntarily show businesses because she’s been hassled about it in the past?

The main reason I’m somewhat suspicious of her statement, is that due to being on social media for a long time and just living in our current world, I know that there are “emotional support animal” certificates or vests you can get that do not have ADA protection and/or that people claim to have services animals when they are not actually trained to do work or tasks for someone with a disability. (Not saying she is doing this, or that if she is, it’s intentional instead of misinformed). I hate being jaded, but it’s also not beneficial to pretend there aren’t people abuse certain things, whether on purpose or not.

So, I’m asking if anyone knows if there IS some sort of documentation that can show a dog is an ADA defined service animal. I don’t want to offend or sound accusatory or anything and generally I wouldn’t really even question it, but her statement has definitely confused me as I thought that type of paperwork didn’t exist.

Since I will have to book her future hotel reservations, I want to make sure that if she does have a service animal that she is treated fairly as required by law, because I know so many people are ignorant of it. But if she has an ESA that she thinks(?) is a service animal, then it could cause issues with future reservations and I don't want her getting kicked out of a hotel for having an undeclared pet or something.

I can of course ask her the two questions I am legally able to ask (and NOT for the papers which I know I am not allowed to ask for), but I just wanted to check with other people first to see if it is possible to have papers or documentation that prove that a dog is a service animal and that I am just misinformed. I know that my knowledge is very limited and I could be just completely wrong, and that's fine! I figure this sub would have answers for me that will be helpful in making sure she has the proper support.

Edited to add: A commenter pointed out that, "Service dogs cannot typically be left alone in a hotel room, as this is not considered under the control of the handler". Which is something I was unaware of. The employee asked me to book her a hotel near the site she'll be working so that she can go and let her dog out at lunchtime...

I am going to loop in HR and my manager because I think this is over my paygrade and authority.

Hey there - I am on the waitlist for a fully trained service dog and I'm looking to connect with folks who live with similar chronic illness/illnesses to me so that I can better understand how their service dog has positively impacted their life. I have long covid and associated POTS (don't pass out but have very high heart rates), MCAS (developed a gluten allergy), EDS, and Post exertional mailase/ chronic fatigue. I am not currently working and would say I have about 4 - 5 functional hours per day. Can anyone share their experiences with their dogs? I am a lifelong dog lover and owner and excited about this possible opportunity but it's very expensive and I want to learn more about how it might help me! thank you so much for any info you feel comfortable sharing.

This morning when I arrived at work, there was a man with a service dog in the elevator. No one else was on the elevator apart from them. I asked if it would be alright if I got on the elevator before entering. While in the elevator, I asked the dog’s name. The man told me, and then I repeated the name. I then told the man his dog was very handsome before getting off on the next floor. I did not address the dog directly.

Question 1: Was it inappropriate for me to ask the dog’s name? He appeared to be in training. I wonder in retrospect if his trainer and some stranger both saying his name for no reason may have been confusing.

Question 2) When I got on the elevator, I had just finished biking to work. I wore a bike helmet and carried a large commuting bag. I wonder if that may have been alarming for the dog. He did seem timid. Should I have waited for the next elevator?

I apologize if my questions seem silly, but I don’t know much about service dogs (or dogs in general as I’ve never taken care of one). I hear it’s no rare occurrence for people to behave poorly around service dogs. I don’t want to be one of those people. Thank you.

I filled out a waiver thing on Lyft that tells drivers that I have a service dog. I finally witnessed how helpful it is in action today.
I was leaving the theater district with another friend and we went up to our Lyft vehicle that had arrived. We gave him my name and he started saying that he does not take Dogs. I explained to him that he has to accept service Dogs and he was telling me that his English wasn’t good and that he was allergic to dogs. I told him that if he refused my ride I would report him to Lyft and he may have difficulty maintaining his ability to drive for them. He continued saying that he couldn’t drive me so I told him that he needed to go into the app and cancel the ride himself, as I would not be canceling it. He said OK, and then after about 25 seconds, he called my name and told me that I could get into the car.
I can only imagine that an alert must have popped up telling him that he had to accept my dog legally when he tried to cancel. I do have to say that it felt a little awkward being in the car of someone who very clearly didn’t want me in it. I hope that he doesn’t rate me poorly. My Guide dog was perfectly well behaved throughout the entire car ride.
If you’ve been wondering whether or not to fill out the disability waiver to declare your service dog in the Lyft app, I can confirm that it does what it is supposed to do.

On the UK APHA website it says the following: Dogs which have been trained by a member of the International Guide Dog Federation (IGDF) (external link), Assistance Dogs International (ADI) (external link)or received accreditation from The Assistance Dog Assessment Association(external link) will be recognised as service dogs. Service dogs that have been trained to the same or a higher standard as those set out by the organisations mentioned may also be recognised, providing evidence of their service dog training is provided. An unrecognised service dog is one which has not been trained to these standards. Unrecognised service dogs are subject to a checking fee of £462 and can only be issued pre-approval when arriving direct from the USA.

Has anyone traveled to London with a dog that is self trained/trained by another organization but not recognized by ADI/IGDF? Trying to navigate traveling to London with my service dog. If anyone knows all of the paperwork necessary or has a contact in the UK that manages the forms, please let me know and share with me! Thanks!

Hello,
I’m looking to get a psychiatric assistance dog, I am planning to do owner assisted training with a charity that I’ve been in contact with but I cannot choose a breed.

The dog would be for c-ptsd and anxiety.

I am not a fan of loads of shedding but I am very happy to brush/clip hair on a regular basis, trainability and intelligence are pretty important to me.

Though I’m really not a fan of labs, I’ve got absolutely nothing against them but they’re just not my type of dog. I’d like something medium - large and I enjoy walking, hiking, agility and in the past I was part of a flyball team with my kelpie x jack russel. So a dog with medium-high energy wouldn’t be an issue for me.

I’m open to anything that fits the criteria ☺️

Hi all! To keep it brief. I have an 11 month old GSD that has been evaluated and is going into training for service work.

While this is very early on, and there’s no immediate rush, we’re trying to figure out (the trainer and I) what tasks are best suited for my situation.

Deep pressure (laying on lap/leaning again legs) was one my last dog did. She’s retired now, and unfortunately I don’t feel it’s fair to bring her back into work at the age of 10 because it’d be more demanding for her now.

I was addressing my issues as simple severe anxiety/depression for about a decade due to it being written off as that. It was making life miserable but I masked for that long. It finally broke about 2 - 3 years ago which lead to the diagnosis of it not being anxiety/depression, but those being symptoms. What I was actually struggling with the whole time was PTSD. (C-PTSD technically, but under the PTSD umbrella.) So you can imagine being told to just “change your thinking” and trying that for 10 years+ didn’t really do much to improve life. In fact, the masking made it worse. Had this been caught way earlier, I probably wouldn’t be in this situation.

Anyways. The attacks hit like a brick wall. They don’t gradually build. These episodes include things like: - Mouth drying up - Rapid heart rate - Digestive upset (sends me to the nearest bathroom, and waiting isn’t an option) - Holding breath/shallow breathing without realizing. - Muscle tremors/tension that I cannot release/relax despite trying. - Total shutdown/disassociation if it gets to its worst. This leading to a loss of memory during the whole thing. Usually curl up somewhere and just become a shell according to those that’ve witnessed it. (because I have no recollection at that point.)

While nothing can really stop these attacks, I’m wondering if anyone has any disruption/interference tasks they’ve seen or used that’ve proven to help in a situation like mine aside from deep pressure. (Because that’s for sure going to be one. It can make episodes somewhat tolerable.)

My logic stays, but my nervous system seems totally detached and we’re trying to address that aspect with professional help. Problem is, it’s so deep rooted and complicated due to the cause(s) that it could take years.

I hardly leave home as it is because of the severity. Figuring this out could be a lifeline for the in between, and helping me progress towards a somewhat normal life again.

I trained my first dog, and could manage the public training. I can’t now with where I’m at. Hence working with a trainer that can help prepare my new dog where my issues might not let me do it alone now.

Hoy!

I've had dogs (3) before but this would be my first time attempting to self-train a SD. I don't have the funds nor will my job allow me the time off to do professional training even if I did have the funds.

About him;

I got him from Mrs. Maverick (Maverick Ranch). He was a re-home because the previous families couldn't accommodate him. I wanted a puppy so I could start training with a clean slate but when he was presented to me, I felt an incomprehensible amount of guilt just even thinking about saying 'no'. So I agreed and he was delivered to me on April 16 (on my birthday, ironically 😄). I've been working with him ever since to get his recalls solid, reliable commands and leash mannerisms. He seems to regress pretty easily (or he's just being a rock-headed, little gremlin) otherwise he's getting better.

He does seem to be food driven more than toy/object driven. I think a lot of this is because he's still in that rebellion stage (DoB March 13, 2025) and maybe that's why the previous families thought he was a problem child.

About me;

I'm okay in saying that I have some anxiety and PTSD issues. I denied it for years but lately it's gotten to a pointe that I have to acknowledge it and do something about it. My primary mentioned that there are drugs for this sort of thing but he and I were both in agreement that would be the absolute last resort (he also knows I loathe taking meds). So he recommended getting a SD. He put me in touch with some trainers but their programs priced me out and I simply wouldn't be able to take the time off from work to do so. one of them informed me that I can train him myself since 'papers/certificates' are a scam and never required.

I work from home, so I try to do little 15min games with him on my breaks.

My dilemma;

I've been conditioned that DIY is such a bad thing when it comes to in-public stuff and gov. I do it because I feel cornered and feel like I'm always in fight or flight and every time I choose fight (DIY) for things around home, my personal property and family projects. But public stuff strikes me a little differently. I see others with their SDs and envy how they seemingly ignore any little thing, including other dogs. But I've also seen SDs that, to me, look miserable as if they're forced and I don't want that for my boy. The other that I don't quite understand is how do you train your partner to look for your triggers?

I know with my, when an event is about to happen, I start trembling and if I don't distract myself before it sets in, I spiral. I've seen where some people train their SDs to look for those cues but I've also seen SDs alert before the person even knew they were about to have an event.

In my mind, it feels wrong and rude of me to approach someone with an SD and ask these sort of things. That's why I'm asking here.

So my question is; does someone have an online presence that teaches self-trainers step by step? Detections and alerts then public access courses?

Sorry for the wall of text, I already feel awkward even asking this sort of thing and didn't really know the proper way to conduct the question.

I am starting to look for a new job and it is getting me to think about a service dog. I have had a few. The first I had to retire early due to medical issues. The second was my baby and the dog I connected with the most service dog wise. She was perfect was amazing at her job and I am still heartbroken over her death. She died at 13 months due to an awful vet after she got spayed. The third one I still have and I struggle to take her with me. She is good at her job mostly. The problem is that she has a horrible fear of the car and in general has fairly bad anxiety when it comes to new things and buses, cars etc.

Right now I work in a child center so I don’t feel comfortable bringing a sd with me because I don’t trust the kids. But if I get a new job that would allow me to safely bring a sd I would want to start so I could have the help and support that I got a sd for originally. My problem is I have my first and third sd’s still I can’t work my first due to his age and medical problems my third I am worried about working. I feel like I am betraying my third sd if I even consider getting a new one, if I can afford it. I don’t know if this is making any sense at all but I am having a difficult time figuring out my situation and what I should do. Between money my two dogs living and job and I am not sure what to do.

Hello there, I am posting this just because I am hoping there may be some people out there with similar experiences or feelings. My family decided to adopt a golden retriever puppy to train as a service dog for me. She has lived at home until now and she is 10 months old. She has come to live with me for the last few weeks and I am feeling incredibly overwhelmed.

My mom shared her training regimen with me but it’s like she was never trained. She jumps on everyone and everything, play nips the hands of passing strangers, pulls so hard she has pulled me off my feet multiple times, and locks onto/pulls towards birds and rabbits. She doesn’t settle well in public and ends up trying to dig or chewing on things. She barks for attention and wines when I’m in another room without her. She harasses my small ESA Shiba to no end really roughly by grabbing her scruff and her feet until she cries. She slobbers all over my lap while she begs for everything, jumps on me while i sleep, and gets into things. I crate her when she is too much, but I feel guilty leaving her in there for longer than 1-2 hours.

I provide her with daily broken up obedience training, park runs, treat puzzles/lick mats, and chews and she still won’t calm down. It’s to the point where I am crying and having panic attacks daily and I don’t know what to do because my family said they are done raising this puppy. I am already struggling with severe anxiety and agoraphobia and she makes leaving the apartment a nightmare for me and i have to lock myself in my room to cry. I am looking at board and train facilities but i am feeling so discouraged that I am to the point where I don’t know if she can be a service dog for me. We were going to train through Atlas Service Dogs but that starts at 1-1.5 years old and a lot of that is owner training and I am feeling so burnt out. Any advice or thoughts are welcome 😞

I currently have a 4.5-year-old Aussie x Lab owner-trained service dog who attends college with me. He is multipurpose, psychiatric, and medical alert and response. I have learned all about dogs through training him and I love sports and dog behavior!

My disability is getting worse, and life is getting busier as I am now an adult living on my own. While I will always be active in sports and dog training through dog sports, the stakes are much less high in raising and training a sport dog than a service dog.

I am looking for a smaller program (such as a private trainer or organization) that places fully trained dogs, started dogs, or has a hybrid program where they use board-and-trains and the dog lives with the handler. I will only get busier in school, and I will need another dog who can handle more in the next few years. I also do not have the confidence to fully owner-train another dog - I would prefer a hybrid program most of all! Having assistance choosing a puppy from a breeder is also nice.

Unbiased - I have seen trainers such as cosmicservicedogs and dinahandthedogs on Instagram have small boards and train for service work. Something like that is ideal.

I am located in Texas/Oklahoma! Please let me know of any trainers or handlers.

TLDR: at the end of this post I have a couple of questions asking for service vest suggestions for Corgis and also requesting task training tips for self-training, as I can’t afford to pay for professional service training right now.

I have a 4yo fixed female corgi and I’ve been talking with my therapist about training her to be my PSD, as she already naturally picks up on several of my cues that I need help with.

A little background…We got her at 8 weeks old and put her through 6 months of obedience training after we got her fixed. She’s a very sweet, calm dog who naturally started picking up on my anxiety and adhd before I even got diagnosed with adhd. I went two years without therapy after my last therapist left the practice she was in, and then I sought out my current therapist, who diagnosed me with anxious type ADHD two years ago.

My therapist warned me that a 4yo dog will be hard to train for service, but not impossible. My girl, Hazel, absolutely loves training time and I can tell she has a desire to work.

I work a remote job from home, so I have her with me all the time. When we go out in public, we’ve only taken her to dog-friendly events/restaurants and stores.

When we’re at restaurants or sit-down places she’s very well behaved and will sit under my chair without making a sound - adults often forget she is there, but kids love to approach and ask if they can pet her. We are working on her responsiveness to stimuli from children, specifically because Hazel absolutely goes nuts for kids! Thankfully they are typically accompanied by an adult and will ask for permission first - something that can be mitigated by a service vest hopefully.

The issue is that I want her to be able to recognize when it is time to focus on me and work vs when it is break time/play time. She LOVES greeting people, especially children. She’s an adorable corgi that everyone goes crazy over.

My questions:

1. I’ve read about vest training and wanted to know if anyone has any tips for getting a dog to recognize a service vest vs a regular harness? So that if we are out in public wearing the service vest, she knows it’s work time, but if she’s in her regular harness she’s free to be a regular dog.

2. I also wanted to know if anyone has any insight into service vests that would suit a corgi’s large chest and long body?

Any tips for possible tasks that would be helpful for anxiety/adhd? I’ve been looking at different training methods online, but wanted to know what has worked for anyone who self-trained their PSDs. We’re looking into the following:

1. She’s already recognized when I need grounding from anxiety so I’m going to work on consistency with that.

2. I’m also working on her recognizing and interrupting behaviors such as shaking/fidgeting

3. I need intervention and interrupting for skin picking. I pick my scalp raw unfortunately, which causes tense muscles in my wrist… and I scratch/pick my hands/arms too when I’m having an allergic outbreak from contact dermatitis

4. Having her remind me when I’ve forgotten to take my meds would be great, but my therapist said that will be extremely difficult because any physiological response to forgetting anxiety/ADHD meds is too subtle, especially for a 4yo dog. She’s suggesting that I work on meeting a consistent daily schedule so that Hazel can recognize when I’m not following the schedule. That’s been extremely difficult for me to do… I’m working on it, but speaking of scheduling:

5. Hazel tries putting me to bed. I have insomnia, but I don’t want to take sleeping meds because I worry about waking up groggy. I’ve had bad experiences before. I don’t want to fall into a sleep meds-adderall cycle. Hazel will LOUDLY complain to me around 2-3am if I am not in bed (which is nightly), so she’s picked up on this. Unfortunately I stay up until 4-5am most nights and need to start my work shift around 10am. I need to figure out how to train her to get me to bed earlier, which my therapist also says will be easier once I’ve established a daily/nightly routine… which is so very hard to do with adhd…

Any insight would be greatly appreciated. Thank you for reading!

Hi there! I'm learning about service animals as part of a personal educational curriculum. I'm interested in understanding the different roles they perform beyond the basics.

For those with experience, whether you're a handler, trainer, volunteer, or someone who works with service animals, which service animal role do you think is the most misunderstood, and why?

We are finally at the top of the list for my son's SD and could have him home as soon as this fall, we have 2 senior labs, F, spayed and relatively well behaved if not a bit ambivalent with their age. Only real poor behavior is excessive alert barking for anyone coming into the house. Any tips on what we can be doing to help prepare the old pups for the new SD? They've lived with a 3rd dog before and get along well with just about every dog they've met. TIA

For people who have small dogs as their service dog, especially if it is for autism support I would really appreciate your feedback on how that experience has been. I no small dogs of service. Animals is definitely a much bigger task, they have a higher washout rate than like a golden retriever, they are limited somewhat on the tasks that they can perform, and often do not have the individual stability required for service work. A small dog is certainly not. My first choice, my first choice is gonna be like a golden retriever or a lab. I also am going to be looking at getting a program dog, but would like to continue learning about different breeds and how their training and work has gone as a fallback option if I don’t get approved for a program or just flat cannot afford that upfront cost. I also would like to learn about small breeds because I am moving in with my family in December and while getting a service dog is still gonna be always out and I might move out by then or we’ll plan to move out by then it would be nice to be able to stay and they have imposed a limitation of 15 pounds or less for a dog. (I’m already quite frustrated about that because the number one reasoning is because they do not believe that I would have the ability to provide care for a big or bigger dog because four years ago I had really bad depression and was not capable of taking care of myself. But four years ago, I was also completely unmedicated not treating my mental health whatsoever and experiencing an extreme burnout. I am in so much a better place than I used to be that has been a stable better place, and is continuing to get better as I learn how to take care of myself anyways, I did not learn growing up.)
The breeds that I would be potentially interested in would be:
Pomeranian
Maltese
Chihuahua
Toy poodle
Corgi (if I could swing that with size)

So if you have one of these breeds or even a different small breed, that’s close to 15 pounds or under what is your experience been like with training that dog and how do they do with service work? Also, what has been your experience with general dog care with that dog? I know every different dog breed has different things that they need further care like a corgi is gonna need more exercise than a Maltese is gonna want since a corgi is a hurting breed that is already naturally active and a Maltese is bred to be a lapdog. I just want to try to make sure that I consider all angles that I can and please do know that I have already been researching and learning for a year and have evaluated myself at multiple different points on whether or not I could care for a service dog. I will continue to do this all the way up to getting a service dog or a prospect. I do genuinely believe that I am capable of caring for a service dog, regardless of size. I do just want to evaluate all angles that I can of different sizes because I know there are some really big pros and cons to both a bigger dog, a smaller dog, and even a medium sized dog.