#public access training

[mandana-the-service-pup]

Quick update on Mandana & I

I have been in a flare for a few weeks and Methotrexate has lost some of its effectiveness. I’ve discussed it with my Rheumatologist and we might up the dose but I can’t do that until my next appointment in April. Joint pain, joint stiffness, fatigue and heart rate spikes have all gotten worse but it’s still better than before starting Methotrexate. It’s a little disheartening but ups & downs are to be expected.

Mandana has attended 2 Obedience Classes. Of course she tested out of the classes on day one but our reason for going is to work on her excitement & attention seeking behaviors around dogs & when people are engaging with me. Her favorite thing is training so a room full of dogs & people using clickers & treats is very overwhelming for her (we’re working on it 😅)

The downside is that this training center is 45 minutes away. The plus side is their packed schedule is very convenient & flexible for me and it’s in a wealthy area with some safe parks. It’s a tough drive but I can attend the classes when I’m feeling my best so I’ve also been able to take her on decompression walks afterwards. This really helps her decompress after the intensity of the training center.

The park we have been going to has a really popular dog park. It’s large with lots of enrichment and most of the dogs are well behaved. I use my longline to walk her along the outside of the dog park so she can habituate to seeing dogs running and playing with balls. Eventually we will start to introduce her to playing with the staff dogs at the training center but that will come AFTER she learns to chill out in that environment.

Another bonus is the only vegan pizza parlor in town is located nearby so we have a place to relax before driving home.

#belgian malinois #3 years #service dog in training #medical alert service dog #service dogblr #dogblr #public access training #dog training center #positive reinforcement

[fayeandknight]

Instead of dwelling on negative thoughts I am sharing a good parenting moment I witnessed today.

While Forte (SDiT) and I were walking back to the car for a water break we passed a mother and young child. Kid was maybe five? possibly younger and lit up at seeing Forte while yelling doggy! Mom quietly told her "I know you love dogs but that one is working so we can't say hi."

Little kid immediately burst into tears and mom took her to the side of the path. In an oh so gentle tone mom said "I know you have big feelings about dogs. Do you want to tell me about it? Or do you want me to explain why we can't say hi?"

I didn't hear the rest because I didn't want to linger and make the situation any harder.

But A+ to that mom for how they handled it. What a kind way to educate and honor your kid's feelings. Love to see it.

#dogblr #forte #belgian tervuren #service dog in training #psychiatric service dog #sdit #public access training #gentle parenting #public interactions #seriously hats off to that parent for the way they handled it #they respected me and their kid in the same moment #it feels melodramatic to say it restored a bit of my faith in humanity #but also #it restored a bit of my faith in humanity #kindness ftw

[assistancedogmischa]

did public access yesterday and... it didn't go so well (but was entirely my fault)

poor mischa - we went to therapy which he's been coming with me to since he was a pup, but he was sooky and disruptive which was unusual (and a pain in the ass). i thought maybe he needed to do a poop so i took him out the back where there was a grassy area, he did a wee but then wanted to go back inside... but then started whining again. i ended up putting him in the car for the rest of the session.

afterwards i got coffee in the (outside) mall with my siblings, where he was also sooky. i gave him some food and water but eventually i realised he had to poo, so i tried to get him to a nearby park but it was too late and he pooped right there in the mall 😭🫣 luckily it was in the outdoor part and not the indoor part but i felt so bad lol. both for me but mostly for him that i hadnt realised until too late and he'd been holding on for like 1.5hr 😓

note to self: pay more attention and also do toilet stops in between activities...

also my sibling's friends were in the mall at the same time and asked for a pat, but then crowded him and he was visibly uncomfortable. i told them he'd had enough but they didn't listen and only stopped when my sibling said the same. i think from now on i won't let anyone pat him while we're out, training or not...

here's a photo of mischa at the beach we stopped at for a quick sniff around once I'd dropped my sibling at home:

#described #described in alt text #service dog in training #assistance dog in training #assistance dog #service dog #white swiss shepherd #berger blanc swisse #maremma #maremma sheepdog #dogpost #public access training #poor mischa... i felt so bad for him... 😓

[hashtag-xolo]

Service Dog Public Access Training: The National Zoo

Tzapo and I tackled the National Zoo together today. I have taken him to an aquarium, a bison ranch, a wildlife refuge, and a horse "zoo" before so I was hopeful that this would be challenging but doable.

Tzapo wasn't entirely perfect but he did pretty damn well. His one downfall was he did see a couple of wild squirrels he wanted to eat. But after allowing him to watch and process them, he was able to redirect and move on pretty easily.

He took the animals in their enclosures all in stride. He took note of most of them (a couple I don't think he saw because they were up high and not moving much) but he definitely noticed most. He watched and examined the animals with curiosity but not deep interest. Even ones he could easily scent and see, like the elephants, bison, alpacas, ostriches, and antelopes? No problem. In the Amazonia exhibit, there's a part where the birds fly freely. None came down close to us but a pair did swoop by overhead twice making some horrific screeching. Tzapo was nonplussed by this and kept his focus on me.

Overall, I think the hardest part was the wild squirrels got way closer than Tzapo has happen in normal encounters. Normally they stay many feet away. These squirrels were comfortable getting within a few feet of Tzapo which was a much harder challenge and understandably so. But he was able to redirect and refocus after letting him process and see the squirrel for a bit. So while it wasn't technically perfect, he's a dog breed with a high prey drive and he was able to redirect in a high stress environment of a zoo. So to me, this is a big win.

And while I didn't wind up needing him to task until after we left the zoo, I did fake a panic a couple of times just to check in with Tzapo and see where his focus and threshold was at. He was still responding to me very well.

Tzapo is really maturing and handling things well. The zookeepers did keep an eye to ensure that Tzapo wasn't disruptive to the animals. There was never a concern voiced to me. Zookeepers smiled and complimented him. Tzapo held his commands impeccably today, and even held a downstay when a small child toddled almost all the way into him. He held firm.

A zoo is an incredibly high level of public access, combining the stresses of crowds with incredibly novel animal stimuli. I think we rocked it today and I will continue working on Tzapo's ability to stay focused around squirrels, but if he could redirect from them in such a stressful environment I think we can make it work.

First photo is Tzapo settling in the panda house as we watched three pandas play, second was in the elephant barn where Tzapo calmly watched the elephant take a dust bath, third was Tzapo doing a good under (a cue he has a hard time with and now excels), and finally just trying to cool down in the shade.

#tzapo #dogblr #xolodog #xoloitzcuintli #xoloitzcuintle #mexican hairless dog #sdit #service dog in training #future service dog #public access #public access training

[mangedog]

Mischa and I did Public Access again today.

Various locations - I had a dr's appointment but I left Misch in the car (windows down, dw) - neither he nor I are ready for that. Then we went to the laundromat (small, dingy, no one else in there, machine didn't work and ate my money, after I'd left it for almost an hour so. no clean blankets for me lol), then the chemist (he did very well despite everyone cooing over him, though they were all respectful of space and no pats), then Macca's (McDonald's) where he was overly distracted by some teenagers (on his behalf, not theirs). Oh also Shiploads where he also did well but still had the "please can we leave" thing.

Overall did well, need to work on LLW & keeping close inside places, distractions/focus & sniffing. Kept loosing his socks but his replacement boots have arrived now so next time that won't be a problem. (hopefully)

I'm leaving him at home tomorrow, my siblings and i are going to the movies and he's not ready to sit down in a theatre for 2 hours, and I'd just be distracted the whole time making sure he's doing ok.

I've booked a session with a dog trainer who has experience with (psych) ADs, in March. If he was just gonna be a pet I'd be happy with where hes at and confident i could train whatever other behaviours a pet dog would need to know, but since ADs need to be at such a high standard of behaviour in public, and also obviously know tasks, i dont know how to move forward in training that. we've practiced a bit of bracing & counter balance, and he self-initiated a grounding task that ive tried to capture (been slack on that tbh), but i dont know how to train the other tasks i want. so hopefully she can help me with that, and also some other things that non-ADs also need to learn (polite greetings for example). and mischas anxiety. since that was the basis of our rejected application from [redacted] AD organisation.

i also want her opinion on, if given enough time and training, could mischa actually make it as an AD, or would it be better for the both of us to wash him. i obviously hope it doesn't come to that, but its always going to be a possibility, even if you have the most likely dog in the world. and given our less than optimal start (which was entirely my fault), I'd be disappointed (and sad and a whole lot of other emotions) but not really surprised.

#wow v long post sorry #mischa tag #assistance dog #assistance dog prospect #assistance dog in training #service dog #service dog prospect #service dog in training #public access #public access training #he kept loosing his socks and we had to keep backtracking to find them. good thing theyre bright blue #dogpost #no bold

[doitwithdaisy]

Public Places with Waffles

Waffles has improved tremendously with her behavior in public. At first, it was crucial to always carry my treat pouch, but as time went on and she became more excited with just the idea of being in the store. Join us this week on OFTV for a helpful video about training your dog in public places: https://of.tv/creators/doitwithdaisy-train-that-dog Catch up on Train That Dog!

#pulic access #public access training #public places with dogs #pet-friendly stores #training #dogtraining #trainyourdog #puppytraining #trainyourpuppy #doitwithdaisy #daisymay #waffles #dogandcat #dogtrainer #dogenrichment #dogenrichmentideas

[thestarlightforge]

If you could reblog this @amtrak-official, it would mean a lot. Happens almost every day here in DC, and these are only the 4 train stations I’m even subscribed to alerts for. A daily reminder that our transit is not anywhere near “the most accessible in the nation” (or if it is— Yikes), and it desperately needs to improve

#public transit #public transportation #ableism #trains #Amtrak #WMATA #disabled #wheelchair #wheelchairs #accessibility

[alpaca-clouds]

Cars vs Accessible Worlds

Alright, let me talk about one thing in terms of accessibility in science fiction settings - and Solarpunk specifically - that also has more than one side to it: Cars and accessibility. Because it is more complicated than you'd thing.

See: The fact that our world is so car centric really, really hinders accessibility. Wide streets are a hindrance for even normal pedastrians, cyclists and so on. If I want to get from A to B, and the route crosses a street, and there is only a traffic light every like 500 meters, it means tat I usually need either to risk my life or take the long way around to get there. And that is a fucking bother even when you are healthy and can easily take that long way around. And the more car centric a society is, the worse the issue becomes. Here in Germany it is a lot easier still to cross a street than in many places in the US.

And of course this gets a lot worse if you are disabled. Be it that you just cannot walk that far. Or if you are blind and cannot even see in what direction you could go for the next traffic light. Or if you are hard of hearing or deaf, you might be more in danger of being surprised by a car. (And that is without going into how electric cars being so fucking quiet makes stuff even more dangerous.) And, you know, neurodivergent people might also just struggle with the fucking noise that is created by roads and is often inescapable in big cities.

And of course even outside of the environmental issues, the constant presence of cars is also a health risk. Not just because of the risk of accidents, but also due to the pollution and how it interacts. Even if we all were driving electric cars, there would still be all those microplastics created by tires and streets and stuff.

So, really. We do need to move away from car centric infrastructure to make our lives healthier and to make the world more accessible for disabled people too.

BUT...

But there is the issue that some disabled people still might be in need to use some sort of personal transportation device that can cover both short and large distances, because for one reason or another public transport just does not work and cannot work for them.

For example someone with severe anxiety issues, or someone who will be easily suffering from sensory overwhelm. There might be other issues, too. Just some folks will always need something like cars.

And of course there is also the fact that stuff like emergency services will still need streets accessible to cars. Because the emergency services will just not get around using something like cars to get to all the places they might be needed.

And this... makes things complicated. Because infrastructure should not be car centric, no. But it needs to be accessible by cars - and be it just for emergency services.

This is just something that I would love to see more talked about especially within the Solarpunk sphere.

#solarpunk #lunarpunk #infrastructure #car centric infrastructure #anti cars #mobility #public transport #accessibility #disability rights #disability #15 minute city #trains

[darkwood-sleddog]

Could you talk more on your thoughts on malinois as service dogs? I follow someone who has one so I'm curious as to your thoughts on it as someone who isn't familiar with the breed

I'm not ~in~ service dogs OR Malinois for that matter, but its been told to me by others that Malinois are quite sensitive to their handlers so are often not a good option depending on the type of service work that is needed. Malinois are also a high energy breed and need a lot of physical and mental stimulation. They can be challenging to average dog people (I wouldn't own one if you paid me even though I think they're cool). Both of these indicate to me a high potential for washing out of service work and generally, I'd hope that people don't recommend them to others for service animals.

For me it also comes down to this: a majority of modern malinois are bred to bite. Working malinois lines are often bite sports, personal protection, military, police dogs. To me, this type of dog directly conflicts with what a service dog should be when doing public access. In fact the AKC standard even states this regarding temperament: "He is naturally protective of his owner's person and property without being overly aggressive." (although this was recently rewritten in 2021 to omit this language so as to reflect the malinois temperament in "positive terms" (AKC malinois club words not mine)) and the FCI standard says this: "As well as its innate skill at guarding flocks, it also possesses the highly prized qualities of the best guard dog of property. Without any hesitation it is the stubborn and keen protector of its owner."

So somebody getting a Malinois for service work is probably going to want to go with a dog bred for show, but again, these dogs can be handler sensitive and even by their standard should not be "overly aggressive" when in IMO the correct amount of guardian behavior or people aggression a service dog, which is medical equipment, should display is ZERO. This is why golden retrievers and labradors make such popular service animals and this is why there are service dog programs that have been breeding dogs specifically for service work for generations (not to say there aren't dogs from these programs without issues, but that's another rabbit hole...)

I know a lot of "off-breeds" that are service animals and i think that's great when it happens successfully, but it's a lot different to have a unique individual who is up for the task, often an outlier in their breed, than to say a specific breed makes a good service animal. I know a few malamutes in service work, but that does not mean the breed as a whole makes good service animals and it does not mean I would ever recommend them specifically for service work (bc, hell, we have dog aggression in our breed standard!).

And regarding my last post, it's mostly the fact said service dog was cross trained in both service work AND personal protection which is a huge no-no and a big red flag to me. A service dog is medical equipment and a personal protection dog is a weapon. I've known service dogs that participate in bite sports, but that is different than being trained in personal protection. If an animal is going to be going into public access I expect them to be able to ignore other dogs AND other people, to be aggressive to neither, be non disruptive in public, and to focus on their actual, medically necessary job. But that's just my two cents.

#dogblr #faq #service dogs #malinois #it's mostly a yellow flag as a breed for this type of work #but a big red flag when people are getting them for BOTH PP and service work #why. would you want to do public access with a dog trained to be a weapon. #there are also so many badly bred malinois out there #ever since they became popular as a 'cool difficult dog' #so good temperaments are far and few

[booksandbrainsandsoftthings]

Not that this is going to reach the right crowd, but

If your dog is reactive, it cannot be worked as a service dog.

I don't care if it was attacked before.

I don't care if you're trying to work on it.

If your dog. Sees my dog. Minding her own business. Focused on me, her handler. And goes ballistic. From 30ft away. And takes all of your strength. To restrain it.

Your dog has Absolutely No Business being in a Walmart.

#service dog #be respectful #educate #service dog training #working dog #respect the vest #important #dogs #disability rights #reactive dogs are not public access ready dogs #reactive dogs are not service dogs #walmart is not pet friendly #disability advocacy

[variousqueerthings]

being trans in the UK right now is so very strange, you're able to go to a mainstream high-budget arts and/or science institution and find beautiful acknowledgements of your history and respectful inclusion of current lives and projects and politics that's based in well-researched community-minded testimony and statistics, but then the government and healthcare industry is all but openly admitting that they want you to disappear off the face of the earth, based largely on the ravings of one terminally online author, a few disgraced academics and comics, and their far-right antisemitic misogynist racist american evangelist friends on a site run by a billionaire megalomaniac. i go to some positive visibility celebrating bodily autonomy that makes it seem like we're moving forwards on the same day as the cass report is released and everything is on fire

#i think the cognitive dissonance of positive vs negative visibility is part of whats making some cis people think we're Fine #and that all of this is a *reasonable debate* -- look they're in the wellcome collection! in macbeth! #they're Everywhere... except for in public and politics for some strange reason........ #there's a flag on an lner train!!!!! that's basically the same as legal acknowledgement and access to healthcare right? #transphobia #trans stuff #uk #may delete #just havin a real one

[mandana-the-service-pup]

I had to get my 2 week labs done today and Mandana really wanted to go. When we arrived I gave her a few minutes to sniff around outside and then refocus on me. She was much better about her new shoes today. Didn’t seem bothered by them at all. Heeling & maneuvering was great. She followed all of her cues in a timely manner. She was a little impatient in the waiting room but was perfectly behaved when we went to the back. She got into and held her “center” position perfectly while the phlebotomist walked around prepping and she didn’t make any noise or movement while I was getting blood drawn. I was very proud of her.

If you’ve been following along recently, Mandana has been having trouble going to the exam rooms in doctors offices. I suspect it was related to her vet visits. I stopped taking her to the doctors with me so I could focus on my appointments and I switched her to a fear free vet. I think it might have helped because she did so well today. It also helped that it simulated a doctors visit but was much shorter so she didn’t have time to stress out in anticipation. I have to go every two weeks while we are figuring out my Methotrexate dose so she’ll have plenty of opportunities to practice.

She did so well at our appointment that I decided to reward her with a spontaneous freedom walk. It was only 20 minutes because the park I wanted to go to was closed for road work so we stopped at a soccer field instead. We haven’t gone on a freedom walk in a long time so she was really happy for the opportunity to explore a new place. I try to always have shoes on her when we go out exploring. I often come across broken glass and other hazards. This time was no exception but because of the shoes (HC Pet Boots) she didn’t get any cuts. Apparently there are a lot of deer that frequent this soccer field and she was super happy about that.

#belgian malinois #3 years #service dog in training #public access training #public access #doctor appointment #positive reinforcement #service dog training #service dogblr #dogblr #medical alert service dog #ruffwear #hc pet boots

[fayeandknight]

Officially reinstating Forte to training in non pet friendly places (as an SDiT our state allows this).

Took him to TJ Maxx (pet friendly) with me and he was so good. As soon as we walked in a lady tried to show the dog in her arms Forte and it started snarling. He didn't even slow as I moved us away. He did shake off once they were out of sight and I paused to check in with him. I rewarded him for the shake off and went about our business.

The same lady and dog ended up in line a few people behind us and other than one glance back at it (while it was growling) Forte completely ignored it.

Just so proud of him and our hard work being neutral around dogs paying off!

I'm going to slowly ease him into to non pet friendly training and keep a close eye on him. But it feels so good to see him unbothered by dogs again.

#dogblr #forte #belgian tervuren #service dog in training #psychiatric service dog #sdit #public access training #so proud of him

[assistancedogmischa]

mischa went back to the vet today for a follow up. the anti inflammatories didn't seem to do anything, and we've agreed desexing is the way to go.

assistance animals who are going to do mobility work need to have their joints checked via x-ray, before they can start training. mischa had his hips & lower spine x-rayed last visit when they were looking at his bladder, but he'll also need his elbows and other joints x-rayed. we planned to do this at the same admission as his desexing , since he needs to be sedated, but it's . very very expensive . so I'm thinking either we just do the only most necessary xrays (elbows & shoulders) or we don't do them at all and do them some other time. i don't want to keep having to go back to the vet since each consult is ~$100 and it's very quickly eating into my savings (a.k.a my top surgery fund), but... i dunno. mobility is more of a "this would be helpful" instead of a "i need this to be functional", so it can wait, if it has to.

edit: I've decided we'll do the xrays at a later date. it was over half of the estimated $1700 fee which brings the cost of desexing (plus checking his bladder walls, and looking at a little lump on his head) down significantly. i would rather get it all done in one go but i cant afford that, so this way it is.

anyway, after the vets i had a job interview (yikes) and mischa came with me and he was perfect! his first time in a situation like that and he just lay down and didn't make a sound. he did have trazodone before his vet appointment but the dosing was about 5 hours before the interview so it had probably worn off by then. a very good boy!

(in the waiting room & a sneaky under the table photo while the interviewer left to get something lol)

#described #dogpost #service dog in training #assistance dog in training #assistance dog #service dog #white swiss shepherd #berger blanc swisse #maremma #maremma sheepdog #described in alt text #veterinary care #public access training #public access

[still-not-a-cat]

service poodle has taught herself the “stay in bed forever” task which she employs when she knows that the best thing for me is to stay in bed forever.

the task includes laying the whole weight of her body across me (similar to DPT) but instead of getting up once my heart rate slows, she just snuggles in and occasionally nuzzles her nose into me so that I feel no obligation to move and will stay in bed forever.

this is excellent for my disability and poodle knows that sleep and rest are essential.

#service dog #this is a JOKE #my puppy likes snuggles #she is a task trained service dog in training though #please dont think if your dog snuggles it automatically has public access rights!

[jackredfieldwasmyjacob]

i love spanish conferences. for the london one the fee is £90 (£45 if you're a student) and i have no idea if as a speaker i also have to pay the fee or not. in this one in spain i'm planning to speak at attendance is free and if you want to be a speaker you have to pay a total of 10€ as fee.

#once again. southern europe supremacy #this is what we are talking about when we demand making academia and culture accessible #anyways i have no idea if i'll attend #because if they pick me. it's on may 3rd #i'm still in trento technically by then but. if i have that. idk what i'll do i'll have to consult my parents #cause i was planning on staying until may 8th cause there's a seminar on that day #but i could just leave earlier #the contract is for two months #beyond april i can stay until i want #moreover. the conference is in salamanca #so that's another problem. getting there #i say problem i'm sure there's a train i can hop onto #but it's one more variable to look into #whatever. i'll just apply and worry later #cause the conference is very cool. it's organized by a phd student organization and it is made to present your phd proposals to the public #mostly other professors #to get feedback and stuff #so that's cool i think