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The Service and Therapy Dog forum is for all service and therapy dogs regardless of whether or not their status is legally defined by federal or state law, how they are trained, or whether or not they are "certified." Posts questioning or disputing a person's need for a service or therapy dog, the validity of a person's service or therapy dog, or the dog's ability to do the work of a service or therapy dog are not permitted in this forum. Please keep discussions fun, friendly, and helpful at all times.

  
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Bellatrix

Crazy Ball'O Fur		 
 
Barked: Sat Dec 1, '12 12:25am PST 
Hello again, sorry for another question. red face (Also sorry if my spelling is horrid, my spell checker doesn't seem to want to work anymore)

So I'm trying to think of some more stuff to teach at home, we've refined most of her stuff, and she can do most things with just a voice command or just a hand signal. She's got down, sit, heel, leave it, she actually backs away from what ever food I tell her to leave, solid long stay, even if I leave the room, target, and go there (A command where I point to the place I want her to go, and she does, such as a mat, chair, ect) So I'm thinking of moving onto some tasks to help me, however first off, I'm trying to decide of things she can do to help some of my issues.

So here are a few issues, and ideas I might have, if anyone has anymore ideas on things she could do to help me with these issues, please let me know! I also don't know how to train some of these, and I'd like to make sure that the ones I do know how to train I do right, so I'd really love for people to explain how to train the ones they can!

Panic Attacks- She has never alerted to one that I know of, so I'm just thinking I'll teach her to ground during them, or when my thoughts start going crazy before them. I'm thinking maybe she could start scratching my arm or leg on cue? Also I've got a lot of depression issues during panic attacks, so I don't know what she could do for that?

OCD actions- Mainly nail biting which leads to bleeding if I don't pay attention. Not sure how she would alert me to it, or how to train her to alert me that I'm doing it, if anyone could tell me...

Finding, a way out/the car/my mother- When I'm having a panic attack I can't think all that well and I'd like to train her to be able to find the way out of the building/the way to the car/my mother in a store, however I've heard that you have to teach the dog to find a way out for every new building? Is this true, or not?

Give a note to my mom, or maybe someone I point to?- In a situation where I'm having a panic attack or feel overwelled, I'm not really able to speak, or I'd rather not, so I'd help if she were able to give a note to my mom, or someone else I point to possibly?

Excuse to leave- I'm thinking on cue she could do something like whine or start scratching at my leg? Something that everyone can see, and I can say that it's Bella telling me she needs to go out so I have an excuse to leave if I need it.

Blocking- Not sure if this really works with small dogs, but one thing that would help me a TON is to have her able to block others from coming near me, by maybe circling me on cue or something? I've got a big fear of people touching me, the last time I was out in public, someone put their coat behind my chair, and I jumped sky high when their hand brushed my sholder. eek

Message- I'm wondering if I could get her to sorta kneed my leg like a cat when I'm sitting, as that would clam me down a lot. My anxiety seems to be worse when I'm sitting, because if I'm walking around and get into an uncomfertable situation I can just walk away, but when sitting at a resturant or something, I can't leave unless I have a reason.

I'll probably think of more later on, but this is about all I can think of now.

Thanks! I'd also like to know if any of these might stand up in court at all/ which ones would. Not that I plan on going to court at all, but I want to make sure that should I ever have to if/when Bella possibly becomes a service dog she's got real tasks, though all of these would help me a ton!
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Juno

Super Star Puppy- Cadet		 
 
Barked: Sat Dec 1, '12 3:28am PST 
From personal experience with a small dog, don't let her out of your sight. Blocking might be ok with a larger dog but I have had shopping carts intentionally pushed on my small dog and I have also had people kick him on purpose. Also you have countless folks who will accidentally step on Bella unintentionally. It still hurts. I eventually had to retire my dog and give him away.
Your OCD and any other habits you can train by doing the action, having her do the response and treating after, either by praise food, or toy. I like to mix up my treat. In fact that is basically how you train about anything you want your dog to do. Most of my training involves thinking outside the box though so there I am sure there will be other great Iideas.
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Bellatrix

Crazy Ball'O Fur		 
 
Barked: Sat Dec 1, '12 5:40pm PST 
Juno, that really scares me. I'd love Bella's help, but if it's at the expense of her safety, I don't want that. thinking
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Member Since
12/14/2012		 
 
Barked: Fri Dec 14, '12 3:59pm PST 
How would she know that your thoughts were going crazy in your head in order to paw at your arm? Is there a behavior you do at that time that she could respond to?

She could nudge you or do something else when you're biting your nails. My SD nudges me quite insistently when I start scratching myself or picking at my skin.

I'm not sure a small dog would be very good at blocking. How small is she?

I don't think you really need her to whine or anything as an excuse to leave. You can just say "Oh, she has that look, I know what that means, she needs to go out!"
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Bellatrix

Crazy Ball'O Fur		 
 
Barked: Sat Dec 15, '12 7:48am PST 
She's quite small, only about 16 pounds. I'm not really talking about physically blocking people from getting near me, but more like circling around me a few times if someone starts walking close so that they get the idea to give her/me a bit more room without me actually having to say it (Which I can't in public situations)

Anyone know if that would be considered a real task or just something that helps me a lot?
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Luna

Future Service- Dog		 
 
Barked: Sat Dec 15, '12 8:07am PST 
As far as I know, blocking is a real task.
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Thor CGC

God of Thunder		 
 
Barked: Sat Dec 15, '12 9:33am PST 
Blocking is a real task, but not one that is recommended for small dogs! They will get stepped on, bumped, kicked ect. I get that with my large dog, can you imagine what will happen with a smaller one?

I think the circling around would look pretty unprofessional personally. It would just look like the dog is wandering around.
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Jackson Tan

Lad about town		 
 
Barked: Sat Dec 15, '12 11:42am PST 
My dog is not a SD but I do suffer from major depression and GAD, he leans against my legs all the time especially when I'm not feeling good. he also checks me regularly when I'm asleep during the day and paws me when he thinks it's time for me to get up.

You could reinforce the leaning or some other action by treating your dog when you give signs of going into a panic state? Look at what Bella does naturally, maybe she could jump into ypyr lap.

I'm not really sure how to train tasks sorry, this is just stuff my dog does on his own, like guarding the front door and stuff coz I'm afraid of intruders, it's just his character I think. he's in no way shape or form a SD, maybe you could call him an esa but I'm not sure.
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Bellatrix

Crazy Ball'O Fur		 
 
Barked: Sat Dec 15, '12 1:36pm PST 
I'm not talking in places with a ton of people, I'm just sorta thinking of using it for example... If I'm in the store and someone is walking down the aisle towards me I'm have her circle once or twice just so that they sorta get the idea to give a little more space? Not sure if that makes sense? Not really blocking but just letting the person know that they need to give a little more room. It wouldn't be her just constantly circling me, just walking in a full 360 and stopping and sitting back on my left side.

Also another two questions, how do I teach pawing (Not sure what to call it) for grounding? I'd like for her to be able to paw or knead like a cat does at my arm or leg on cue until I give her the cue to stop. How do I train this? She doesn't naturally react to when I start panicking that I've noticed. So I want her to be able to at least ground me when I start getting panicked by scratching/pawing at my leg or arm that way I have to focus on her other than my thoughts. Also I'm wondering if this would be considered a task?

Thanks everyone!
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Member Since
12/14/2012		 
 
Barked: Sat Dec 15, '12 2:53pm PST 
I don't think having her circle you would tell people to stay away or give you more room, unless it looked to them like your dog was not under control and they wanted to stay away for that reason. If you see someone else coming down the aisle and don't want to be too close to them, you can move.

My service dog does have a command where he circles me, just one time, like to create a bit of a buffer if we're in a crowded place. I've never actually used it, though.
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