First of all, let me introduce you to Coco. She's my 1-and-a-half-year-old service dog in training, and she's the light of my life
Even at her current level of training, she's made a huge difference in my life. It's possible for me to go outside now, or even to run to the nearby store for 1-2 items. I know when my asthma is acting up in time to properly medicate and avoid hospitalizations. She stops me from hurting myself by actively interrupting those behaviors and providing alternative stimulation. She helps with so many little things every day.
Still, she's not fully-trained. Her biggest barriers are jumping on people who enter our home, her prey drive on walks, and chewing. She's also having trouble mastering retrieval. To be fair, the jumping and chewing are completely resolved when she's getting enough exercise, but, running at my maximum possible level doesn't give her what she needs in that department.
Recently, I resolved to become a lot more consistent with Coco's exercise and training, and I've been following through with that for about a month. It's been really rewarding to see her make daily progress, but it's also been discouraging to realize that my disabilities will prevent me from giving her enough exercise no matter how hard I try. Once I get SSI, I'll have to hire a dog walker a few times a week to give some extra help.
After some false starts, Coco and I have fallen into a training routine. In the morning, I let her out, and then we do about 5-10 minutes of training before breakfast. We do 2 walks a day with sporadic recall and basic command training, and we do another 5-10 minute training session sometime during the day. This is our bare minimum.
It doesn't sound like much, but walking and training Coco exacerbates my chronic and mental illnesses. This routine is rewarding for us as a team, but it causes fatigue, severe leg pain, asthma and allergy symptoms, sensory overload, brain fog, and sometimes exacerbates existing psychosis or anxiety. Sometimes, doing this bare minimum routine means I can do almost nothing else and need multiple naps throughout the day. It's still worth it. If I invest in training Coco now, I'll reap the benefits of a fully-trained service dog later.
That being said, I'd like to enlist some professional training help. Professional training is $89/session, and dog walking is $15/half hour. If you're able to help with either of these things, donate here: https://www.youcaring.com/zekegoff-982306
Even at her current level of training, she's made a huge difference in my life. It's possible for me to go outside now, or even to run to the nearby store for 1-2 items. I know when my asthma is acting up in time to properly medicate and avoid hospitalizations. She stops me from hurting myself by actively interrupting those behaviors and providing alternative stimulation. She helps with so many little things every day.
Still, she's not fully-trained. Her biggest barriers are jumping on people who enter our home, her prey drive on walks, and chewing. She's also having trouble mastering retrieval. To be fair, the jumping and chewing are completely resolved when she's getting enough exercise, but, running at my maximum possible level doesn't give her what she needs in that department.
Recently, I resolved to become a lot more consistent with Coco's exercise and training, and I've been following through with that for about a month. It's been really rewarding to see her make daily progress, but it's also been discouraging to realize that my disabilities will prevent me from giving her enough exercise no matter how hard I try. Once I get SSI, I'll have to hire a dog walker a few times a week to give some extra help.
After some false starts, Coco and I have fallen into a training routine. In the morning, I let her out, and then we do about 5-10 minutes of training before breakfast. We do 2 walks a day with sporadic recall and basic command training, and we do another 5-10 minute training session sometime during the day. This is our bare minimum.
It doesn't sound like much, but walking and training Coco exacerbates my chronic and mental illnesses. This routine is rewarding for us as a team, but it causes fatigue, severe leg pain, asthma and allergy symptoms, sensory overload, brain fog, and sometimes exacerbates existing psychosis or anxiety. Sometimes, doing this bare minimum routine means I can do almost nothing else and need multiple naps throughout the day. It's still worth it. If I invest in training Coco now, I'll reap the benefits of a fully-trained service dog later.
That being said, I'd like to enlist some professional training help. Professional training is $89/session, and dog walking is $15/half hour. If you're able to help with either of these things, donate here: https://www.youcaring.com/zekegoff-982306
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