Training a dog is getting to know each other, just like any relationship. You're definitely putting in the work so be patient with yourselves. As an autistic parent of autistic children we def were overwhelmed the first time. But with love, patience and work you'll be a great doggo parent! You've got this. 💜
Things have improved a bit since filming that video, a lot of that I attribute to some dormant parts being more around recently (Kirsten, Felix etc). Self compassion is certainly a journey. Moments of autistic overwhelm are still very idek what word to use but I'm sure you can relate. Thank you for the kind words of encouragement 😊 ❤
We're going today to look at a dog to train as our PTSD/DID service dog! It'll be our second time getting a dog for this purpose, our first dog is now 9 and ready for retirement. It's such a nerve-wrecking process. We've been looking for the right dog for almost a year. We tried two different puppies but we also have chronic fatigue and just could not keep up with the needs of either puppy. It was awful having to rehome those puppies, but we learned so much about our abilities and what kind of dog we are best suited for. So now we are looking at small young adult dogs. Hopefully today's meet-in-greet with this new dog goes well and we can bring her home for a trial adoption. The process of training an assistance dog is so intense and requires so much focus - we are quite nervous to do it and so scared for all the ways we'll fuck it up. So we're trying to remember that no person or dog is perfect and we are training ourselves as well as the dog, so be kind and be patient. It's hard work. It sounds like you're doing a great job though. Potty accidents are so normal. Even my adult dog has them occasionally. Hang in there and enjoy the process as much as you can! But it's also ok to sob with exhaustion and feelings...
Oh that's so amazing! And that is your second time around 😊Keira's breeder had a lot off puppies from the previous two litters go into either service dog work or police work, which was pretty nifty to hear. It's so funny though because I was drawn towards Keira the most out of her litter, and took it as a sign when she was the last one left. She has an amazing temperament, behaved really well at the vets, sits at my legs under the table in the cafe, and she's only 3 months old, so I'm looking forward to working with her 😁 That is such a mood, do you have any advice on keeping up with puppies or training in general? Not that we have CFS, but Fibro is similar of course. I hope the meet 'n greet went well for you and you have her home for trial 😊 Thank you for the encouragement, it's really good to hear from someone who has gone through this experience before 💕
@@axolotlsinatrenchcoat your dog sounds so awesome! I'm glad you were able to go through a service dog breeder, I've heard it makes the process a lot easier. My advice with puppies is have a routine but be flexible because the unexpected often happens. And get rest whenever you can! When the puppy sleeps, use that as your time to rest too (if possible). And it's OK if you take time off from time to time and let your body recover. I've heard fibro and CFS are super similar. I was once misdiagnosed with fibro, but it turns out I have several chronic infections, likely from ticks and fleas. For service dog stuff, I learned the first time around that I didn't do it right. It was nearly ten years ago and I had no idea how to train a service dog, I just got really lucky with my dog. But she's a poorly trained service dog, unfortunately. So I highly recommend finding a training program to keep you on track with goals and task training. I'm using the Service Dog Institute in British Columbia, Canada. It's an online program with a Facebook group that's very supportive. If you can find a program in person that's even better! Also get as many other people involved if you can, for socializing and so you have backups for days you need help. I brought the rescue dog home yesterday. She's mostly great. But she is resource guarding around my other dog, so it's probably not going to work out. Finding a rescue dog for service work is like finding a needle in a gay Fort (haha! I tried to write hay fort but it autocorrected to gay fort). Anyways, my search continues. I look forward to more videos about you and your dog! If ever need anything or want to commiserate about the process you can hit me up on Instagram @ourgalaxysystem
Try not to expect perfection of yourself. Puppies do have the occasional accident. All training is always some getting it right and some getting it wrong while you both practice the desired behaviour together, and sometimes it can really hard to tell the difference between very similar behaviours (for example 'I need the bathroom' and 'I'm just having a general sniff around my new home'). You will get there. You are giving her way more than a lot of dog owners do and are obviously so attentive to her
Honestly the first week/10 days of having her was the most difficult. General stress but then realising when talking about it in therapy that it also is stress from associations with dogs v abuser in the past. Been easier since then to recognise and work around puppy's schedule and my own triggers. Thank you for the reassurance 😭❤️ She is slowly deciding to sit near the door when she needs to go to the bathroom rather than solely relying on us taking her out every 2-3 hours. Its definitely a journey haha
@@axolotlsinatrenchcoat yeah, that makes a lot of sense. I can definitely relate to that a bit. The fact that she's catching on to asking to go out by sitting by the door shows that you're making big progress with the house training and I'm glad it's starting to feel a little less stressful now that you're recognising the triggers and finding ways to work around them with her. Being able to do that in order to still meet her needs shows your dedication and care for her too
Are you getting advice from a professional on the important things to do to settle her in? (I'm a dog behaviourist myself, with a history of DID). Just want to ensure if you are getting advice it's from good sources! I work with a lot of shepherds. They are so sensitive and the whole idea that they need a "firmer hand" in training is such poppycock.
Yeah we've hired a positive training/behavioural specialist that has her certificate in assistance/service dog training from SDC. Essentially she is mentoring us to train Keira :) Yeah the 'firmer hand' thing is a whole lot of bs, we grew up with mastiffs and honestly the way they were treated was so shitty. Fear tactics to get a dog to behave are gross.
Training a dog is getting to know each other, just like any relationship. You're definitely putting in the work so be patient with yourselves. As an autistic parent of autistic children we def were overwhelmed the first time. But with love, patience and work you'll be a great doggo parent! You've got this. 💜
Things have improved a bit since filming that video, a lot of that I attribute to some dormant parts being more around recently (Kirsten, Felix etc). Self compassion is certainly a journey. Moments of autistic overwhelm are still very idek what word to use but I'm sure you can relate. Thank you for the kind words of encouragement 😊 ❤
We're going today to look at a dog to train as our PTSD/DID service dog! It'll be our second time getting a dog for this purpose, our first dog is now 9 and ready for retirement.
It's such a nerve-wrecking process. We've been looking for the right dog for almost a year. We tried two different puppies but we also have chronic fatigue and just could not keep up with the needs of either puppy. It was awful having to rehome those puppies, but we learned so much about our abilities and what kind of dog we are best suited for. So now we are looking at small young adult dogs. Hopefully today's meet-in-greet with this new dog goes well and we can bring her home for a trial adoption. The process of training an assistance dog is so intense and requires so much focus - we are quite nervous to do it and so scared for all the ways we'll fuck it up. So we're trying to remember that no person or dog is perfect and we are training ourselves as well as the dog, so be kind and be patient. It's hard work. It sounds like you're doing a great job though. Potty accidents are so normal. Even my adult dog has them occasionally.
Hang in there and enjoy the process as much as you can! But it's also ok to sob with exhaustion and feelings...
Oh that's so amazing! And that is your second time around 😊Keira's breeder had a lot off puppies from the previous two litters go into either service dog work or police work, which was pretty nifty to hear. It's so funny though because I was drawn towards Keira the most out of her litter, and took it as a sign when she was the last one left. She has an amazing temperament, behaved really well at the vets, sits at my legs under the table in the cafe, and she's only 3 months old, so I'm looking forward to working with her 😁
That is such a mood, do you have any advice on keeping up with puppies or training in general? Not that we have CFS, but Fibro is similar of course. I hope the meet 'n greet went well for you and you have her home for trial 😊 Thank you for the encouragement, it's really good to hear from someone who has gone through this experience before 💕
@@axolotlsinatrenchcoat your dog sounds so awesome! I'm glad you were able to go through a service dog breeder, I've heard it makes the process a lot easier.
My advice with puppies is have a routine but be flexible because the unexpected often happens. And get rest whenever you can! When the puppy sleeps, use that as your time to rest too (if possible). And it's OK if you take time off from time to time and let your body recover. I've heard fibro and CFS are super similar. I was once misdiagnosed with fibro, but it turns out I have several chronic infections, likely from ticks and fleas.
For service dog stuff, I learned the first time around that I didn't do it right. It was nearly ten years ago and I had no idea how to train a service dog, I just got really lucky with my dog. But she's a poorly trained service dog, unfortunately. So I highly recommend finding a training program to keep you on track with goals and task training. I'm using the Service Dog Institute in British Columbia, Canada. It's an online program with a Facebook group that's very supportive. If you can find a program in person that's even better! Also get as many other people involved if you can, for socializing and so you have backups for days you need help.
I brought the rescue dog home yesterday. She's mostly great. But she is resource guarding around my other dog, so it's probably not going to work out. Finding a rescue dog for service work is like finding a needle in a gay Fort (haha! I tried to write hay fort but it autocorrected to gay fort). Anyways, my search continues. I look forward to more videos about you and your dog! If ever need anything or want to commiserate about the process you can hit me up on Instagram @ourgalaxysystem
Thanks for talking about this. I’m looking into a PSD as well.
Try not to expect perfection of yourself. Puppies do have the occasional accident. All training is always some getting it right and some getting it wrong while you both practice the desired behaviour together, and sometimes it can really hard to tell the difference between very similar behaviours (for example 'I need the bathroom' and 'I'm just having a general sniff around my new home'). You will get there. You are giving her way more than a lot of dog owners do and are obviously so attentive to her
Honestly the first week/10 days of having her was the most difficult. General stress but then realising when talking about it in therapy that it also is stress from associations with dogs v abuser in the past. Been easier since then to recognise and work around puppy's schedule and my own triggers. Thank you for the reassurance 😭❤️ She is slowly deciding to sit near the door when she needs to go to the bathroom rather than solely relying on us taking her out every 2-3 hours. Its definitely a journey haha
@@axolotlsinatrenchcoat yeah, that makes a lot of sense. I can definitely relate to that a bit.
The fact that she's catching on to asking to go out by sitting by the door shows that you're making big progress with the house training and I'm glad it's starting to feel a little less stressful now that you're recognising the triggers and finding ways to work around them with her. Being able to do that in order to still meet her needs shows your dedication and care for her too
Are you getting advice from a professional on the important things to do to settle her in? (I'm a dog behaviourist myself, with a history of DID). Just want to ensure if you are getting advice it's from good sources! I work with a lot of shepherds. They are so sensitive and the whole idea that they need a "firmer hand" in training is such poppycock.
Yeah we've hired a positive training/behavioural specialist that has her certificate in assistance/service dog training from SDC. Essentially she is mentoring us to train Keira :) Yeah the 'firmer hand' thing is a whole lot of bs, we grew up with mastiffs and honestly the way they were treated was so shitty. Fear tactics to get a dog to behave are gross.