Veteran Owned Assistance Dogs

14/08/2024

In the early hours of yesterday morning I was woken up by PJ I didn’t realise at the time that I had been hyperventilating in my sleep which had caused a pain in my chest and my left shoulder. Fearing the worst we called an ambulance and after an ECG it was thought best to take me to hospital. Turns out the nasty cough I have had for over 10 years has damaged some of my chest muscles. So I am alright as I am back home with Karen and PJ. The three consultants and numerous doctors and nurses that have looked after me had no idea that dogs can be trained to alert for possible heart attacks. When asked how I did it I said with a lot of very bad acting. PJ is now officially a dual trained assistance dog.

31/05/2024

I think PJ has enjoyed staying at our lovely neighbours today.

19/04/2024

If you have a small or large business, I have written a brief guide about businesses and assistance dogs. It's available on Amazon free for a digital copy, hard copies will be available in the future. Why not add it to your CPD for you and your colleagues, so all staff can become aware of assistance dogs. It's mainly aimed at the UK market but the rules are the same all over Europe and the USA.

A UK Business Guide to Assistance Dogs and to Human Rights: This is a guide for businesses, provided by Veteran Owned Assistance Dogs www.voad.co.uk eBook : Gunn, Mitchell, Gunn, Karen: Amazon.co.uk: Kindle Store

29/03/2024

I have been reminded of the profound benefits of teaching young students during my recent engagement in classrooms and workshops. Over the past week, I have instructed electrical installation courses at both Level 1 and Level 2 to students ranging in age from 17 to 20. Throughout these sessions, PJ has consistently accompanied me. During practical lessons, he initially remains in the workshop office until he is appropriately equipped with safety shoes.

The feedback from students has been overwhelmingly positive regarding PJ's presence. Many have expressed that his presence enhances their focus and engagement. Notably, this week, representatives from the Department of Education observed one of my practical classes. They were impressed by PJ's composure amidst the noise generated by students using tools such as hammers, saws, and drills. PJ remained calm, attentively observing from the office area.

It is my hope that the Department of Education will recognize the potential benefits and advocate for the introduction of therapy dogs in schools. However, it is important to clarify that PJ is an assistance dog and not a therapy dog, and therefore, students do not interact with him.

02/03/2024

A rather pleasant surprise waking up this morning

30/01/2024

Today we did some work/training in Ikea, Greenwich I have taken PJ in there a few times but it can be quite stressful for both of us! Before we entered, I used the command “go toilet” he has been trained to then p*e or p**p or both before I call him into work mode. Shopping with an assistance dog can be quite challenging for everyone which is why I choose to put him in a high visibility jacket with the word’s Assistance Dog printed on it. It makes store staff more aware and less likely to run up to me and shout get your dog out!!!! So today we manage over two hours shopping and having a wee snack, but towards the end I could tell he was getting a bit agitated so whilst my wife queued to pay I took him out. A quick go toilet command outside and we then went back indoors to finish the shopping. When you start your shop training sessions think of your dog and what distracts him, PJ biggest distraction are either lovely old folk who just want to pet him or young kids that want you to grab him with their grubby mitts. Shop wise we started at Pets at Home for his training. The leave it command is used a lot there with all those tasty treats close to him. This is great training for a dog him and you will find they soon learn to leave anything when he hears the command, so I no longer have to keep digging chicken bones out his gob as we stroll the streets. Practice sit stay command also in an area where he isn’t causing a hazard. It takes a while to learn all this so don’t think after one session your dog has nailed it, consistency in the training is what brings the good results. Shopping wise I tended to go towards scan and go shopping as I could scan the items put it straight into a bag and pay without having to queue for ages at a till. Eventually you will have to teach the dog how to behave when you are using a shopping trolley. This is where have a good close lead control comes into it. You need to have your dogs Head near to your leg as possible as trolleys were designed by the devil and have a mind of their own, and pushing with one hand exacerbates the situation. A few clonks to PJs head as the trolley swerves has taught him not to do it.

29/01/2024

I was chatting the other day about assistance dogs and what they bring to your life. PJ has sort of become a bit of a hero to me having saved me when I was going to do a bad thing to myself, he also has trained himself to wake me when I am having a nightmare and give me cuddles. But he has not only helped me. Because of his training he can pick up signs on other people that you don’t always notice. A while ago PJ was walking to heel as we walked over a footbridge that goes over one of London’s busiest roads. There was a guy standing by the safety rail and I didn’t pay much attention at first. PJ on the other hand wanted to go to the guy, I corrected him and walked off but PJ kept stopping and turning, it dawned on me what was happening and I went over and spoke to the guy. It turns out that his girlfriend left him the day before and he was struggling with life. We stopped and chatted for a while and he made a fuss of PJ. He was a self confessed dogaphobe and was initially very scared. But the calming nature of an assistance dog and a stranger to chat to helped him and he walked down and headed back home. Now some people will say the dog is there for you only but with this I disagree. If he can help someone else, it makes me feel better so in a way he is also helping me.

25/01/2024

Currently I am studying Cybersecurity, which isn't the most riveting of subjects so to keep my creative juices flowing I take a break and create art stuff. The idea will be that once I get the shop fully up and running all profits will go towards Veteran Owned Assistance Dogs which should help me to assist others with PTSD and anxiety in training their pet dog to help them. Here is some of my work on Etsy. If you see anything you would like put onto canvas T-shirts etc let me know.

This Clip Art & Image Files item is sold by ForsetiServicesLtd. Ships from United States. Listed on 25 Jan, 2024

19/01/2024

Trying to create a card for people to send to someone who could have a better life if they trained their dog to be a Veteran Owned Assistance Dogs does this work?

19/01/2024

Any of you lovely people any good at making pretty flyers in word. I have created the text for Veterans Owned Veteran Owned Assistance Dogs the idea is a flyer for businesses to make their staff aware of the rights of assistance dogs and handlers. I get quite stressed when a jobsworth comes running up shouting you can't bring a dog in here and despite PJ wearing a hi-viz jacket saying assistance dog on it. So if I had a flyer I can print them off and give to all local businesses to start. I have the wording and VOAD logo on a word document, but I am just not very imaginative when it comes to making it look pretty...

18/01/2024

Posted • A very random day for me. First we went to our training area to do some off lead training (nailed it) then because it was such a beautiful day we drove up to Norfolk to play on the beach. My hooman took me to which is gorgeous and lots of fun. I am very tired now so the hooman is typing for me whilst I snore loudly