Exploration Service Dogs

07/29/2023

07/27/2023

TW: Unaliving (self and others), hospitals, harassment, loss of loved ones, mental health

It’s been a long while since I have logged on here and, in the two and a half months I was in the hospital, a lot has changed.

I need time to recover, think to myself, and settle into my new house. As I was away, I was illegally removed from my place of residence and denied access to my belongings (clothes, shoes, etc) and each of my dogs were ripped from me without proper notification, even after knowing my situation and location. A lot needs fixing for myself prior to me helping others as much as I want to.

Right now, Exploration Service Dogs will not be taking clients as I rectify a lot of the damage done by a spiteful person(s). We ARE taking applications, however, so when we do start, the process will be faster and more efficient. Those who were approved before all these happenings will have the option to move forward or back out with no consequences.

During this time, ESD will be moving forward with changing our training location as privacy and safety are our top priority for us, but our clients, first and foremost. Our applications will be more stringent, but our contracts will remain the same as ESD does not want more criteria required to be followed. We put our heart and soul into these dogs and at the end of the day, if an individual acts the ways this one has, we made a mistake somewhere that needs to be fixed.

While I was in the hospital (starting on May 11, 2023), an individual who was upset by being told “no” to certain training tools because of the dog’s sensitivity and with contract terms and conditions of the program, initially reported accounts (personal and business) and some were removed across social media. A group I worked hard on to better the service dog community with knowledge and education was hijacked and put on pause on May 15, 2023. I am disputing Facebook to have it returned.

This individual has pressed for harassment from followers within the community, many of which are recognized names within the page’s inbox asking about specific dogs. Because of the continued harassment of the half truths the community chose to believe from this individual without fact checking the other side, death of loved ones passing, and more personal struggles I wish not to share at this time, I spent most of my time between the behavioral health hospital and the ICU.

This is not and will not be the end of Exploration Service Dogs, but a mere bump we have finally hit the other side of. There are multiple good dogs out there wearing their program vests with their proud owners by their side. Not one of them had a second thought about it, and we will strive to continue to move in that direction as we support, educate, and advocate for the community in which we, ourselves, are a part of.

ID: Towards the front of the picture and moving towards the back are small sprays of water clashing into a communal rectangular pond. Each spray goes down the length of the long sides. The sun is just beginning to peak over the trees welcoming the morning. The orange light spreads throughout the entire picture.

05/07/2023

Feywild Dog Training made this amazing post explaining service dogs and how they can benefit individuals.

05/04/2023

On this day in 1928, Buddy, a German Shepherd, becomes the 1st guide dog for a US citizen Morris Frank.

Morris Frank was a blind man from Nashville. His father read him an article by Dorothy Eustis, a woman living in Switzerland who had seen shepherds training dogs to lead blind people get around. Excited by the idea, Frank wrote a letter to Eustis and received a response letter 30 days later inviting him to come see for himself. Frank then took a ship to Europe and trained extensively with a dog that had been bred specifically to lead a blind person. The training was hard, but after weeks with the dog, Frank could get around the nearby Swiss village holding tightly to a harness to which Buddy was strapped.

Morris Frank returned to America. From the day he got off the ship, he was successful. At one point, in front of a group of dumbfounded reporters, Buddy led Frank safely across a busy New York street. “I shall never forget the next three minutes, Ten-ton trucks rocketing past, cabs blowing their horns in our ears, drivers shouting at us. When we finally got to the other side, and I realized what a really magnificent job he had done” Frank later wrote.
When Frank returned to Nashville, people were amazed at the sight of the blind man and his dog successfully navigating busy sidewalks and couldn’t believe that it was the same blind boy they had so recently taken pity on. What amazed people the most was that Buddy had an ability best known as “intelligent disobedience,” which meant that he would obey Morris except when executing that command would result in harm to his master. If there was a low hanging branch ahead on the sidewalk, for instance, Buddy knew how to navigate around it to the point where Morris wouldn’t hurt his head on it.

About this time, Frank, Eustis and several others cofounded The Seeing Eye, an institution set up to train guide dogs and their blind masters. Today, the organization reports that it has, in its 80-year history, trained 14,000 dogs. Buddy is considered the first. In 1978, on the 50th anniversary of the founding of the school, the U.S. issued a commemorative stamp in honor of The Seeing Eye.

Source: wikipedia

05/03/2023

Thank you Clubhouse Atlanta and NAMI for having us out on April 29th to learn about local resources in the area and for all those who were wanting to learn about service dogs. Having a specific event for mental health was a great resource for everyone!

04/30/2023

Back on April 12, 2023, we shared this video of Kara holding a down stay while watching a CPR demonstration. Today, this demonstration became a reality, and a very scary one at that.

Trigger Warnings: children, CPR, possible death, seizures

This morning was stressful to say the least. While I’m sure I’ll get judgement on my dog’s behaviour in the situation, I stand by dog’s decision to do something and reacting to a very serious medical episode. I am beyond proud of my dog. She will not be corrected for what she was trained to do. This is not something that has ever been encouraged.

Kara is tasked trained to low blood sugars. While out and about, she gave me an alert that I should eat soon. Judging off the urgency of the alert, I made the decision that we had time to walk to a local fast food restaurant.

A family walked in while I was eating and we started talking about service dogs and I was explaining how Kara helps me. While talking with the family and eating, my dog spent the majority of the time sleeping behind my chair unphased by everything, probably dreaming about getting a french fry and enjoying the sun coming through the window. Occasionally, she’d pop her head up, give my leg a sniff, and then lay back down into another slumber.

As I was cleaning up my mess to get ready to leave, Kara jumps up ripping her lead out from under me and runs across the dining room to a small child (4-6yo). She starts alerting for a seizure, another of her trained tasks. I’m trying to get over to her, but of course I’m tripping on everything, and I explain that she is giving an alert. I was about 6 feet away at this point, and can see her tattling to an adult. Then she comes over to me because no one is doing anything. No one was trained to do anything as they’ve never had a service dog. A guy grabbed her leash as it wrapped up on a chair leg. No one was upset or stressed about it as we were previously talking about Kara. I again explained that my dog was giving a seizure alert and the child needs to lay down.

The child went down and into a seizure hitting her head on the window sill on the way down because no one with her layed her down and instead chose to talk about how impressed they were with how my dog knew. She stopped breathing and just layed their lifeless. Everyone is in a panic when they saw this, but no one knew what to do. While the child had been diagnosed with epilepsy, this was a new thing added into the mix.

Somehow, in chaotic situations like this, I can think as clear as day. I started clearing space, and told the guy to continue holding Kara. I told someone else to call 911 and let me know after they were done. I started CPR. I started to get tired, but no one else knew CPR, so I persisted until fire medics showed up. Paramedics took her and neither one of us were able to resuscitate her. Her uncle who lives with her said this was the worst seizure she’s ever had. I’m shaken up over the entire experience and I’m praying the little girl will be okay.

When I think back to the situation, after I started the CPR process, Kara just layed there, watching. She didn’t move. She didn’t voice any opinions. She didn’t offer kisses to those who passed by. She didn’t seek attention in those who were panicking as an attempt to calm them down. She layed still and waited for my next command. Her focus was entirely on me. She knew my heart rate was up, but she didn’t interfere. She knew my blood sugar was not up high enough, but she did not interfere. She knew I was anxious, but she did not interfere. She waited like she knew she learned. She knew she did good.

It was as if the CPR demonstration we had watched was placed there as a way to make practice for specifically today’s event. All of the training that Kara had up until this point was put into a test and she passed with flying colors. Her basic obedience. Her trained tasks. Her response to a very rare situation.

When a service dog acts against what they were trained to do because they know there is an additional thing they need to do is called intellectual disobedience. Kara knew she had to stay where I asked her to, but there was an emergency she felt needed more attention than doing what I asked of her.

04/28/2023

The post contains most of the information on Spellbinder. Please, READ IT THROUGH before messaging us or emailing us.

Spellbinder

He is required to graduate from the program and can be ready in as little as 4-6 months depending on your needed tasks. He was is the process of being transitioned, however, it is no longer a feasibility.

He will be 2 years on June 30th.

CURRENT TASK LIST:
• High/Low Blood Sugars
• Migraine Alerts
• High Heart Rate Alert
• Find an Exit
• Anchor
• Breaking Repetitive Movements
• Deep Pressure Therapy
• Item Retrieval (Learning)
• Place (Currently restrengthening)
• Reverse Anchor (Dropped as a task, but can be reshaped)

He has done very well in public access settings like restaurants, stores, malls, and even a multiple conventions. He has travelled by bus, plane, train, and car.

Lives with a cat currently and is playful, however, needs to be reminded to leave the cat alone. Socialized around cats, rats, mice, reptiles, and chickens.

His place cue will be sharpened prior to graduation, although it is not bad currently, and sleeps in a crate at night.

He is handler focused, has a nice heel, good toy drive, medium food drive. He will need a handler that keeps him engaged while transitioning and remain consistent with it.

He is very resilient and recovers quickly on the rare times something does surprise him.

Spellbinder works best on a martingale as he can be sensitive to any corrections. He will shut down on a prong collar, even though it was properly introduced. It’s just not a tool for him.

Not very sensitive to handler emotions, but still dependent for type of psychiatric work.

He is playful with other dogs, especially with those who love to start a chase. Loves his ball and frisbee.

Spellbinder’s biggest downfall is his chicken allergy, but it is easy to care for. We can help you with this as well.

Spellbinder can be placed as a medical alert, medical response, mobility, psychiatric, or multi-purpose service dog. Please note: we DO NOT train for our program dogs to be braced on and WILL NOT BE ALLOWED to be braced on for the entirety of their career.

While small, our program is modeled after larger programs in various aspects. Dogs are never first come, first served and are matched with their handler based on various requirements. We are not a 501(c)3, however, we are a donation based program. We will fundraise with you.

If you cannot message the page, send us an email at [email protected]. Our other email is currently down, so this is our back up.

WE’VE HAD A LOT OF RESPONSES, BUT LITTLE FOLLOW THROUGH. SEND US YOUR EMAIL SO WE CAN SEND YOU AN APPLICATION. The application contains more information on our program. Without an application, no one will receive a dog from the program.

04/28/2023

Applications are currently open. Send us a message with your email and we will happily send you a copy of the application.

•Wait times for a service dog are 6 months to 3 years.

•Each dog is matched with you on various criteria.

•The program transports your future partner to you at the time of transition, no need to travel.

04/26/2023

As the month slowly comes to an end, we are, like always, astonished at the amount of food we feed. Adding in the additional 6lbs of we will utilize tomorrow and the 26lbs of kibble that will go in on Saturday, we will finish the month out with having binned 242lbs of raw/kibble and 105 cans of food. 😱 Our small program thrives on donations so that we can help those who are seeking a lower cost service dog. If you wish to donate, send us a message for our Amazon Wishlist, PayPal, or Facebook Pay! Every little bit helps including a small bag of treats or a toy! Thank you for all those who continue to support our mission.
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04/23/2023

Come join us on May 5, for First Friday Freebie Training. This night is expected to be lighthearted night with your pup while strengthening your bond and your training skills!

Come join us for a fun night while strengthening your bond with your dog through playing obedience games guided by a trainer and volunteers.