This is why I get "stuck" outside when I take the dogs out. 🩷 Zelda is the only one who will willingly hop up into this swinging lounge chair with me, and Sherlock is very happily rooting around in the pile of branches drying in the yard, there's probably an animal in there and I'll probably have to untangle a bunch of weeds from his lead, but he's having a blast and that makes me happy. ♥️ And it's gorgeous out so I think I'll stay right here for a while.
07/12/2025
07/01/2025
Perks of having security cameras: I caught Sherlock and Edison SHARING the window. They've been in a standoff over who gets to sit in the window since I don't know when. Love my boys 💜💚
06/27/2025
That break command is so important. I personally use "ok", in the high inflection like he mentions. The inflection is important so I can have my service dog with me, in work mode, and I can use "ok" in normal conversation, but she'll know it's not for her.
06/27/2025
I call this one: how dare you get the camera out when I'm being cute
06/20/2025
When we're cuddling and Ganon decides it's time to protect 💜💚 He drapes his head over me and it's so sweet. We're also working on "don't bark your head off when you're concerned about something, bark a little bit to alert me, then come sit between me and whatever you're concerned about"
06/19/2025
One of Pepper's nicknames is Destructor. So I make sure to give her things she can tear up without being in trouble, and thin cardboard is one of her favorites. She gets a lot of paper towel tubes and empty Kleenex boxes (with the plastic bit removed). Here's the YES PLEASE face she makes when I offer her one 💜💚 Then she GOES TO TOWN. And Ganon knows it's a pretty surefire way to get her to play with him.
Bonus: easy to clean up!
05/25/2025
Livin' that retired life
04/23/2025
So Sherlock started his antianxiety meds yesterday and, uh, I think they're working?
Sherlock has always had some anxiety issues that sometimes manifest themselves with reactivity. I've been working hard with him, but I've reached the limits of my knowledge and progress is plateauing, so we're trying him on some antianxiety meds, and I'll be working with a local trainer who's VERY experienced with behavioral issues. Hopefully we'll be able to get him to the point where he rarely, if ever, needs the meds. But in the meantime, hopefully this will help.
I see it like me both taking meds and seeing a therapist. So I guess under that metaphor, this is couple's therapy for Sherlock and I?
04/21/2025
what are the odds not only of 2 service dogs in the same theater, but their humans chose seats right next to each other? But both were SO good the whole time 💜💚
04/20/2025
Ganon's first train ride! So far, he couldn't care less.
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I have PTSD from a series of armed robberies at a store I used to work at. I also have severe anxiety that I’ve carried with me all my life, and the PTSD compounds that. In 2013, my PTSD got to the point where it was no longer manageable. I was no longer able to leave the house without my husband, except to go to work. Even at work, I was barely functional some days. Always on high alert, in fight-or-flight mode, terrified of every loud noise, it was exhausting. When I fled a gas station because of somebody yelling “hey, how ya doin?” across the store, I knew I needed help.
I went to a therapist who helped me learn coping mechanisms and a psychiatrist who prescribed me medications to help control the anxiety symptoms. While both helped, my medication dosages were going up and up and up without ever getting me to the point where I could live normally.
And then someone suggested I get a service dog. Hey, I love dogs, I already have one (although he turned out to not have the right personality for service work and not be healthy enough for it) and I’ve recently discovered a love of dog training! So I did what I always do, and threw myself into research. What tasks are common for PTSD dogs? How do you teach these tasks? What breeds are best? What personality traits does the dog need?
After several discussions with our trainer and vet, I decided to give it a go. So I did more research - this time to find just the right breeder. I interviewed breeders like you’d interview an employee. I was going to make sure I did this right. I ended up meeting Kristi at VonBussler Labrador Retrievers, and she happily answered all my questions and helped me choose a dog with just the right personality. After playing the waiting game for a litter of puppies with a silver lab with the right personality, I came home with Pepper.
From day one, we trained. Every single day, no matter what. Pouring rain? Train the dog. Sinus infection? Train the dog. Sprain your ankle? Train the dog. The only time we took a break was when she was recovering from spay surgery. After 4 months of working with her, she was regularly going out in public with me. And something amazing had happened - I could leave the house alone again! Well, “alone” in the sense that I didn’t have to have another human with me.
It wasn’t always easy. The first time we went to the grocery store, she grabbed a toy off the shelf walking by the pet section and I didn’t even notice until I bent down to get something off a bottom shelf later. (Yes, we bought the toy, I wouldn’t put it back covered in puppy slobber.) Another memorable trip to the grocery store had her licking the floor in produce, then puking all over in the checkout line later. We still had a lot of training to do. And we kept at it.
She went to orchestra practice, to the doctor, to the gym - everywhere I went. Working with my psychiatrist, we started to cut back my anxiety medicine. It ended up at half the dosage I was at before Pepper and I was finally stable again. She gave me my life back. I am living like a normal person again. She’s my superhero.
