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hi i was wondering what i can do legally to make my dog a service dog and if it would be right for what i need. I have sever social anxiety and i couldnt even leave my house for like 2-3 years i couldnt go to school or anything and as a result i now have no life but wile i was staying with my grandparents they got me a dog and she is my world but at first she was afraid to leave the house lol but with out noing it really i worked to help her to leave the house and in return she wound up helping me and i was able to take her for walks and if people would come to the house she would just sit with me and she would keep me calm she is an amazing dog and i still have anxiety pretty bad but with her its not as bad like for example i have to leave the ouse to drive to are new house and i was so scared i was crying and have horrible panic attacks and she rode in the front seat with me and i was just petting her and holding her and she was cudling with me and before i new it we were home like 30 mins later and i didnt even notice how long it had been and soon i am going to go on an airplane to go try to visit my family and i am scared and want her to come on the plane with me but they only let service dogs on the plane so is there so way i can make her my service dog because i have looked it up a little bit and found that there are people who have service dogs for psyceatric problems so what can i do???
i have to switch planes so i wont be a good idea to be out of it i took adavan last time but now my anxiety has gotten worse if i feel even a little weird i start to freak out and get panic attacks really bad thats why i don't take any meds anymore for my anxiety because they made me feel weird
I'm in the process of going thru training to have my sheltie certified as a therapy dog. There's paper work for me and wendi has to be put thru her paces by a trainer. This is in prep to take her to nursing homes and hospitals and private homes thru Hospice Arkansas. SO, you can't just hang a sign on a dog and call it good. They have to already know the basic obedience commands and be able to hold steady under mild pressure and stress...esp around crowds of people.
I think you need to do whatever you can to solve your panic probs some other way, esp for long distance travel. The last thing you need is for that dog you love so much to become stranded away from home...because your fear puts you in a place where she cannot go. Mentally or phyiscally. Having her there for you in your local area is good..but away from home..not so good. She doesn't have the coping skills that you might need. Please don't do that to her.
well i got her from vermont and brought her to MA when i lived there with my grandparents and then when i had to move back with my parents i brought her with me and if i brought her back to MA to visit my family i wouldnt leave her there if thats what you mean i wouldnt ever go anywhere with out her she is like my baby hence her name "baby" lol but i have tryed lots of things for my anxiety and nothing works so this is one of my last hopes
I would try to get your plane ticket changed ASAP. if you have such a bad anxiety problem. dealing w/ connecting flights isn't going to help the issue one bit. I have some anxiety issues and the one time I missed a connecting flight, I went into a small attack (was crying and freaking out and a nice United CSR managed to get me on a later flight). flying is stressful enough and dealing w/ connecting flights is even more stressful. it may cost more, but get a nonstop ticket, it will help w/ peace of mind.
as for the service dog thing, ArkLexee went through it pretty well. this isn't something that can be done in a few weeks before a flight. plus, you don't know if she'll make a good service dog. b/c you're dealing w/ planes, a large dog (I'm assuming she's a large dog since small dogs can usually ride in cabin under the seat) would have to be perfectly trained to not pose a safety hazard in the air
Last edited by eevee; 04-21-2009 at 12:25 PM..
Reason: nonstop, not one way!
I don't think this would even be remotely possible. You might have been reading posts on some forum about some similar thing but believe me what you read and what is true lies a large gap of untruths.
I think you should see your doctor and arrange for some counselling if you have such severe problems as there are many different kinds of approaches to this and many new meds. Your dog would have to be evaluated before even considering making it a SD and this takes time. SD have CGC and TD under their belts before even starting to train for service work and a very small minority of these dogs pass the criteria for this.
as for meds i have been on so many i cant count and dont want to be on any meds i just got weened off of effexor and i cant do it again also my dogs not big she is a begal mix she prob weighs around 25-30 Lbs and as for the the plane i cant find any nonstop flights my flight had a delayed layover before and i thought i would die lol but i had seen some websites that offer certificates if you train the dog your self are these legitamite sites?
It takes years of training to certify a Service Dog. The cost in phenomenal and they just don't take any dog on an owners say so.
Even Therapy Dogs are considered lone man on the totem pole when it comes to being labeled Service Dogs. And are not allowed on planes, in stores etc. as Service Dogs are.
You will have to figure out another way to get over your anxiety attacks.
I've 'trained' two service dogs through my county 4H club. Basically, I got a puppy at about 6 months and had to bring it EVERYWHERE with me, teach it basic obedience, how to be safe around crowds etc etc. One took me a little over a year and passed with flying colors after she was taken to another trainer after I was done with her. The other one took me over 2 years just to get him to the point of going into training and he ended up failing Now, he's just someobodies pet. It's really difficult work and doesn't happen overnight.
I've 'trained' two service dogs through my county 4H club. Basically, I got a puppy at about 6 months and had to bring it EVERYWHERE with me, teach it basic obedience, how to be safe around crowds etc etc. One took me a little over a year and passed with flying colors after she was taken to another trainer after I was done with her. The other one took me over 2 years just to get him to the point of going into training and he ended up failing Now, he's just someobodies pet. It's really difficult work and doesn't happen overnight.
From their "puppy trainers", usually about 18 months they gone on to professional trainers as the above poster mentioned. I believe it is usually a 6 month or 9 month course. I am not sure of the times...it has been awhile since I was involved with CCI
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i couldnt go to school or anything and as a result i now have no life
but wile i was staying with my grandparents they got me a dog and she is my world but at first she was afraid to leave the house
lol but with out noing it really i worked to help her to leave the house and in return she wound up helping me and i was able to take her for walks and if people would come to the house she would just sit with me and she would keep me calm
she is an amazing dog and i still have anxiety pretty bad but with her its not as bad like for example i have to leave the ouse to drive to are new house and i was so scared i was crying and have horrible panic attacks and she rode in the front seat with me and i was just petting her and holding her and she was cudling with me and before i new it we were home like 30 mins later and i didnt even notice how long it had been and soon i am going to go on an airplane to go try to visit my family and i am scared
and want her to come on the plane with me but they only let service dogs on the plane so is there so way i can make her my service dog because i have looked it up a little bit and found that there are people who have service dogs for psyceatric problems so what can i do??? 
cant get tranqualizers
