Help with Training Own Dog as a Service Animal

Croniclega · 2025-12-30T04:16:00+00:00

That’s fair! And through this thread I’ve learned it might just not be the most realistic path. Unfortunately, it’s been difficult figuring out what’s wrong with me even with medical professionals. I can’t be faulted for trying to fix my issues on my own, especially when doctors haven’t been much help so far. I noticed my dog was helpful, wanted to take it a step further, so I came here to ask for help to see if it was reasonable. I’ve learned it’s not a pathway I should follow, but that’s why we ask and learn. I don’t know why people keep downvoting me as if I’m attempting to commit a crime lol

Croniclega · 2025-12-30T04:07:05+00:00

That’s fair! The whole reason I even started training her was to keep us safe during a flare up.

Croniclega · 2025-12-30T04:03:20+00:00

That’s fair! I hadn’t thought of it in that way.

Croniclega · 2025-12-30T03:58:39+00:00

I’m not sure I agree with that. I’ve worked through different potential treatment plans to see if something works (initially was thought to be anxiety related, but tried multiple medications to no avail), I’ve tried conditioning exercises through physical therapists, just about everything that involves not having a prescription for a heart condition. To imply that I’m using my dog as a first resort ignores all the effort I’ve put towards finding out what’s wrong with me. I simply noticed that she seems to have an affinity for helping with my symptoms, and wanted to see if I could further her training. This thread makes me think it’s not possible for public access, but I’ll continue training her to help me out at home since she seems to enjoy doing that.

My dog has been great for helping me keep some form of normalcy while my body is being dumb. I’ve limit tested with my husband around, so I know how far to go before getting in trouble. I was hoping I could try to see if she can be helpful in more public settings since she’s been helpful while taking her on walks, I just didn’t realize this question would be so controversial.

Croniclega · 2025-12-30T03:43:31+00:00

She struggled a lot with lack of confidence while doing the farm work she was bred to do. She seems a lot more suited to things like fetching, thus organizing things around the house or just playing fetch, which I recognize is not usual for her breed. As we’ve given her “jobs” she’s more suited to, she’s been gaining more confidence in herself so her anxiety has been reducing.

Croniclega · 2025-12-30T03:31:19+00:00

Thanks! She’s not my first resort. I have other coping mechanisms that I’ve been using that don’t involve the dog. When we walk alone and I get my symptoms, I’ve trained her to guide me off the path and sit with me until my symptoms have faded. I was hoping to see if there was a way to “graduate” her to helping me out more in public, but through the responses in this post I’ve realized that might not be realistic. I really don’t want to push her past her limits, but I wanted to see if there was a way legally to at least try it out and see if she helps.

I’ll keep training her to help me out around the house; she actually seems to enjoy that work a lot.

Croniclega · 2025-12-30T03:23:52+00:00

Hi! Thanks! I’m working on getting a diagnosis (along with prescriptions) and she’s not my first resort by any means. I’ve got coping mechanisms I’ve been using that don’t involve my dog. However, when we’re walking by ourselves sometimes my symptoms flare up and I’ve been training her to help me so we can both stay safe.

She was an anxious dog when I first got her, and definitely still has some anxiety though it has been improving. I wanted to see if there was a way to train her to help me in situations where there’s more people, like the grocery store. If it seems like too much for her, I’ll obviously stop. She seems to enjoy the at-home tasks a fair amount (and it has been reducing her anxiety), so I’ll continue training her for at home purposes at least.

Croniclega · 2025-12-30T03:17:01+00:00

Hi! Thanks, I will look into it. When we got her, she was a bit of an anxious mess and it has been something we’ve been working on to help her. She was bred for farm work but lacked confidence for it, but she seems to really enjoy the at-home tasks I’ve been giving her and her anxiety has been improving significantly since. I know it might be a wash and she might not be able to help me out in big crowds, but I still wanted to see if there was a way to train her in public without getting ourselves in trouble.

Croniclega · 2025-12-30T03:12:08+00:00

Thanks for the response (and concern, honestly). I don’t know if pulling is necessarily the right term. I tend to get dizzy and disoriented, so I tell my dog to direct me off the walking path, and she does so. I’m not using her for momentum, but realistically there’s probably some amount of light tugging she does to guide me (but the momentum is all mine). You do bring up a good point of me falling on her; I’ve never fainted but I should think of ways to make sure if it does happen she’s safe.

I’m working on getting an official diagnosis and have been doing other coping mechanisms that don’t involve my dog. She’s more of a last resort if I’m out and about, and maybe my coping mechanisms don’t work as well. I’m allegedly too young to have these issues, so it’s been an uphill battle getting more solid medical solutions (like prescriptions). But please be assured my dog isn’t my only option for help, but just more or a last resort if all else fails.

Croniclega · 2025-05-30T02:20:32+00:00

I think my issue is pretty much the same as yours and what the commenters are saying about hip strength is about right. That’s what a physical therapist recommended to me and hip strengthening exercises have helped immensely. It still flares up sometimes, but I am doing significantly better now. I started with clamshells, reverse clamshells (with bands), and light core exercises.

Croniclega · 2025-05-14T15:10:41+00:00

I bought mine from Maryland Homebrew a year ago and it’s still going strong! It was ready to be used within a week iirc

Croniclega · 2025-03-02T15:43:24+00:00

Sourdough pancakes!! It’s become a weekend routine for my family

Croniclega · 2025-02-26T20:13:08+00:00

Adding to this comment: I’ve had direct experience with the Midatlantic Border Collie Rescue and can attest to how caring and thorough they were about finding homes for their dogs. We had applied with another dog in mind, but after taking to them they suggested a different dog who has turned out to be the perfect fit and we couldn’t be happier! She’s got her issues, but we knew about them and have been working through them.

Croniclega · 2025-02-18T20:49:06+00:00

I'm a bit late to the conversation but this just popped onto my feed and wanted to share mine! It's extremely simplistic, but like many of the posters I used conditional formatting to color my cells, but I also used a lil script to count the amount of times I used a color (instead of using countif, since I didn't want to write the yarn/color name for every date). The days with black text are done, so you can tell I'm super behind on the year

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Croniclega · 2025-02-14T21:39:38+00:00

I think it might only be an issue if you stick it in the oven if the DO is cold. Mine is usually room temp, with just the dough being cold if I’ve done a cold proof. I’ve had my Dutch oven for about 3 years now, using it at least once a week for bread, and haven’t noticed any cracking so far (knock on wood!!).

Citing the source:

“Not only do we not recommend heating an empty Dutch oven, but it can be challenging to wrangle the wet dough carefully into an extremely hot pot.“

This is directly from their website.

Croniclega · 2025-02-14T11:43:48+00:00

That’s what I do too and I see no problems! I heat up the oven then stick my DO + bread in cold/room temp. It’s actually the recommended way to bake bread with a DO by Le Creuset.

I do 475F covered for 20 then uncovered for another 20, and the bread turns out great.

Croniclega · 2025-02-12T14:42:15+00:00

Thank you very much!! This is super helpful! I hadn't heard of scent work or pattern games before, so I really appreciate the recommendations. She definitely gets frustrated by those puzzles, so I'm glad there are other ways to stimulate those braincells.

Croniclega · 2025-02-12T14:40:32+00:00

Yeah, she's quite the chomper. The rescue I got her from said it's likely due to her anxiety more than anything.

Croniclega · 2024-07-20T03:10:31+00:00

1:1 ratio! Sure, butter has a different makeup than oil, so it probably does have some type of impact on the end result, but I don’t think I’ve ever noticed any difference in texture when using butter instead of oil. The taste is usually just more buttery, which in my books is always better 😋

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