service dogs for vets

I do customer service for Service Dog Tags. Today I spoke with someone who was not aware of the changes in rules about service dogs. The new one that took affect March 15th of this year. The one that includes anxiety and PTSD as a disability and any dog that is used to control that is now a service dog.

I actually kinda felt sorry for this man as he was under the impression that, even though his dog helped him, since he could hold down a job, he was not disabled even though he was formally diagnosed with PTSD. I politely told him that he was wrong.

There are many many disabled people that can hold down a job. The presence of the service dog makes them able to do so. I am one of those. I work full time for Service Dog Tags. However I honestly feel that if I did not have my service dogs (my retired one, my current one, and my one in training) that I probably would not be able to work. Or, even worse, not even be able to function or maybe not even be in existence.

This gentleman that I spoke with had pretty much limited his lifestyle due to the fact that he felt he was not disabled. This was due to misinformation on his part. Since speaking with me he now understands and will probably be doing a few more enjoyable things in his life now that he can take his “service dog” with him.

Please be aware of the new ruling change. Be aware that anxiety and PTSD, correctly diagnosed by someone in the medical field, IS a disability. And any dog that is used to prevent or control the symptoms of such IS a Service Dog according to ADA.

Sussie and the Y Team
(Gunny, Rainy and Lucy)

http://abcnews.go.com/US/video/service-dog-fitted-prosthetic-leg-15059782

Service dog gets fitted with a prosthetic leg.

Note from Sussie: I think the main reason the dog started to complain is that the constant taking off and putting on of the leg was starting to irritate it.

At first I thought “Well if the dog was born without it, why bother?” I have had two three legged dogs in my life and they lived long healthy lives (one Akita-Border Collie lived to be 16 and one Border Collie until cancer got her at the age of 15). But then I had to remember to take into consideration the breed here. Labs are known to develop hip problems. This would help the one good leg from going bad too soon.

Sussie, Gunny, Rainy and Lucy

We are pleased to announce that we have added another disability specific tag to our line of Service Dog and Emotional Support Animal tags.

We have always had the following…

Service Dog
Service Animal
Seizure Alert
Medical Alert
Working
Guide Dog
Hearing Assistance
Search and Rescue
Cadaver Dog
and
Emotional Support Animal

We have now added PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) to our list of tags.

I have PTSD and understand that it is a disorder that, though now recognized by ADA as a disability, does not fall under the category of a medical alert dog.

Though Service Dog can be used for a PTSD dog, we feel that this new tag will serve the needs of those who wish to be more disability specific.

Sussie, Gunny and Rainy

Here is a little Friday fun. It’s “brag about your dog” day!

Answer as many of the following questions as you wish.

What breed of service dog do you have?

Did you train your service dog? Or was your service dog trained by someone else?

If you did not train your service dog yourself, do you think you could now having worked with yours?

Where did you obtain your service dog?

What is the most amazing thing your service dog has ever done?

Do you allow people to pet your service dog (this includes dogs that are trained to only be petted when they have been given a command to allow it)?

Have you ever felt that your service dog gave you a chance to educate the public about service dogs?

Have you ever had anyone complain about the breed of your dog being a service dog?

Anything else you want to say about your dog, feel free too!

Sussie, Gunny and Rainy.

BY SARA CASTELLANOS
The Aurora Sentinel | 0 comments

AURORA | City officials could discuss the possibility of amending an ordinance to allow pit bulls as service dogs in the city at an executive session as early as Oct. 11, according to a city attorney.

The announcement of the meeting comes after officials from the U.S. Department of Justice said earlier this summer that any dog that is trained to do work or perform tasks for disabled people should be classified as a service animal, under the Americans with Disabilities Act.

“The Department of Justice expressed an opinion that breed-specific legislation, or breed bans, should not be applied on a blanket level to service animals,” said Charlie Richardson, the city’s attorney.

City officials have drafted an ordinance that would accommodate all types of service dogs, but Aurora City Council members must first be briefed on the issue, and then the potential ordinance change must be sent to a committee for public and employee input, Richardson said.

At the Oct. 11 meeting, council members will be briefed on the ongoing litigation that originated when Aurora resident Allen Grider filed a lawsuit against the city in March. Grider, a Vietnam War Veteran with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, said the city can’t mandate how his service dog is maintained, even if the dog is a banned breed. Grider and two Denver residents filed a class-action lawsuit against Aurora and Denver in March and are seeking damages of more than $75,000.

A social worker suggested that Grider acquire a therapy pet to alleviate his symptoms, and he got his pit bull in 2003.

“She’s my protector,” Grider said during an interview earlier this year. “I can’t sleep if she’s not here. If I’m tense, she’ll bother me until I calm down.”

But in November 2009, the city’s animal control officers seized the dog because it was a banned breed.

The city eventually determined that the dog was a service dog, and after about five months the dog was released to Grider, on the condition that she wear a muzzle in public, among other restrictions.

The lawsuit was filed by the Wheat Ridge-based Animal Law Center shortly after the dog, Precious, was back with Grider.

“We believe there are an number of damages that occurred because of what Aurora did in this situation, by taking his dog away from him,” said Grider’s attorney, Jennifer Reba Edwards. “As long as these pit bull ordinances have been in place, they have been in violation of the ADA.”

City officials from Denver are set to review a proposal Monday that would allow pit bulls as service dogs within the city.

————————————-

A personal note from Sussie:

I personally love Pit Bulls. They are terriers and terriers make great Service Dogs.

I find the below article quite interesting. Only because my husband and myself have been taking our Service Dogs in to the VA for a long time and no one ever questioned us. We both have PTSD.

————————————-

Bill approved to make VA service-dog friendly

By Rick Maze – Staff writer
Posted : Monday Sep 12, 2011 16:55:07 EDT

The House of Representatives could vote as early as next week on sweeping legislation that makes the Veterans Affairs Department more dog-friendly.

A House committee has approved legislation that would allow service dogs to be used on any VA property or in any VA facility, including any facility or property receiving VA funding.

“I’m really pleased this legislation is moving, just for the sheer fact we have been trying to do this for so long,” said Christina Roof, deputy national legislative director for the veterans’ service organization AmVets. “VA could have done this itself, by regulation, a long time ago if they wanted, but they haven’t done anything so it looks like Congress will.”

Under current law and regulation, VA is required only to allow guide dogs for the blind onto its property and into facilities because those are the only type of assistance animals specifically covered in federal law. Individual facilities directors can be more flexible, if they wish.

VA officials have been working since March on trying to come up with a new service dog policy but discussions have been bogged down, in part, over the question of whether the policy should specifically list the types of service dogs that should be allowed or to leave that open to interpretation.

Language included in HR 2074, a veterans’ health care bill passed Sept. 28 by the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee, would end the discussion. The provision is very direct, saying the VA secretary “may not prohibit the use of service dogs in any facility or on any property.” The bill makes no effort to define what constitutes a service dog.

Roof said she expects common sense would be used, with eligible dogs having received some specialized training in order to be considered a service dog and with facilities still able to have restrictions on where dogs could go on the premises. For example, a service dog would not be allowed into an operating room but might be allowed in the waiting room of a medical clinic, she said.

In addition to opening the buildings and grounds to service dogs, the bill would create a three-year pilot program in which veterans with post-traumatic stress or other post-deployment mental disorders would be involved in training service dogs for other veterans. The idea of the test is to see if being a dog trainer has any rehabilitation benefits for veterans.

Veterans who have service dogs would have priority in being hired as trainers under the pilot program.

Because occasionally dogs will be dogs, even well trained service dogs, what is the more embarrassing thing that your service dog ever did in public or in the company of others?

What is the funniest thing your dog ever did?

The only embarrassing thing that comes to mind for Gunny is the cat incident. Gunny gets along with cats. For the most part he ignores them, but if one comes up and says “Hi” he will say “Hi” back.

We were at a clients house, and I felt comfortable there, so I released Gunny from service dog capacity so he could wander around and explore. The client’s cat came into the room not long after. At first my client was a little concerned but I reassured her, stating that Gunny loved cats, to which she replied that her cat was dog friendly. We continued to discuss things and then, after a bit, she looked past me and said “Um…you were not kidding when you said your dog loved cats”. I turned to look and Gunny had the cat on the floor trying to be romantic with it. Without saying a word, I quickly scooped him up, carried him out to my truck, put him away and came back in the house. My client and I sat there and looked at each other for a couple seconds and then burst into laughter.

The funniest thing that ever happened was at the Doctor’s office. My husband uses a walker and is on oxygen. As we were chatting with the Doctor in the examination room, Jorgen became a little distressed. Gunny, being in tune with him as he is with me, went over to make sure my husband was OK. When he felt everything was alright, he turned to return to me and got his back half tangled in my husband’s oxygen line. Gunny knows that the oxygen line is very important so rather than trying to pull himself out of it, he carefully picks up one leg and tries to step over the line, and then tries the other leg. Not quite able to step over the line each time, he is alternating between the two legs trying to step over the line. First one leg…then the other…back and forth. In the mean time I see Dr. Beck’s face getting redder and redder and it suddenly dawns on me that she was trying not to burst out laughing. As I went over to help Gunny out, I said “It’s OK if you laugh Doc. Even I have to admit, there really isn’t anything much funnier than a high centered weiner”

Sussie and Gunny

BIG LAKE, Minn. (AP) — Greg Shartle and his fiancée, Alana Curtis, are trying to get the word out about the work they want to do to help veterans who use service dogs.

They want to make vests for the dogs from the veterans’ camouflage Army Combat Uniforms.

“I want people to be able to go, ‘That’s my uniform, that’s my service dog.’ It puts a lot more pride into it, and veterans deserve that,” Curtis said.

Inspiration to make the vests came from a failed search by Curtis when she wanted to get an Army-styled vest for Shartle’s service dog, Cadence. What she found had no pockets for Shartle’s medicine or his dog’s toys. Now both are stored in a vest made from one of Shartle’s old uniforms. It includes his Army patches and the dog’s medical patches.

“It’s nice especially being able to say, ‘She’s actually wearing a set of my uniform,’” said Shartle, a former U.S. Army sergeant who has had post-traumatic stress disorder since he returned from Iraq in 2005.

“It’s nice to be recognized that he’s a veteran,” Curtis said about Shartle. “It gives him that confidence and merit that he truly deserves.”

The couple also wants to express through the personalized vests how important their service dogs have been to them.

They have not made vests for others, but they want to start. For them, it’s important to show Shartle’s service in the Army and they want to give that opportunity to other veterans. As long as ACU material and patches are provided, they will make the vests at no charge for anyone who is a veteran and has a service dog.

Cadence, an Irish setter mix, can sense when Shartle is about to have one of his violent flashbacks. His body posture and the way he acts triggers her to jump into his lap or get close to him and keep others away so they don’t get hurt.

A touch from Cadence is nonthreatening to Shartle, Curtis said, and helps bring him back to reality faster.

The flashbacks tend to focus on some key events during his time in Iraq. One is the day he had to give a friend emergency medical service.

Shartle was driving the truck behind his friend, a truck he was supposed to be in. The two had similar names and were mixed up when they were assigned to their trucks. An improvised explosive device detonated on the road. Shartle took quick action to save his friend and waited to get him into a helicopter.

It wasn’t until later that he realized the close call he’d had. Other explosives were nearby and could’ve gone off at any moment.

“It was a matter of being in the right spot at the right time, and being lucky that none of the others went off,” Shartle said. “That was the roughest over there, is basically facing reality.”

But Cadence isn’t the only service dog who makes Shartle and Curtis’ lives easier.

Curtis has had epileptic seizures since she was a little girl. Bravo, an all-black German shepherd, can sense when Curtis will have a seizure hours before it happens. He alerts her so she can be as prepared as possible.

“The little things … those two do is more of a help, so everything’s going better now,” Shartle said. Curtis’ seizures dropped to one or two a month from about 15 a day.

The way Shartle and Curtis acquired the two dogs was coincidental. They adopted Bravo because of his breed and realized later that he would alert Curtis when she was about to have a seizure.

“Bravo was pretty much a complete accident,” Shartle said. “To find (a dog) that will actually alert before seizures, it’s like finding a needle in a haystack.”

They decided to make him into a certified service dog so he could assist her at home, work and in public places.

“Every dog can do it, not every dog knows how to,” Curtis said.

A friend helped with some of the training, but they decided to self-train Bravo to fit Curtis’ specific needs.

Soon after, Curtis got Cadence for Shartle from the Central Minnesota Animal Care and Control center in St. Cloud. They self-trained her to help him with his flashbacks.

After going through almost 18 weeks of training each, the dogs took a final test to become certified service dogs.

Now the dogs go everywhere their humans go, brandishing their specialized service dog vests and making a path through crowds along streets and store aisles.

Curtis is working toward receiving a certification to train service dogs, specifically for seizure alert. She wants to give people with invisible disorders, such as seizures and flashbacks, a chance to get the help that Bravo and Cadence have given them.

As long as you have the patience and are serious about it, we will do everything we can to help you get the right service dog, Curtis said.

Shartle and Curtis plan to marry this May, knowing that going through all this together has brought them closer and they are even more in love.

————————–

Sussie and Gunny
http://thegunnyfund.chipin.com/the-gunny-fund

Paralyzed Marine paired with service dog

Golden retriever has thousands of Facebook friends through Milk-Bone ad campaign that chronicled his training
By Sue Manning – The Associated Press

LOS ANGELES — Noble is a four-legged Facebook star with thousands of friends. Sam is a 23-year-old Marine who was paralyzed in a car accident.

After months, the two have been matched.

Noble, a golden retriever, was raised from a pup and trained as a service dog as his online fans logged in every day, sharing stories and offering words of encouragement.

Sam Farr, 23, of Oceanside joined the Marines right out of high school. He was on duty in North Carolina two years ago when the car he was in went out of control and over a cliff, partially severing his spinal cord.

It would be a month before he woke from a coma in a Georgia hospital. He was paralyzed, unable to use his hands or walk. During Farr’s rehabilitation, volunteers from a group called Canine Assistants visited the hospital with service dogs that would lick Farr’s hand. When Farr was asked if he’d like a dog, he said yes.

It was more than 18 months of hard work for both before they met a few weeks ago.

“He jumped straight in my lap and started licking me in the face,” Farr said. “They brought two other dogs. I had to continually give the other dogs treats to get them to respond to me. With Noble, I didn’t have to do that.”

Only after they knew it was a match did Canine Assistants tell Farr about Noble’s Facebook fame. “They asked me if I knew anything about Facebook and I said, ‘I am the king of Facebook.’” Farr promised Noble’s fans he would figure out a way to keep them posted. “They have nothing to worry about. Dogs are one of the greatest creatures on God’s planet. I will take care of him like he takes care of me,” Farr said.

Her son knows the value of friendship, said his mom, Crystal Farr. After the accident, Farr’s three best friends went to school to learn how to do IVs and take care of him in an emergency. “Sam loved that they did that for him,” Mrs. Farr said.

Farr said he hopes he and Noble can go to school, and they are planning a Caribbean cruise. They’ve only known each other a few weeks, but Farr said Noble already knows when he’s feeling bad. “He’ll come to my room and lay his head in the bed next to me and make sure I’m doing OK.”

For Farr, the hardest part of being paralyzed is going out. “Sometimes I feel there’s no point, like it’s a waste of time because I can’t do the things I used to do.”

But he and Noble have been to the mall, the movies and a restaurant, and going out is starting to have more appeal.

Mrs. Farr said her son is constantly dropping things. She used to retrieve them, but now Noble does. “He’s so fantastic. Sometimes I forget he’s a dog because he reacts so much like a human,” she said.

Mrs. Farr is comfortable enough now to go back to work as a CPR instructor for the American Heart Association.

Noble’s Facebook page, chronicling his journey to becoming a service dog, is part of an ad campaign for Milk-Bone. He has over 34,000 friends and counting.

A copyrighter on the campaign, Will Decher, summed up the feelings of those who got to know Noble over the months: “You can teach a dog tricks, rules and commands, but you can’t teach a dog how to have a Noble heart.”

Sussie and Gunny
http://thegunnyfund.chipin.com/the-gunny-fund