Discover and read the best of Twitter Threads about #ServiceDog
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🧵 Today a lady got close to me, said "are you a good doggy?", and reached out towards me. When I turned to see her I almost booped her hand and she told me "You're a #ServiceDog. You're supposed to ignore me."
WRONG.
She's supposed to ignore me. She didn't do that.
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WRONG.
She's supposed to ignore me. She didn't do that.
1/5
I'm not supposed to initiate interactions with humans. I didn't.
Today we also saw my friend, the butcher. He came right up to give my Mistress a treat for me. He spoke directly to her and I stayed in a down, even though he's my friend and I'd love to sniff him. He knows
2/5
Today we also saw my friend, the butcher. He came right up to give my Mistress a treat for me. He spoke directly to her and I stayed in a down, even though he's my friend and I'd love to sniff him. He knows
2/5
to ignore a service dog and only interact if the handler says it's OK.
We are trained to ignore common distractions, like people passing by us, bikes, shopping carts, etc, but we have to listen and obey strangers. In fact, this is part of standard testing of service
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We are trained to ignore common distractions, like people passing by us, bikes, shopping carts, etc, but we have to listen and obey strangers. In fact, this is part of standard testing of service
3/5
Hi friends! We’re doing a mini thread for #SundayServiceDogFacts! Having public access rights comes w a lot of responsibilities & 1 of those is GROOMING! #ServiceDogs have to be very clean to go to hospitals, restaurants (pre-Covid), grocery stores, etc w our humans! #DogTwitter
I get a bath at least once a month (if not more) to keep me smelling nice and to wash off any icky stuff. Between baths I get cleaned daily w waterless bath stuff & pet wipes! I even get blow dried after every bath so momma can brush out all the loose hair 😊
Video description: a very wet red golden retriever lays on a grey elevated dog cot. A white woman uses a hair dryer to blow dry the pup, who mostly lays relaxed but occasionally licks at the air doming from the hair dryer
Awesome! Thanks for responding to our poll 🥰 It looks like most folks would like to learn more about the tasks and helpful things I’m trained to do for my momma as her multipurpose service dog! We’ll touch slightly on the other topics too. Thread incoming! #SundayServiceDogFacts
Ok here we go!🙂🐕🦺 I'm a multipurpose service dog, which means I combine tasks from the main service dog categories. Specifically, I do tasks from the medical alert, medical response, mobility, & psychiatric SD categories! In the future, I will also learn a bit of guide work 😄
Some basic things I do to help around the house or out & about include picking up things momma drops, finding things for her by name (keys, phone, meds), pushing accessible door buttons, opening and closing cabinets, drawers, and doors, and even opening the refrigerator for water
Thread: Besides medical alert, I also help Mom w/ mobility, balance, brace, and maneuver uneven landscape. The brain injury weakened her left leg, so I help w/ steps, curbs, etc. I match my steps & speed to hers keeping her independent. #Dog #ServiceDog
Although this looks very smooth and easy, training like this takes a lot of time for a Service Dog to learn. There are a lot of training techniques all in one that are put together to make this seamless. I have to be very steady, patient, and attentive to Mom's body and movement
I feel when Mom is behind & I stop or slow to match her, I check-in when I feel any hesitation to see if she is ok, or if I need to change my own body position. I take each step methodically w/o sudden movements.
I try so hard to do a good job, but after 4 days of no good walks I was so excited that I became silly. We had stopped in a driveway to let some approaching people pass & when I noticed their dog was off leash I stood up, gave a "Wanna chase me?" snort & rolled in the snow.
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I know that's not proper #ServiceDog etiquette & it's doubtful I'd ever do such things in an actual work environment, but it's also important people remember we aren't programmed machines. We're sentient beings & sometimes we'll make the wrong choice.
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What's really important is that we respond & stop what we're doing as soon as we're told "No", "Quit", "Stop" or any other cue that tells us we've made a bad choice. Although a mistake has been, our handler remains in control. I get rewarded anytime I respond to "No".
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It’s almost 1 am and I can’t sleep, so I’m going to tell you a story. I want to tell you about Allergy Lady.
After a long day of training with my #servicedog friends, I stopped at the grocery store on the way home. I was picking out some pastries when I saw her. 1/
After a long day of training with my #servicedog friends, I stopped at the grocery store on the way home. I was picking out some pastries when I saw her. 1/
She was middle aged and fairly non-description. I don’t even remember her hair color. What I do remember is that she had the familiar pose of someone who was sneaking closer to take a picture, phone held ready.
In case you don’t know, taking pics of service animals is rude. 2/
In case you don’t know, taking pics of service animals is rude. 2/
I held up a hand and said, “no photos, please,” for the millionth time that day.
I was shocked at what happened next.
Instead of putting the phone down, she took the pic anyway & snapped, “I’m allergic to animals,” stopping less than 10 feet away from me. 3/
I was shocked at what happened next.
Instead of putting the phone down, she took the pic anyway & snapped, “I’m allergic to animals,” stopping less than 10 feet away from me. 3/
