PonderEthereal

If you are considering your dog a ‘Service Dog in Training’, before you start any training, you will need to find a reliable way to log the training you do. If your dog’s status is ever called into question, having this log will prove the training regimen. Each time you do training, note the date and time and what you worked on.

Before your dog can learn more complex tasks, s/he needs the basics; sit, down, stay, come, walk on a leash, socialization with people and dogs and being accustomed to daily life outside the home (cars, noises etc). These basic tasks will facilitate success in later training. I recommend following the AKC Canine Good Citizenship testing guidelines for basic obedience as these were created to define a dog who is ‘well behaved’ and well socialized.

As for HOW you train your dog, there are as many philosophies as there are trainers.…

I have Asperger’s Syndrome, which makes really simple stuff not quite so simple. When I was in my last relationship, we naturally ebbed and flowed so well together that my weaknesses were his strengths and although there were things that were annoyances to him, he always did like a girl who he could fancy weaker than himself. And so it worked.

In September, I went through a traumatic event that while did injure me physically, did more injury to me emotionally and mentally than anything else and compounded any difficulties I might have been having before that time. I was, at that point, dealing with severe depression and anxiety ALONG with Asperger’s Syndrome ALONG with PTSD. AND my main practical day to day support for the last six years, my husband, was gone.

I’ve done a lot of things to help myself recover as quickly as possible from the trauma of…