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service dogs
does anyone know anything about service dogs for severe chronic pain? i’m 15 and have had extreme chronic pain for 7 years due to crps. i have missed half of the school year and am constantly at doctors appointments. i have some other health issues like pots but my pain is the worst. i’ve started looking into service dogs as an option but my parents don’t really like the idea. they don’t really want to acknowledge i’m disabled (it’s been confirmed by several doctors) and won’t listen to my research in service dogs. i just need suggestions and any helpful research on the topic.
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Good evening @sunset06 and a virtual hug of welcome to Connect. I am so glad to meet you and yet so very sorry about your condition and pain. You should be out playing basketball and going to dances. So....let's see what I can share with you that just might be helpful.
First of all, it is not unusual for parents to want to protect their children from the rejection that might come from others when the dog indicates a health condition. Without going into a lot of detail.....to present things you have already researched, I would like to introduce you to my granddaughter Hannah. She has her own affliction and that is OCD.....she has been hospitalized, in therapy, and on every possible medication. She was unable to stay in college because of intrusive thoughts and perfectionism.
Hannah has always loved dogs and horses. What she chose to do was join a training group called Pawsitive Teams. The purpose was to train dogs to help people including children with behavioral, emotional, and mental conditions as well as physical afflictions. The training facility had a kitchen with different kinds of knobs on every drawer so that the dogs would become comfortable opening many types of doors and drawers.
The dogs also accompanied people to court appearances when they needed emotional support. It was amazing the relationship the dogs had with everyone and the quality of their assistance in many ways. I am going to attach a few photos........after all .....a picture is worth a thousand words.
So here are the captions. #1 is Hannah with a dog she was training to become the companion to the girl in the wheelchair. #2 is one of the training exercises when Hannah had to call five dogs one at a time into a down and stay pose. #3 is my little Cavalier Roxie. I was traveling a lot and Hannah took care of Roxie. #4 is one of the adventures for the young girl and her new dog when Hannah took them for the first time to the mall. You can do this. Maybe you can show these to your parents. I am happy to share with them.