# Q&A -- What is the responding difference between pet and SD?



## ILGHAUS (Nov 25, 2002)

Q. When I am having a panic attack I find it comforting to snuggle with my dog and she licks my face until it is over. Could this be counted as a task?

A. No, such behavior is a benefit of owning a dog for any owner when we become sad or upset.

It is the manner in which a dog responds to panic attacks that makes the difference between the actions of a loving pet and a task trained SD. Both pets and SDs can cuddle, lick and snuggle which is all part of being our companions. 

A trained SD will know what to do such as bring meds or other needed items. They may go alert another member of the household. They may have been trained to retrieve a phone. They may lead you to an outside door if you begin to panic in a crowded store. They may have been trained to find a quiet area for you. 

A loving companion is passive with a "hold your hand" type of approach while you are going through your attack while a trained responder does something active to try to keep your attack from escalating and also going into a work mode to bring it down to where you can again handle it. 

The trained SD knows how to work in such a situation and react as a partner while a companion basically hangs in with you while waiting for all to be well again.


----------



## Debanneball (Aug 28, 2014)

Very well put!


----------



## Lobo dog (Sep 19, 2014)

At first I thought SD meant "show dog"  very informative! Well writen


----------



## Chicagocanine (Aug 7, 2008)

Ive heard of people talking about how their service dog is trained to lick the person's face or lay across a person during an anxiety attack. The reason being for example bring them out of it, "ground" the person or to or stop dissociation episodes. Would this be a task and how is this different from the licking/snuggling mentioned in the OP?


----------



## pyratemom (Jan 10, 2011)

I wonder if the training to lay across them comes from the stuff Temple Grandin figured out with the squeeze shoot. Babies feel naturally more comfortable with swaddling - being wrapped snugly in a blanket so maybe the pressure from the dog laying on a person having a panic attack works the same way. I suffer from panic attacks but don't like to be held down, but maybe if I trained Raina to help me like that it might help. I know this isn't what the thread is about but it did bring the thought up. Of course pet dogs can lick and cuddle but like it has been said, trained assistance dogs do other stuff as well such as getting help or helping the person to a door.


----------



## Debanneball (Aug 28, 2014)

pyratemom said:


> I wonder if the training to lay across them comes from the stuff Temple Grandin figured out with the squeeze shoot. Babies feel naturally more comfortable with swaddling - being wrapped snugly in a blanket so maybe the pressure from the dog laying on a person having a panic attack works the same way. I suffer from panic attacks but don't like to be held down, but maybe if I trained Raina to help me like that it might help. I know
> this isn't what the thread is about but it did bring the thought up. Of course pet dogs can lick and cuddle but like it has been said, trained assistance dogs do other stuff as well such as getting help or helping the person to a door.


Wonderful person!


----------



## Colie CVT (Nov 10, 2013)

I think the term for a dog helping with grounding is deep pressure therapy. Certain target points are used to help the person. In public, they would likely need to be led to a quiet place or out of the crowded area/store before any kind of DPT. Least that is my knowledge for those I have talked with about it.


----------



## Pax8 (Apr 8, 2014)

So for a personal perspective, Kaiju does DPT for me and also grounds by licking my face, interrupts a compulsive self-destructive habit by licking my hands, and alerts to highly elevated stress/anxiety by nosing my hands.

After teaching him these, it's easy to see where they differ from normal pet cuddling/licking. It is still licking, but because it's a method of conveying information, Kaiju's been taught not to give up until I give him a certain word that lets him know I understand what he's alerting me to. So even if I push him away or yell at him, he'll keep doing it until I can convey that I understand. A normal pet would probably cower/turn away if they were pushed/yelled at, but Kaiju's been conditioned so that it just rolls off his back because his job isn't to comfort me, it's to make sure I know "hey, if you keep this up, you're going to have a panic attack."


----------



## Debanneball (Aug 28, 2014)

Pax, what is DPT? This is a wonderful thing Kaiju does, how long was her/his training, and which organization did Kaiju come from, or did you do the training? What else does Kaiji alert you to? 
Sorry so many questions, its very interesting..




Pax8 said:


> So for a personal perspective, Kaiju does DPT for me and also grounds by licking my face, interrupts a compulsive self-destructive habit by licking my hands, and alerts to highly elevated stress/anxiety by nosing my hands.
> 
> After teaching him these, it's easy to see where they differ from normal pet cuddling/licking. It is still licking, but because it's a method of conveying information, Kaiju's been taught not to give up until I give him a certain word that lets him know I understand what he's alerting me to. So even if I push him away or yell at him, he'll keep doing it until I can convey that I understand. A normal pet would probably cower/turn away if they were pushed/yelled at, but Kaiju's been conditioned so that it just rolls off his back because his job isn't to comfort me, it's to make sure I know "hey, if you keep this up, you're going to have a panic attack."


----------



## DJEtzel (Feb 11, 2010)

Deep pressure therapy?


----------



## Pax8 (Apr 8, 2014)

DPT is Deep Pressure Therapy. Chest pressure calms me down significantly when I am near or in a panic attack. He lays sideways across my chest for anywhere from three to five minutes.

He is trained completely by me. I haven't used him in public yet. I would like to pass a public access test through an established service dog orginization both for legal protection and to reassure myself that I am using a dog who indeed has the proper training to mind well in public. I know it isn't necessary legally, but it is important to me personally.

But currently, he provides the deep pressure therapy, interrupts my destructive habit, alerts to elevated stress, and I am in the middle of teaching him space control which he is getting very good with. When asked, he will stand long ways in front or behind me to provide space, and will lay down on his side with his legs stretched out to block people off from approaching me too closely, especially when I am already in a highly anxious state. He also has one more thing he will do, which is lead me out of buildings or houses when I say "I need to step out". It's the only time he will tug his leash when inside - to guide me to the exit. This is largely untrained. He just kind of picked up the habit of going to the door when. He hears the phrase and I decided to give it a little extra reinforcement.

Originally, I didn't get him to be used as a service dog and had no intention of having a service dog. But after he responded so naturally to my various panic attacks and stress induced behaviors, it seemed like a natural next step. I just got extremely lucky that he is bomb proof and has a wonderful temperament to be a service dog. It certainly helps in my psychological treatment as we're finding out I am completely unresponsive to all the various medications I have tried. So without the extra help he provides, I was unsuccessfully dealing with being too anxious and stressed to even walk outside to get my mail. With his help, I'm able to deal with most things, but it would be very freeing to be able to use him in public during times when I am especially unstable and more susceptible to psychological stress and drain.

So really, the biggest thing he needs is a bit more maturity and some more practice. Then we'll be going for our official public access test!


----------



## Debanneball (Aug 28, 2014)

Pax, your dog sounds like an amazing animal, one to be proud of! I hope all goes well with your test! DJEtzel is also training a dog for service, I keep checking on the progress.. She is doing a wonderful thing for someone. 

In my mind, police dogs and service dogs are 100% THE best animals out there. I find it fastinating to watch them do their thing... Good luck to the both of you!

Happy holidays, Deb and Fritz


----------



## Lin (Jul 3, 2007)

Pax, I had a very similar experience with Tessa. She was never intended to be a service dog, but I was "into" training and started doing a lot of obedience work from the day I got her. She picked up certain tasks herself helping me around the house, she was always a velcro dog and it seemed every time I lost my balance or fell, she was right there and I was able to use her to ease myself to the ground or steady myself, and she would help me back up. It helped prevent more serious injuries at the time. This made me start thinking about service dogs and wondering if she could be one, and I was lucky that she DID have what it took to be a full fledged service dog. 

I also didn't want to do public access until she was evaluated by someone more experienced, I just didn't trust myself and at the time was also TERRIFIED of the idea of litigation. I went a bit overboard I think with the training logs in case anything ever happened lol. I happened to move from Lafayette to Indianapolis right around the time Tessa was ready to go from SDIT to SD. At the time I was still mostly calling places and asking permission for a SDIT to enter the store prior to going with her. A local training organization ICAN opened themselves up to me, allowing me to attend training sessions to learn how to add more service tasks that I had no idea how to train, and evaluated her for me. After the evaluation they also calmed me down about public access as a whole, talking about how it wasn't people like me that ran into litigation. It was people who either had no clue at all, or didn't care and broke the law. But having had her evaluated by professionals was definitely the thing that finally made me confident about the situation. Unfortunately the staff since then has changed, and when I was trying to train Emma they would no longer offer any assistance. Emma washed out of training anyway, and I had to turn to an organization dog. 

Luckily an organization exists now that meets my needs, they didn't back when I was training Tessa! But she passed away unexpectedly Dec 20th last year, and things are just now getting moving due to the finances involves. Hopefully a pup is born mid January thats right for me, and at 8 weeks it will enter training with the organization! Another 2 years is going to be killer  Then again, at least I have time to fundraise the money I need to complete this.


----------

