Service Dog In Training Vest Arrived
After much saving of pennies and waiting in anticipation, my Goldendoodle’s first service vest arrived late yesterday! Although it is an extra small, it is still a little loose on her. I was worried that it wouldn’t fit for long but I think we have some growing room on this one! I purchased the vest from Sit and Stay. They seemed to have the cheapest ones there with zippered pockets.
I also purchased three patches: “Ask to Pet Me, I am Friendly”, “Service Dog”, “In Training”. Although the patches are designed to fit together, the vest was too small. I had to put the pet me patch on the back and then the other patches on each side. They recommend gluing the patches and of course sell the glue. The patches were not cheap though and I wanted to be able to remove them from this vest and put them on her next one. I used to be a seamstress so I figured no problem. Well an hour and half later I was strongly reconsidering! The vest is well made with thick water resistant fabric and hand sewing the patches with MS fingers was a REAL challenge.
She has only worn the vest for a couple of minutes at a time so far but she seems to like it just fine.
March 19th, 2008 at 7:49 pm
Hi, I have MS and a service dog too. I haven’t read your whole blog yet but why did you get an “Ask to pet me I’m friendly” patch? It’s a constant struggle to educate folks on not petting a service dog, even with a “please do not pet me, I’m working patch”. I can’t imagine if I had a patch that said “ask to pet me”!
March 19th, 2008 at 8:14 pm
Good question.
Ebony was a gift from my house mate because he was upset that I had fallen several times and could not get up. He was home but couldn’t hear me so one time I was down for a couple of hours. I also fell a year ago on ice and passed out. That fall resulted in permenant brain damage which has made my balance precarious. So, one of her main jobs will be to go get help when I fall. Sometimes that means getting help from strangers so she needs to be able to interact with them confidently. Actually I don’t have a problem with people petting her without asking. That is rare. What is my biggest problem is dealing with everyone that SCREECHES “Oh pupppy! Come here cute puppy!” I can’t tell you how many times I have been yanked around by Ebony responding to the word “Come” and the high voice. I am working hard to make sure that she no longer responds to the word “Come”.
What types of tasks is your service dog providing for you?
October 19th, 2008 at 7:50 pm
Good Answer,
I find that when we’re not educating the public, we’re educating each other. We all have different needs and our service dogs should be trained to meet the needs that best suit our situation. Why waste time training your service dog in a task in which does not apply to your need or your disability.
I have a number of physical and mental disabilities. There are so many things they asked me to teach my dog which was nothing but a waste of time and energy. For me, I need my dog to be people friendly, but I don’t allow anyone to pet her. It meets my needs and makes it easier on me. However, there is plenty of play time and there are a few people and other dogs who are allow to play with her. It’s not all work and no play… I wish the best for you..
Take care,
Glee
Sorry if this got published twice. There was no confirmation after I clicked on Submit Comment