Public Access Test

You may have seen a "Service Dog In Training" before. Have you ever wondered what that's all about?

Here's the Public Access test service dogs are expected to pass in order to prove their ability to be in public without being a nuisance.

Holy Smokes! No wonder it typically take 2 years to train for this!

Adding to the Knowledge Bank ...

One of my HUGE concerns has been (shhhh! Sven MUST NOT hear of this!) hair. IT will positively give him fits!

Good news! I have what may not be a solution but certainly appears to be a HUGE help in the (shh!) hair arena.

That's right - it's the FURminator. These things are expensive but reportedly worth every penny!

They have food supplements, shampoos, etc. ... even a waterless shampoo which is AWESOME because Sven is threatening to bathe her every day ... that might help relieve his OCD a bit!

Now I'm off to research the Public Access test ... that's the big one we'll be training for over the next year or so. Or two months ... how hard can it be?? : )

Feeding My Virtual Dog

My Virtual Dog is very hungry - and picky! I have been doing a lot of research into human diets lately. When thinking of my Virtual Dog, it seems to me that it can't be THAT hard to feed your dog "real" food, can it?

(Yes. This game requires that I concern myself with whether or not to feed my Virtual Dog home cooked meals. Deal.)

These look like good sources:

• Home Prepared Dog and Cat Diets by Donald Strombeck, DVM
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• Canine Nutrition by Lowell Ackerman, DVM
  
  
• Small Animal Clinical Nutrition by Hand, Thatcher, Remillard, Roudebush

• Dr Pitcairn's New Complete Guide to Natural Health for Dogs & Cats by Richard Pitcairn, DVM
  
  
• Natural Health Bible for Dogs & Cats by Shawn Messonnier, DVM
  
  
• Dog Health & Nutrition for Dummies by Christine Zink, DVM
• Better Food for Dogs by David Bastin
  

Isn't it still just calories, protein, and carbs? NOT rocket science. Do some massive bulk cooking on the weekends, freeze stuff a la Deceptively Delicious ... shazam! Healthy dog. It's a theory.

My Virtual Dog

For those of you who missed the "Virtual Yarn Shop" (sorry, I deleted that one ... bad move, won't do it again) let me introduce you to my Virtual Dog.

This is my new dog. Not really: I am researching the nitty-gritty of owning a service dog and whether one might improve my life. So I've created a Virtual Dog. These pics are all of Golden rescues ... Aquarius, Belltrix, and Zen.

They look a lot like my Virtual Dog AquaBelZen. (I think she gets phone service anywhere in the world.)

Oh look! She's sticking her tongue out at you. No more jokes about that name, Wisecracker!

Being a Service Dog reuires lots of training and hard work. In pictures, it looks like this:

Here is the famous "Look" Command. She mastered it the first day of school.

"Look far off in the distance" was a bit harder ...

Secure the perimeter:

Chill.

After a long day of service work, Aqua really likes to relax ...

(Sometimes on our Virtual Lawn. It's pesticide- and herbicide-free.)

(all photos from GRCGLA)

Golden Fever

Just a glimpse ...

Strap a vest on that girl and she's ready to go!

What is a Service Dog?

Wow! Service dogs perform many functions to help their disabled handlers. Seeing eye dogs and hearing dogs are well-known, but there are MANY more jobs dogs can do.

This site is dedicated to all service dogs and their handlers. My goal is to produce a centralized collection of data and resources for those involved with service dogs.