Wait...I have a Service Dog?!

Meet my service dog in training, Archer!

My service dog in training watching me while I study at a Starbucks

He may wear a red harness, but he's not part of Emperor Palpatine's Royal Guard. No, this is a royally floofy boy. He is, indeed, a wolfsable pomeranian, although we think he was mislabled and he's actually some sort of skunk-raccoon-cat hybrid (comment if I missed any other animals he may be related to).

His name is Archer - after the Taylor Swift song, of course - and he's in training to be a service dog.

I know, I know! He's...not a golden or a lab?! He's 7 pounds and a yarn thief (see, the cat allegations are founded). But per the ADA, any breed of dog (and some miniature horses) can be a service dog, no matter their size or level of tail wagging (sadly, Archer doesn't really wag his tail - but he does do happy spins). So long as they are task trained to aid in their handler's disability (aka - they do something to help their human with their disability) they are considered a service dog. Of course, they also have to be under their human's control, so they go through what's known as public access training to teach them their good-doggo manners. So that means that by the time a service dog is considered "fully trained", they've done a rigorous amount of practice in both areas - task training and public access training.

Now, note that while there are psychiatric service dogs (and they are just as valid as any other type!) ESAs, or emotional support animals, aren't service animals. While they do serve a role, they only have housing rights. This is because the ADA doesn't apply to them, but the FHA does. Otherwise, they're considered pets (but definitely very good babies, as every animal is), so they can't go anywhere that isn't pet friendly - like places that sell food or places that don't allow dogs. However, service animals can go almost anywhere their handler does, so long as they're under control. This is because they're medical equipment. That may sound like we're treating them like robots, but they aren't, don't worry! Service dogs get lots of time off and so much attention - I personally speak exclusively to Archer in a baby voice. Actually, a lot of dogs were bred to work, and they'd be more upset if they felt purposeless (similar to how it's often hard for people who've just retired).

Because they're medical equipment, they should be treated with respect. Obviously, you don't need to pointedly glance away or anything - we get it, they're dogs and they're cute. Looking is fine, but please don't distract them. A good rule of thumb is that if it would distract a human (like you!) it would probably distract a dog too. Cooing at them, petting them, sticking your hand out, or any other type of distraction is rude, so please don't do it! Same goes for talking to the dog - many handlers will answer if you have questions (so long as you're polite), but talk to the human, not the dog. And some are okay with you petting their service animal, but ask first. It may not be malicious, but when you distract a service dog, it can cause real consequences. If, for example, a dog misses an alert, it could mean the human is missing the ability to prevent a medical episode that could be serious. They're working, and it's best to treat them as such. Personally, if you see me, I love talking about my dog (I could literally yap all day), but my pet peeve is people who reach down and stick their hand out, coo, and/or pet my dog without asking.

That's a bit on service dogs in general. Now, let's talk about mine. Archer is turning 2 in August, so he's still in training, but he can already do so many amazing things.

Archer checking in on me while he's working

I'm not sure exactly what type of service dog he'd be classified as, so I'm going to go with multipurpose. You'll see why in a minute. I have psychiatric and neurological disabilities with a cardiac element.

Archer does cardiac alert and will alert to high heart rate (also known as tachycardia) or heart rate spikes. It's really cool - it's a mix of him picking up subtle behavior cues and his snoot sniffing out changing chemicals in my body. This is actually because of a neurological condition that makes my autonomic nervous system crash out whenever I stand, but it is a cardiac thing he's alerting to, hence why I'm calling it cardiac alert. The cardiac-issue-caused-by-neurological-issues alert doesn't sound as good. He also does behavior interruptions (or psychiatric alerts, although they're more of interruptions and that's the technical term). I have trichotillomania, or compulsive hair pulling, and he'll boop my nose (with his cute lil snoot) to tell me to cut it out. Plus, he'll interrupt me if I'm overstimulated (which often turns into an internal spiral) or if I'm disassociated (we're still working on this).

He can do a response to all of these things as well. He'll come sit on my lap and do what's called light pressure therapy, or LPT. It's like DPT (deep pressure therapy) if you know what that is, but he's a small pompom so he's not quite that heavy. He regulates my nervous system by stopping my sympathetic ANS (the fight or flight response) and triggering my parasympathetic ANS (this is what calms your body down). That sounds really complex, so let me simplify: he sits on my lap and stares at me with his raccoon eyes and makes me feel better.

He can also do some other tasks - retrievals and crowd control. Retrievals are when he gets me things - like his leash or something from my bag. If it's not safe to get it (my issues worsen when I stand and bend over) he can get it for me. He can also create a buffer of space for me in two ways: one, he can "orbit" around me and make a ring so that it doesn't feel like people are going through me (crowded spaces are really hard), and two he can "block" and stand between me and a crowded space (for example, in a grocery store, I can stand in between him and the shelf while I get something, and he gives me some space).

A lot of service dogs are trained through programs, but some are owner-trained. I did the latter - I trained Archer myself. Both are viable options depending on your needs, but if you're thinking about getting one, remember that you have to be disabled to have a service dog - it's not a service dog if it doesn't help with your disability.

Thank you so much for reading as always!! I hope you like the new content (and pom pics). If you want to learn more about my service dog and our training journey, click on this button below! I'll be hopefully posting content on a semi-regular basis again.

Service Dog Content

Also, let me know what specifically you want to see in the future, be it studying, vlogs, dog training, disability awareness, or more!