Meet Hubert

He is the Service dog of a woman, Andrea, who participates in therapy every week. She is a lovely woman but her dog, he is amazing. Nothing makes me happier than seeing him. Unlike most Service dogs, Andrea lets him get pet while wearing his hair vest. He gets a lot of love from everyone, especially from me. I conquer occupational, physical and pet therapy all in one day.

It was because of this dog I wanted to look into the service dog program for myself. I know that I could get a dog trained to do specific tasks for me to help make my life easier. They can be taught so many things and each dog is really tailored to an individuals needs. The idea was so appealing to me because of my love for dogs and it would actually be a help to me, win win.

I talked briefly to my mom and a very significant downside was brought up. This dog would need to be walked. My dogs are small, under 30lbs, and house trained. I don’t walk them. I couldn’t walk a dog 3 times a day. It is just not realistic. I live in a condo on the 4th floor. I’m in a wheelchair that can’t go out in ice or snow. There is no dog run on premises. As much as I’d love a companion dog, caring for a dog that big would be difficult. I couldn’t afford to pay a dog walker everyday. I looked into training a smaller service dog,such as my French bulldogs breed or even an English bulldog but for MS they usually look for a stronger larger dog for the assistance with gait, falls and balance. It isn’t that is couldn’t be done but the expense was ridiculously high. The smaller breeds would be more suitable for a companion dog. Different from a service dog which are trained for specific tasks, companion dogs are there to bring comfort and support to a person. MS would qualify me for this as well but not sure if it is necessary.

I decided I will have to forgo the service dog idea and stay with my dogs as pets. I get to see Hubert each week and give him love. He is so well trained and behaves so well, maybe that’s what my dogs are missing Ha Ha. When I come home on Tuesday my Marshmallow sniffs me everywhere because he knows I’ve been cheating on him. Luckily I’m forgiven quick and life goes back to normal at home. ??