My Family & Service Animal Info

[tgainsbrough]

My Family:

• Christi "Mom" - Me
  
• Joseph "Dad" - My Fiance
  
• Kora "Kora Bora" - My Husky & to-be Service Dog
  
• Siamber "Siam" - My Siamese totie cat & to-be retired Service Cat
  
• Saber "Sabey Baby" - One of my black cats & is part of my first set of black twins
  
• Simba "Simba Bimba" - Another one of my black cats & is part of my first set of black twins
  
• Shadow "Itty Bitty" - Another one of my black cats & to-be Service Cat & is part of my second set of black twins
  
• Spirit "Fluffy Babys Kittens" - Another one of my black cats & is part of my second set of black twins & is long haired!
  
• Leviathan "Levi" - My green cheek conure
  
• Slyph "Slyphie" - My blue linnie
  
• Mortimer "Morphy" - My Black Swallowtail caterpillar (temporary)
  

Long family list I know! I have more if you include my household and immediate family! @.@

Another reason why I started this post was to talk about service animals. As many of you know Kora is going to be my service dog. Many people know about service dogs. They can preform a lot of tasks. She will be my Mobility, Psychiatric and Medical Alert Service dog. But no matter how hard I try she will not respond to my panic attacks. She responds just fine to my PTSD. Strange huh? I think it's funny that I have had panic attacks since I was a child and I taught my cat in highschool to respond to my panic attacks, yet after that I developed more problems of which are the ones Kora responds to. It's like she knows that Siam was taught to help and she doesn't over step that boundary. Siam will soon be retired as she is getting older. Siam sits, lies down, paws up, and comes on command. She even walks on a leash. She was taught that if I go into a panic attack to hit up against me (to move me to the floor) and lie on or against my chest (depends on my position). She is taught not to leave my side and some times if needed gets help. She also is taught to sense panic when I am asleep. Sometimes thoughts overwhelm me (not dreams or nightmares just thoughts) and I wake up screaming. She is taught to calm me down by purring and nudging me before I wake up. Sometimes I'm only wake enough to go back to sleep. She does not have a ton of public training and is afraid of dogs. She only helps me in my house so I don't have a problem with that. Shadow is going to replace her job so Siam can live out the rest of her life service free. Shadow has shown a great interest in me and wants to be by me constantly like Siam does. He currently only knows how to sit, paws up, and come, but hasn't been taught any tasks. The ADA says only dogs can be service animals, but in my state all animals are consider service animals. He won't go out to a restaurant with me or come on a trip to the zoo. Most of my panic happens at home, so he doesn't have to go out. But the places he would be taken would be hotels, as to me hotels are just as panic making as homes. (as I found out since I don't travel much.) So animals other than dogs are just as good at being service animals.

I hope my long talk didn't bore you! I just wanted to spread some information on service animals and tell you all about my family.

In my immediate family we have: 2 dogs, 15 cats, 3 birds, 2 fish & 1 Mortimer.

[Elyse]

Thanks for the information!

And wow...that's a lot of pets you've got there!

I've only have 1 pet (Suka), my mom, my Dad, and my brother in my immediate family. But, sometimes, I think of my brother as an animal so...

Though, I'm looking to get some fish.

[Stormy]

Thats great and very interesting Let us know the progress with Kora

[tgainsbrough]

Thank you for reading and for your responses!

I'll definitely let you know her progress. We took her walk one step further today and walked her with my parents dog metea. Boy was she pulling!

[Osinn11]

Thanks for the post. Full house over there?? Very interesting. Hope Kora seves you well for many years to come!