Corapants the Service Dog In Training Saves the Night!
Okay, so her public access skills are still 'in the works'... but CLEARLY, as tonight's events demonstrate, finally understands her role as a Service Dog in the home!!
I have to share this from MY point of view, because I am SO touched and pleased and PROUD, so forgive me:
It is no secret I hve terrible nightmares. I take a medicine, called "Prazosin" (which they use on War Vets a lot!) to stop PTSD sufferers from sitting upright and vocalizing, or from waking and pacing the house after these intense flashback-like events.
I had missed tonight's dose, and it is a very short-lived medicine, must be taken morning and night for the full effect. It is rare I miss medicine, but it happens- Cora is learning to bring it to me so I don't forget anymore, but that's not the point here- the point, is that she has learned how to cope when that medicine fails me.
I had a particularly AGONIZING set of flashback-style nightmares, in which things that bother me intensely now, were being intermingled with the real sights, sounds, and even smells and tastes of the things I was having flashbacks OF- all mingled together. I had apparently curled up against the wall (the furthest, alas, from Cora's crate-bed) and was sobbing, and moving one arm in an effort to sheild myself in my sleep.
Now, when I am fresh-out-of-surgery-sick, Jim and I have a 'code'... when I need him, I thump on that wall Three Times. He comes running- knowing I may not be able to get up by myself, or may not be able to shout for him. (also he's hard of hearing, so he feels the thumps!)
I awoke, to Cora, standing in her crate- she was barking VERY distinctly *BARK*BARK*BARK*! ...then runnng to a closer place to me, and scrabbling/digging to try and wake me (I sleep right up against the crate normally! so normally she can just lick me or paw at me!) and then she'd run right back and face the door. *BARK*BARK*BARK* and back to me...
She was using the distinct three-barks, pausing the same time I normally would pause, between thumps...
And franticaly trying to get me to wake from the nightmare.
She had failed, so she was trying to get Jim. (who, as I mentioned, is hard of hearing, and was out here both working on art AND watching a movie that was turned up. He had just realized she was barking, when I let her out of her kennel and she stopped.
She RACED over to me, and stood up.
That's never happened before... she Stood OVER me, and took the 'vigilant dog' pose- looking ALL around the room... almost in a slow-motion, exaggerated way. Then she laid down beside me, and licked my face untill it was free of tears, and I was awake enough to stop that heart-pounding, lung-aching feeling that one of those dreams causes.
When I did, she rose, and stood beside me in the 'steady' pose- so I could put my hand on her shoulders, and use her to stand up.
Then she nosed the door open, and we came out.
Jim thought maybe she needed to go outside, but I told him what she did. She stood by the door, and I mused 'well, even if it was an accident, just because she needed to pee, I love her... that was horrible.' and we hugged... she waited by the door, so I opened it, and she circled ME, and herded me outside.
...to my chair. The one I go sit in, when I am woodcarving or just trying to enjoy the quiet, or try to think.
She did another task, then- she carefully stood and put one foot on either side of me ON the CHAIR, not me- and cuddled her chest to my cheek, untill my heart stopped pounding (this is an invaluble tool, BTW, teaching them different forms of biofeedback like that!) ... and when it stoped really pounding hard, she /carefully/ got down again, and sat at my feet.
We sat there a while, while I considered the dream, and the upset it caused, and why it had shaken me so bad... remembered I forgot tonight's dose of medicine... realized it WAS only a dream... stroked the dog a little to praise her for waking me and doing the right things...
...and kept suggesting she go out in the yard to potty.
No.
She didn't want to. Didn't need to.
When I was calm enough to chuckle, and ask, "are you sure?" she went to the front door. Nope. We can go in now! ...then she circled right to me, before I could even TRY to get up out of my chair, to do her 'Steady' again, for me, so I could get out without hurting... and stand up.
We came back in, and had a nice long puppy cuddle with Jim, in the bedroom, to discuss all this, and praise the HECK out of her.
SOLID GOLD behavior.
PERFECT execution of the very tasks we have been teaching.
And a great example of why people who have severe PTSD can really benefit from a Service Dog. There isn't anything a human could have done, that was 'better' than what she did.
Don't get me wrong, Hugging Jim, Holding him, that felt GOOD... but what Cora has been taught are medically, technically, ACTUAL responses to my disability- she woke me, (or got someone who could)- she brought me out of the semi-dream state by showing me the room was safe and she was present- she comforted me untill I stopped the physical trembling caused by the endorphin/adrenaline rush- she helped me to stand- she got me to a 'safe' place (my chair outside)- she used natural biofeedback to further bring my physical heartrate and breathing to a normal rate- she helped me out of the chair- and she brought be back to bed.
You love the people in your life- you choose them! ...you NEED the physical tasks your Service Dog DOES. It takes the weight off your loved ones (how else would he have even KNOWN I was having a flashback/nightmare?) and she reacted in a medically nessesary way, by 'checking' my pulse and breathing and acting appropriately untill it was calmed by her task of biofeedback. Your mate can't sit around checking your pulse, and making you slow all that- they would have to be at your beck and call 24/7 and it would be humiliating to have to be talked down in an intellectual way...
Cora was able to perform these tasks for me, without ever speaking a word. Without me ever having to discuss having PTSD, or what 'happened' or why I felt that way.
She just did it.
She took care of Dad.
I cannot tell you, how life-altering that IS for me.
As I heal from the last surgery, even getting up and down is a valuble tool that helps my self esteem, but what she did tonight saved me /humiliation/ of trying to explain and fix what PTSD /DOES/ to me. She made me whole again. Whole enough to cuddle my mate and say goodnight (he needs sleep too, ya know!) and then sit up, and write this post.
For all of you, who have helped make Cora POSSIBLE-
For all of you who gave advice or just cheered us on-
For all of her 'aunties and uncles' who help me pay for her food and treats each month through her donation link-
YOU made tonight possible.
Tonight, instead of having a breakdown and spending hours of negative time with my mate, I am calm, and I can sit up and watch TV or play a game before I go back to bed, like anyone else. I am not stuck pacing the living room checking the locks, I am not sobbing for hours, I am not trembling as I try to get myself to go to sleep.
I'll be back asleep in a few hours, cuddling my mate, feeling loved and safe.
And more NORMAL than I ever could, without Cora.
Thank You.
I have to share this from MY point of view, because I am SO touched and pleased and PROUD, so forgive me:
It is no secret I hve terrible nightmares. I take a medicine, called "Prazosin" (which they use on War Vets a lot!) to stop PTSD sufferers from sitting upright and vocalizing, or from waking and pacing the house after these intense flashback-like events.
I had missed tonight's dose, and it is a very short-lived medicine, must be taken morning and night for the full effect. It is rare I miss medicine, but it happens- Cora is learning to bring it to me so I don't forget anymore, but that's not the point here- the point, is that she has learned how to cope when that medicine fails me.
I had a particularly AGONIZING set of flashback-style nightmares, in which things that bother me intensely now, were being intermingled with the real sights, sounds, and even smells and tastes of the things I was having flashbacks OF- all mingled together. I had apparently curled up against the wall (the furthest, alas, from Cora's crate-bed) and was sobbing, and moving one arm in an effort to sheild myself in my sleep.
Now, when I am fresh-out-of-surgery-sick, Jim and I have a 'code'... when I need him, I thump on that wall Three Times. He comes running- knowing I may not be able to get up by myself, or may not be able to shout for him. (also he's hard of hearing, so he feels the thumps!)
I awoke, to Cora, standing in her crate- she was barking VERY distinctly *BARK*BARK*BARK*! ...then runnng to a closer place to me, and scrabbling/digging to try and wake me (I sleep right up against the crate normally! so normally she can just lick me or paw at me!) and then she'd run right back and face the door. *BARK*BARK*BARK* and back to me...
She was using the distinct three-barks, pausing the same time I normally would pause, between thumps...
And franticaly trying to get me to wake from the nightmare.
She had failed, so she was trying to get Jim. (who, as I mentioned, is hard of hearing, and was out here both working on art AND watching a movie that was turned up. He had just realized she was barking, when I let her out of her kennel and she stopped.
She RACED over to me, and stood up.
That's never happened before... she Stood OVER me, and took the 'vigilant dog' pose- looking ALL around the room... almost in a slow-motion, exaggerated way. Then she laid down beside me, and licked my face untill it was free of tears, and I was awake enough to stop that heart-pounding, lung-aching feeling that one of those dreams causes.
When I did, she rose, and stood beside me in the 'steady' pose- so I could put my hand on her shoulders, and use her to stand up.
Then she nosed the door open, and we came out.
Jim thought maybe she needed to go outside, but I told him what she did. She stood by the door, and I mused 'well, even if it was an accident, just because she needed to pee, I love her... that was horrible.' and we hugged... she waited by the door, so I opened it, and she circled ME, and herded me outside.
...to my chair. The one I go sit in, when I am woodcarving or just trying to enjoy the quiet, or try to think.
She did another task, then- she carefully stood and put one foot on either side of me ON the CHAIR, not me- and cuddled her chest to my cheek, untill my heart stopped pounding (this is an invaluble tool, BTW, teaching them different forms of biofeedback like that!) ... and when it stoped really pounding hard, she /carefully/ got down again, and sat at my feet.
We sat there a while, while I considered the dream, and the upset it caused, and why it had shaken me so bad... remembered I forgot tonight's dose of medicine... realized it WAS only a dream... stroked the dog a little to praise her for waking me and doing the right things...
...and kept suggesting she go out in the yard to potty.
No.
She didn't want to. Didn't need to.
When I was calm enough to chuckle, and ask, "are you sure?" she went to the front door. Nope. We can go in now! ...then she circled right to me, before I could even TRY to get up out of my chair, to do her 'Steady' again, for me, so I could get out without hurting... and stand up.
We came back in, and had a nice long puppy cuddle with Jim, in the bedroom, to discuss all this, and praise the HECK out of her.
SOLID GOLD behavior.
PERFECT execution of the very tasks we have been teaching.
And a great example of why people who have severe PTSD can really benefit from a Service Dog. There isn't anything a human could have done, that was 'better' than what she did.
Don't get me wrong, Hugging Jim, Holding him, that felt GOOD... but what Cora has been taught are medically, technically, ACTUAL responses to my disability- she woke me, (or got someone who could)- she brought me out of the semi-dream state by showing me the room was safe and she was present- she comforted me untill I stopped the physical trembling caused by the endorphin/adrenaline rush- she helped me to stand- she got me to a 'safe' place (my chair outside)- she used natural biofeedback to further bring my physical heartrate and breathing to a normal rate- she helped me out of the chair- and she brought be back to bed.
You love the people in your life- you choose them! ...you NEED the physical tasks your Service Dog DOES. It takes the weight off your loved ones (how else would he have even KNOWN I was having a flashback/nightmare?) and she reacted in a medically nessesary way, by 'checking' my pulse and breathing and acting appropriately untill it was calmed by her task of biofeedback. Your mate can't sit around checking your pulse, and making you slow all that- they would have to be at your beck and call 24/7 and it would be humiliating to have to be talked down in an intellectual way...
Cora was able to perform these tasks for me, without ever speaking a word. Without me ever having to discuss having PTSD, or what 'happened' or why I felt that way.
She just did it.
She took care of Dad.
I cannot tell you, how life-altering that IS for me.
As I heal from the last surgery, even getting up and down is a valuble tool that helps my self esteem, but what she did tonight saved me /humiliation/ of trying to explain and fix what PTSD /DOES/ to me. She made me whole again. Whole enough to cuddle my mate and say goodnight (he needs sleep too, ya know!) and then sit up, and write this post.
For all of you, who have helped make Cora POSSIBLE-
For all of you who gave advice or just cheered us on-
For all of her 'aunties and uncles' who help me pay for her food and treats each month through her donation link-
YOU made tonight possible.
Tonight, instead of having a breakdown and spending hours of negative time with my mate, I am calm, and I can sit up and watch TV or play a game before I go back to bed, like anyone else. I am not stuck pacing the living room checking the locks, I am not sobbing for hours, I am not trembling as I try to get myself to go to sleep.
I'll be back asleep in a few hours, cuddling my mate, feeling loved and safe.
And more NORMAL than I ever could, without Cora.
Thank You.