L.J. Sparrow the Service Dog

The life of a border collie service dog!

[tomblr-in-action]

Also it's disgusting to treat living creatures like dogs as /equipment/.

I kind of agree with you, but I’m trying to pick my battles wisely, so to speak (not worth arguing with them about it IMO).

[myservicedogadventure-deactivat]

This is a common myth I would like to debunk. Legally a service dog is classified as medical equipment just as legally a pet dog is classified as property. It is often helpful to reference this classification when explaining proper service dog etiquette.

But just because a service dog is called medical equipment does not mean that the dog is *treated* like medical equipment. I call myself a dog owner. That does not mean I treat my dog the same way I treat the toaster I own. It is just recognizing the legal and practical role of my dog in my life.

Emotionally describing the role of a service dog is nearly impossible because there is no other relationship that mimics the one I have with my dog. My dog is my best friend. But, unlike a typical best friend, my dog is by my side 24/7. You could argue that my dog is like a spouse or life partner because we share a deep mutually beneficial love and are always looking out for each other. But you could also argue my dog is like my child because I am responsible for ensuring her proper care at all times. And there is no relationship at all that fully abled people experience where they are suddenly able to access the world, to explore society and participate in life, through the aid of another being. Of course, my dog is also like my purse in that I keep it close to me and consider it part of my personal space so I dislike it when strangers start touching it. Overall, It is a deeply personal kind of relationship and one that cannot be easily summarized.

Since there is no word to properly describe what our dogs are to us in an emotional sense, we chose the only term that exists. It is one that was chosen for us and that falls far short of capturing what service dogs are. But it is the best we have. Hence my dog is medical equipment.

[littlejacksparrowdog]

I like this, it does a good job explaining

[littlejacksparrowdog]

Hello Friends, Family, and Fans!

Alright, it's a little later than planned, but it's fitting now because yesterday (the 10th) was my mom's birthday.   But she wrote this post that she would like me to share with you.  It's a summary of her 'story', as well as physical proof of the benefits of PSD's (like me!) can be! This is a big thing, as she's wanting me to share this story and the pictures publicly. Hopefully her story will at least  give hope or inspiration to at least one or two of you!  It is long, but we felt this much was needed.

Mom wrote:

It’s a new year, and I’m another year older. I feel it’s time to do some reflecting and share something as I step into another leg or year of my life, further putting an old life behind me in the dust.  This is long, but please read it, all of it. All of you know of Mr. L.J. Sparrow the Service Dog , as according to Facebook he “Sparrow” was my most used word this last year.  Most of you are aware that he is my service dog, and even more of you have witnessed first-hand or at least over posts at least that he has been something no less than a miracle for me.  I think it’s time to bring to light a little more about that. I think it’s time for me to share.

Those who know me personally know that I suffer from a few psychological disorders, a couple that yes I was born with and were not created by events or any ‘bad things’ (though yes I have a couple created from traumatic events as well).  This means this is something that I, as well as my family and close friends, have had to deal with pretty much all my life.  It has not been easy for me, nor for them. I am lucky that I do have a supporting family who wanted to help, and knew my ‘acting out’ wasn’t on purpose when I was little, that yes something was wrong. However, mental health care has come a long way in the last 20-30 years, which wasn’t the case when I first was having trouble.  To add to that, psychiatric service dogs did not exist until after I’d graduated high-school (and you better believe my parents would have looked into a service dog for me then if PSD’s were a ‘thing’) back then.

What this meant was, I went through most of my life, struggling, trying and falling, time and time again. I’m just glad that again my family and friends were there to help me stand back up. Being an adult though, you don’t always have a person there to keep you up. Help you up yes, but have to stand on your own feet sometimes. I made bad decisions, as we all do, and is customary of my disorders. I had goals and dreams that got crushed or didn’t pan out, also partially again to my disorders.

It gets disheartening to keep stumbling and falling, like needing training wheels but not having them there. To further add to it making bad choices and getting in bad relationships and situations that add a proverbial fuel to the fire.  Never ending cycle of bad that basically kept making a big hole. I’d take a few steps forward and always fell several steps back.  One obvious sign of this was my weight.  I was an active child, loved to play outside, swim team… that kind of thing, but my weight showed my stress. I was a stress eater, even as a child. The more stress I got, the more I’d eat, and the more often I’d go through binge eating splurges. The times I could pick myself up, I’d lose the weight, only to gain it back again as well as more, the next time I had a large fall. I will come back to why this is important in a min.

It was roughly 5 - 6 years ago, several months after a really bad situation and to be blunt, a really shitty guy, which I realized this cycle was going to never end unless I did something to change it. Getting rid of the disorders was not going to be an option, as I’m kind of stuck with them. But if I didn’t do something I’d end up with even more health issues, as my mental issues were really starting to take a toll on my heath.  I’d gotten up to 324 lbs, blood sugars were starting to spike, blood pressure was raising. I couldn’t leave the house hardly at all, I just wanted to stay in bed and hide from the whole evil world.

It was then I needed to make a change. Do stuff for me, not for other people, make changes for me so that I could actually try to live instead of letting my disorders rule me and I turned into nothing, or worse. Again with friends and family support mind you (I can NEVER stress that enough), I stepped forward. I enrolled in college, a huge step for me!  Realizing I could utilize being able to take online classes as well as on campus. I had started doing research on Psychological service dogs (PSDs). I found another therapist (and yes been through several in my years), one that I trust and like. And started the process to get on disability so I could get through school. Also looked into voc-rehab and other things to help. I bring all that up, cause though we all like to say “Sparrow” fixed everything, that’s not the real truth, what started it was me saying “I need to do this for me” and Sparrow was only one of several things that I did to start making it so I could live my life.  

Thus Sparrow came to be in my life. With Sparrow’s help I excelled in school… (3.92 GPA, and a 4.0 at the last college to finish up the last 2 years!)  I got more focused into healthy things such as getting back into dog training and dog sports. I started to be able to go into public, and live like someone else, instead of being able to do nothing but go to stores late at night when I had no choice but to get something, or only eating fast food because I couldn’t go grocery shopping. I actually started being able to do things, enjoy things, and plan to go to events. Sparrow’s tasks allow me to be human, allow me to function as close to normal as I’ll probably ever be (not that I ever want to be ‘normal’).

Because of Sparrow I got the urge to take care of myself again. This yo-yo weight thing also needed to be tackled. So 4 years ago I got the Lap-band. And last year… those surgeries I had? They were skin removal surgeries because between exercise, eating right (cause hey you can do that when you can actually go to the store and shop for food!), and the lap-band I lost 164lbs. I had lost over half of me. The weight that had been something I hid under, a visual symbol of how my mental disorders were physically effecting me in a bad light.  

I know this is long, but trust me I could probably write a book on this and that would be maybe what it’d take for you to truly understand and know. But I wanted to share the summary of my story, the summary of this change, and I wanted to actually share the physical proof of what benefits a psychological service dog can really have. My boy is a miracle. Though I will be the first to say, he was not a magic pill. I do see medical professionals, I do take medication, and he is one of my many tools. But even that being said, he is my miracle. He saved my life, a life I made the steps to attempt to save on my own, but he was that last piece of medical equipment needed. I owe him so much, but I hope my story gives hope, that sometimes you just have to push past the darkness, and find your own silver lining, and when you do, it will be such a relief!   Yes I will always have to struggle at things most people take for granted, even with Sparrow at my side, I’m not going to pretend it’s all “rainbows and butterflies” now, but I will say, going through the rough patches are not as bad since I am not alone.

[littlejacksparrowdog]

Wait... asking for the dog's name is something to avoid doing (even if you ask for the person's name as well)?

Yes. Think about it like this most service dogs, or dogs in general are trained to respond to their name. If a person should not interact with the service dog at all they don’t need to know the dogs name. And also resist the temptation for them to go and talk to the dog directly. In fact I know a few service dog handlers who will give a false name for that very reason. I’ve been asked several times what my dog’s name is and 9 out of every 10 times they go oh hi sparrow. Talking to my service dog, which they should not be doing. Basically it comes down to the fact that if they know their name is harder to resist ignoring the dog. The thing to keep in mind as a service dog is no different than a wheelchair or an oxygen tank or crutch when out and on duty. It is a piece of medical equipment, yes my service dog is a living breathing loved companion. But in the eyes of the public and the law he is a piece medical equipment and people don’t ask what somebody calls their wheelchair.

[littlejacksparrowdog]

Family, Loved ones, and Service Dogs

Hello Family, Friends, & Fans,

I think with it being the holiday season it's time to dust off one of my "DYK's" from the vault (with a couple of additions)!

Happy Holidays! Did You Know......

Did you know, that that even though us service dogs get to have off duty time (and a fair amount of it in some cases), we tend to still be watchful of our human partners, just by our very nature of wanting to help, and do our jobs (at least for some of us)?

Now, you might ask why I bring this up, so let me explain. Now, my mom is lucky, she has a family who understands that she has disabilities (though obviously because they don’t have them they can’t understand them completely), and has seen what difference and what I can do for her, and so my family always welcomes me, even if they are not the most “keen” on having furry 4-leggers in their house.

Some people are not so lucky, they have family who doesn’t understand why, if “they are there, why do they need to bring their service dog?”

So, let me explain this. People tend to get service dogs, so they can be independent! Much like a person gets a wheel chair so they can move around on their own and not be carried. A service dog is a tool, an extension of themselves. You may be willing to help your family member or friend with said disability, but it usually is on your time… what if you are cooking or in the bathroom when said disabled person needs help? What if that friend or family member is proud and doesn’t want to ask for help? What if it’s something that you can’t help with, such as alerts to psychiatric episodes, seizures, or diabetes? They aren’t wanting to bring their service dog with them to inconvenience the host of the event, they aren’t wanting to bring their service dog because they can’t leave “fluffy” at home for a couple hours by themselves… they are doing it because the service dog allows them to be independent and not ask for help, or because that service dog is providing lifesaving alerts. And while we may be off duty and out of our uniform, we are still there should our partners need us.

So yes, why private households are not required to let a service dog enter unlike stores and other type entities, if you have a family member or friend with a service dog, you might want to make an exception to your “no dog” policy. Service dogs are well trained, and that should also include house manners. Remember, these dogs go into stores and restaurants and are on their best behavior. We service dogs do things that our handlers cannot do or they would not have us, and in a lot of cases we do things for our partners that no human can fully assist with either, because you have not been trained to do it, nor do you have the nose or structure to do what we can do. Some partners may not need us with them at all times, but others do…

If there are other reasons, such as other dogs, maybe allergies, maybe misconceptions, my advice is for everyone to talk things through.  The holidays are a time of family and friends and love ones. Everyone is busy trying to get things ‘just right’, but please take the time to talk this over. There may be valid reasons, or there just may be misunderstandings. But please, don’t think just because someone tells you a service dog is not invited they are trying to exclude you, more often than not there is a misunderstanding.

 So just some things  to think about from your friendly neighborhood service dog border collie!

[thedogsroom]

[littlejacksparrowdog]

<3 cuteness!

[littlejacksparrowdog]

If you were to see a black and white dog (like me) holding a red and green cup and wearing a holiday collar, wouldn’t you think I was being festive and was in the season! My mom certainly thinks so! But I don’t know, seems kind of silly to worry about a cup , at least to me, and I’m a dog! Frankly, I think Starbucks is trying to be festive and bring people the holiday feeling and trying not to be offensive. So from this service dog they get an A for effort, and we like the holiday feeling of the cup! Please people open your hearts and worry about real things if you feel the need to worry, don’t worry about a cup that ends up in the recycle bin at the end of the day! Peace love and paws folks, and may you have a great holiday season!

[littlejacksparrowdog]

I am very proud to receive my honorable mention in the Service dog category of the AKC's Awards for Canine Excellence (ACE) awards presented by the AKC Humane Fund.  There are 5 categories of the ACE awards, one of which is Service dogs. There is one winner and five honorable mentions selected from each category.  I am very proud to have been selected for the bronze honorable mention medallion. I shall continue living up to this honor by continuing to be my mom's helper and assist her with her disabilities. Thank you again AKC for recognizing all I do for her.

https://www.facebook.com/LittleJackSparrowdog

[k9potato]

Service Dogs on Broadway

Does anyone have tips/tricks/experience with taking their service dog to a broadway or other theatrical show? 

We are going to attend one in late December. We’re not worried about the dog too much (though any training tips for the loud noise level would be appreciated), but are concerned about the actual purchasing of tickets and getting into the theatre. 

I’m going to be calling the Box Office later this week personally BEFORE purchasing tickets online to ensure that they are not going to be jerks and to ask their advice on the best location. We don’t want to have to take up a wheelchair accessible seat since there are so few in the particular theatre we’re going to. I’ve read online that middle of the row is best and to never put the dog in the aisle. Some have said bringing a light-colored towel for the dog to lie on so that it doesn’t get stepped on is good. 

Any other thoughts?

[littlejacksparrowdog]

When we went, my cousin called to order tickets, and the theatre actually wanted us to use the disabled seating, because it kept Sparrow out of the isle and gave him room to not be a fire hazard in the row to other patrons.

[littlejacksparrowdog]

Border Collies can fly!

https://www.facebook.com/LittleJackSparrowdog/

[catbreon]

I’m working on a flyer to hand out to businesses to spread service dog awareness– stuff that benefits THEM, that tells them THEIR rights as well as ours, which is important with addressing the current “fake service dog epidemic.” After being in a restaurant with a very badly behaved dog and the manager being unwilling to do anything because “it’s a service dog, my hands are tied” I really want to make sure the laws are clear on both sides of the table. If there’s any incorrect information please let me know. Most of this information can be found on the ADA page about service dogs albeit in a much shorter format, but I elaborated to make it clearer and more comprehensive; hopefully I didn’t add anything in that is wrong.

I would appreciate it if somebody could print this out and tell me how it looks because right now I don’t have access to a printer. You can print the page at its full resolution by going here and clicking the download button on the right hand side of the page. It should all fit on a standard 8.5 x 11″ sheet of paper.

If it looks good, feel free to print a bunch out and distribute them yourself!

[healveterans]

Such a good reminder! Please share…

via Paws and Stripes

[littlejacksparrowdog]

Seems simple enough, but some people don’t realize how uncomfortable or rude these questions are when they are asking them. Please share to pass this information!

[littlejacksparrowdog]

Arg Matey!  Happy Howl-o-ween from the pirate dog Little Jack Sparrow!

[littlejacksparrowdog]

Service Dog: DYK?(No petting)

Hi, since I am new here to tumblr,  I thought I would share one of my “DYK” posts from my Facebook page! Hello Family, Friends, and Fans!  It is that time again: Did you know, that you should not pet a service dog while it is working?  Okay, some of you probably answered “Yes”, if so, did you also know that you should also not talk to, distract or even make eye contact with a service dog while it’s working? Also, if you answered “yes” to either question, do you know the answer as to “why” that is? Well, I can help out with that! There are several reasons why the policy should be “No talk, No touch, and No eye contact” with a service dog. One simple reason is this: While working, service dogs like me are not ‘pets’. We are medical pieces of equipment. So with this in mind, we have a job to do. We are there to aid our handlers and not out to get attention.  When you pet us, or talk to us, or even make eye contact with us, you risk distracting us. On a lot of service dogs, a simple act of distraction, can be the difference in the health and even life of our handler. If our soul sob while on duty is to be looking out for our disabled handler, if you talk to us, we might miss that tell-tale sign of an oncoming seizure, or the sudden drop or raise of blood sugar, or miss the sign or a heart issue.  Or if it is a hearing dog or a guide dog we might miss something in the environment we were supposed to alert our handlers too.  

That being said, yes service dogs should ignore distractions, but we are not robots and we make mistakes. Some temptations on some days might be too much.  With that being said, it’s also not fair. When you talk to me in that friendly voice, I like people, I want to visit you and let you pet me, but I can’t, and I know I can’t. So by you going “hey pretty puppy, I know I can’t pet you” in that high friendly voice, you are in fact teasing me. I know that is not your intention but the point is you are.

Yes, we know there are dog lovers out there, my mom is one. But please understand that we have a job to do and do not want to be distracted from our important task. We aren’t allowed in public for amusement, we are there for a job. After all, people would look rather funny talking to crutches, a wheel chair, or even an oxygen tank, now wouldn’t they? You talking to us while on-duty is no different.   You also don’t talk to doctors while they are doing surgery on a patient, or guards that are trying to protect and watch something, or a police man who is doing something to save someone about something that does not pertain to what they are doing, again we are no different. 

Some of us, like myself, have a command that allows us to be greeted by others, WHEN and only when my mom thinks she is in a situation that that would be okay. If people ask her if they can pet me, she will either say ‘yes’ or she will say ‘no’. If she says yes, she gives me my special command, that allows me to greet people, then will give another command to call me back on duty. But she won’t always say yes, nor should you expect other teams to say yes.  Most service dogs love people by nature, as we have to be good natured to be in public.  So having someone talking to us or petting us, can make us start looking for attention, and that is bad for our disabled handlers.

So please, remember “No talk, No touch, and No eye contact” with service dogs and help share the word. If you want to address them, always address the handler, and never the dog without permission from the handler. If you ask to pet and the handler says no, do not take offense, please understand that our handlers need us or we wouldn’t be out in public with them where pets are not allowed. We have jobs to do. Also please understand, we all have time off working where we get to be dogs and get a lot of attention, but when on duty we are working. 

Thank you! – L.J. Sparrow the Service dog! https://www.facebook.com/LittleJackSparrowdog

[littlejacksparrowdog]

Serious Border collie is Serious

https://www.facebook.com/LittleJackSparrowdog/

[littlejacksparrowdog]

I am a 4 year old Border Collie. But not just any BC, I'm also my mom's very special helper. I am...

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