PonyBoy

The adventures of a young Service Dog In Training

[ponyboys-workdays]

[ponyboys-workdays]

[ponyboys-workdays]

[ponyboys-workdays]

Honestly if your service dog doesn't keep dislocating your limbs what are they even doing?

(Also, save me)

[dogitmayconcern]

Ok. I am just going to say it. Trade secret time. 90% of dog and horse training is Time. Just put in the damn time, people. That’s it.

Pine, @dogitmayconcern

[ponyboys-workdays]

A huge accomplishment - our second time using a bathroom in public! Pony used to refuse to go into the bathroom, but today I REALLY needed to go- so I tried leaving him with my mom. That was a big old NOPE for Pony. He was convinced he needed to go with me- He didn't want to keep his downstay, and he was trying to get away from my mom to follow me. So I took his leash and let him come- and he didn't even hesitate to enter the bathroom or stall. He wasn't relaxed, but he wasn't past threshold.

[ponyboys-workdays]

Super dog!

[ponyboys-workdays]

Ponyboy and I have been getting out much more often now that we have our rollator and the weather isn't -30f out. 😅 Also, he has a new pastel rainbow bandana he is rocking- gotta show our Pride. 🌈

[Image Description: We are on the sidewalk, and this is a top down veiw of Ponyboy, you can see the wheel of my red rollator. Ponyboy is wearing his new bandana, and his blue head halter with pink and white patterns resembling abstract hearts. His ears are perked, his forehead is wrinkled, he is waving, and licking his front lips in atincipation of a treat.

End description]

[ponyboys-workdays]

[ponyboys-workdays]

Today has been chaotic, and I haven't slept the past 24 hours, we had two pet dogs in stores, we went to 6 places, 3 of which Pony and I went into alone, and we just got back from getting my brand new rollator. :) A big, chaotic, but good day. Tonight I'm going to sleep REALLY well, and so is Pony. <3 More pictures to come in the next few days... Right now, time for resting.

Edit: Posted this a good 26 hours ago, finally Tumblr uploaded it 😂

[niggazinmoscow]

[ponyboys-workdays]

[Image Description

Ponyboy is standing between my legs, wearing a black collar, his vest, and a head halter with blue, pink, and white hearts and swirls on it. Pony is looking at my phone, with his ears perked and a focused look. We are in a store isle, the floor is concrete.

End description]

Pony and I got out to do some work today, after about a month of life being too hectic and crazy. He was beyond thrilled to work again, I wish I had taped how excited he was when I was getting his things together. 💚💜 we went to quite a few places for quick errands, but the one we hung out in for awhile was this one. A health food store we've never been in before. He did amazing, although the floors confused him a bit. All the stores we go to that are just concrete are pet friendly places where he doesn't need to work, and he gets to be friendly. So he was extremely confused that he couldn't see people, but once it clicked that he still had to work, he was great. <3

[ponyboys-workdays]

I seriously need to get a new pair of nail clippers. Also a nail file. Hoping for a glass one, supposedly they are great. Any suggestions?

[ponyboys-workdays]

So I just realised this blog has been pretty quiet

Honestly, life has been chaos lately. Medical problems, insurance problems, family problems, housing problems... Just a whole lot of problems. But we're getting through it. :)

Hopefully soon I can update more. But here are some cool/crazy stuff Pony and I have done lately.

He pulled us out of the way of a car that tried to hit us at night

We can go shopping alone :)

He learned how to turn on my mattress heating pad, he randomly turns it on so he can nap on the warm bed lol

We are going to be house sitting my friends house for two weeks! (: So I will have four dogs around lol.

I made him a new head halter

We handled a man trying to steal his leash while I was shopping, and recovered so we could keep shopping.

I have my prescription for my rollator, just need to go get it. Then we can go do things on our own!

[chronicallyc]

A chronic illness phenomenon

I think there’s this weird phenomenon in life, specifically in the chronic illness community. It’s a place some of us get stuck in - the in between. A place where you’re too sick to function in the “able world” but at the same time you seem to healthy for the chronic illness world. You almost faint but you don’t. You’re always in pain but it’s relatively tolerable. You’re not bad enough to qualify for surgery even though you’d benefit. You forget everything but you don’t lose time. Your heart rate is too high to be normal but not high enough to be critical. Your BP is low but not THAT low. You try to find answers but seem relatively okay to doctors so they don’t want to run more tests. You’re stuck in a place where you almost wish you were sicker so you could get helpful treatment.

[ponyboys-workdays]

Guess who's insurance is going to help pay for a rollator! 😍

So tell me- what are your tips? Do you have your dog tuck under it while your sitting? Do you let your dog do DPT while your sitting? What are your favorite accessories? What leash do you suggest? Over the shoulder, traffic lead, or in hand? I can't wait to be able to travel more, have fun, have some freedom! 😁 Do you have any safety tips or cautions? Do you have ways of winterizing yours? Would zip ties on the wheels work like they do with wheelchairs? I live in new york, we get what feels like half a year of snow and ice.

[autspoon]

By the way, the reason why you shouldn’t touch a dog that’s working… Is primarily because it confuses the dogs.

They are trained to take orders and do specific tasks. If a human interacts with them, they try to focus on that because they’re taught to listen to humans.

If they’ve been put to guide someone somewhere, it can go as bad that the dog gets disoriented or forgets the task. That’s a danger.

If the dog is trained to track or notice something, like allergens or something to do with your health.. They might forget to take notice to this or get distracted to a point where they forget it.

It’s not just that it’s rude or a principle of “no touch” with no basis… You’re being selfish and you might legitimately endanger someone.

Dogs aren’t all just magical creatures that can keep to their tasks, and be cuddling machines at the same time. That’s not how things work.

So please, stay away from dogs that are at work… Or you might confuse or distract them, leading to your own desires literally endangering someone. Which is really shitty and selfish.