mandana-the-service-pup

[mandana-the-service-pup]

Here’s the plan…

MON/TUE/WED_appointments or chores

THUR/FRI_recovering from Methotrexate

SAT_trainer & demo dog is going to help us work on the resource guarding issue

SUN_Hubbins helps with dock diving & bath

This is the schedule that’s been working for us. I’m so grateful to be able to do activities again but I have to be super careful not to over do it. Having a steady schedule makes it easier to allocate my spoons, meet Mandana’s needs and appointments are a lot easier to manage.

#belgian malinois #3 years #service dogblr #dogblr #disability blog #disability awareness #spoon theory

[mandana-the-service-pup]

Mandana was a star at her vet appointment today. She volunteered for her Librela injection immediately without practice rounds. We spent the rest of the time working on her separation anxiety and she did so much better. She was able to walk out of the room with the vet tech, down the hall, get weighed and walk back without any issues. That’s a huge improvement considering just one appointment ago she would lay down on the floor in protest and not budge if she thought the vet was separating us.

Afterwards we went across the street to the post office to ship a package and she held a really nice down-stay the whole time. The post office employee didn’t even realize she was there which is always a nice compliment.

Before going home we stopped at the private dog park to work on her manners around other dogs. I kept her on a longline and asked permission from the other dog owners. She made a couple of mistakes but did well overall and had a positive experience. I emailed her training center when we got home to set up a private session to work on these specific things.

#belgian malinois #3 years #service dogblr #dogblr #positive reinforcement #vetblr #cooperative care #vet appointment #librela

[mandana-the-service-pup]

It’s going to be too cold to take her swimming this weekend and today was our last chance to get stuff done this week so we made the most of it. Cleaned the kitchen, washed the car, got gas, had lunch, went to Obedience class, walked two miles and practiced safe dog greetings at the park, shared a smoothie and came home. I used all my spoons so I didn’t take any pictures of the fun stuff but here are some candid shots from when we got home 😜

#belgian malinois #3 years #service dogblr #dogblr #positive reinforcement

[mandana-the-service-pup]

Finally got an apology from my Cardiologist. He didn’t acknowledge that he tried to pass my concerns off as anxiety in my records but he did actually say the words “I’m sorry” in regards to not finding the answer when there clearly was one and that’s such a rare pleasure in the chronic illness world. He also took down my Rheumatologists info so he can refer his patients there so maybe there’s hope for the next young woman who comes looking for answers.

The appointment was short and he skillfully avoided my questions about if the inflammation would have shown up on the echo or CT but at least he seemed genuinely happy I found a solution in the end and I don’t have to have any more appointments with him.

#health update #disability awareness #disabled community #cardiologist #rheumatologist #dysautonomia #postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome #ehlers danlos syndrome #spondyloarthritis #inflammatory polyarthritis #inflammatory polyarthropathy #new diagnosis #new medicine

[mandana-the-service-pup]

💦 First swim of the season 💦

🥾Taking a break from swimming to hike some trails 😎

☀️Drying off after bath 🛁

#belgian malinois #3 years #service dogblr #dogblr #canine enrichment #sniffspot #water dog #rexspecs #ruffwear

[mandana-the-service-pup]

Throwback Thursday 🥰

Someone likes to pretend that the spikes on her hedgehog chew toy are actually spiky and not just little nubs 😂 🦔

#throwback thursday #puppy quirks #belgian malinois #13 weeks #service dogblr #dogblr

[mandana-the-service-pup]

My Rheumatology appointment was great. The dramatic improvement on Methotrexate was the final piece of the puzzle. My Rheumatologist was able to confirm a Spondyloarthritis diagnosis based on my improvement and the X-rays, blood tests, etc. She said my presentation is not typical (probably bc of the EDS & dysautonomia) so Lupus will always need to be on the table and I’m supposed to inform doctors of my increased risk for drug-induced Lupus.

Methotrexate has improved 4-5 years of symptom development but it’s not enough on its own. Hydroxychloroquine and Methotrexate are both dosed based on weight so they can’t be increased. I’m supposed to stay on both medications and use steroids for acute flares (2 pills in the morning every day for a week) If the steroids don’t help then we might move on from Methotrexate to the next DMARD.

I’m so incredibly grateful to finally have a diagnosis that can be treated effectively. I’ve had symptoms my whole life, disabled for the last ten years and have had red flag symptoms for the last several years. To finally have treatment options is such a relief. My Cardiologist follow-up is next week and I can’t wait to finally quell their doubts in me.

#new diagnosis #spondyloarthritis #inflammatory polyarthritis #dysautonomia #orthostatic hypotension #postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome #gastroparesis #hashimoto thyroiditis #service dogblr #medical alert service dog #health update #rheumatologist #3 years

[mandana-the-service-pup]

#belgian malinois #service dogblr #dogblr #puppy pictures #3 years

[mandana-the-service-pup]

Cleaning up pine cones + recall from bicyclist 🚴‍♀️

#belgian malinois #3 years #service dog in training #service dogblr #dogblr #puppy quirks #positive reinforcement #🎵

[mandana-the-service-pup]

My Rheumatology follow-up is this week. I’m running late on getting labs done so I made that top priority today. Hopefully the results will come in before my appointment. We had a quick training session outside the clinic and Mandana got to see her bestie (the receptionist from our previous vet) who happened to be there too. Despite the excitement of seeing an old friend, Mandana did well. Her PA settle is getting really good and she did a medical alert in the waiting room.

She whined a little when I was getting my blood drawn. Not because of the needles & blood but because she wanted to say high to the nurse and I wouldn’t let her. This attention seeking behavior is one of the only things keeping me from marking her as a fully trained service dog and I’m pretty sure I trained her to act like that. I get frazzled when she starts whining for attention and switch to managing her behavior with treats instead of training her not to do it in the moment. We’re working on this in her doggy classes but 2025 will be here quick and I’m not going to stress myself out to make her perfect when our next prospect is going to be far more qualified for public access.

Bonus picture for the teefs XD

#belgian malinois #3 years #service dog in training #medical alert service dog #service dogblr #dogblr #puppy quirks #public access training #positive reinforcement

[mandana-the-service-pup]

Making the most out of an otherwise gloomy day.

#belgian malinois #3 years #service dogblr #dogblr #decompression walk #canine enrichment

[mandana-the-service-pup]

Yesterday was hard and I took my frustration out on Mandana. She didn’t do anything wrong and I was rude to her. It’s not a big deal and rarely happens (maybe once or twice a year?) but when it does it’s startling for both of us. I’m constantly making “deposits” into our “relationship bank account” so there’s room for error without damaging our relationship. It’s still sad when it happens and a reminder I need to take self-care seriously so I don’t get overwhelmed.

#bad health day #positive reinforcement #cooperative care #lima dog training #service dogblr #dogblr #belgian malinois #3 years #🎵

[mandana-the-service-pup]

Saturdays are for naps 😌

#belgian malinois #3 years #service dogblr #dogblr #puppy quirks

[mandana-the-service-pup]

⚠️ DISCLAIMER: I’m not a professional dog trainer 😘

Class was good. It was just us and the trainer today. You would think it would be easier for her to settle with no one else around but it’s actually so much harder. I think when there are other people and dogs around she is content to sit back and watch but when there is only one other person (or dog) that is where all of her attention goes. I could very easily keep her busy with cues but I’m trying to get her to settle on her own instead of having to manage her. After class we discussed our plans for practice play dates with the staff dogs.

Our decompression walk afterwards was very productive. First we practiced our auto-recall cued by balls. We walk along the outside of the dog park and every time she finds a ball she is supposed to come back to me (without being called) instead of trying to grab it. It’s especially important to practice with the other dogs nearby and she’s been doing really great. After doing that for about half an hour and surveying the local dog behavior, I took her inside to practice.

It’s a calculated risk. This dog park is really nice and very out of the way. It was a Wednesday afternoon so it wasn’t very crowded and the dogs that were there were pretty well mannered. Besides the ball-cued recall we have been working on keeping doggy greetings short and walking away after a few seconds of sniffing. This is something that doesn’t come naturally to Mandana but I think with practice she will learn short polite greetings and it will help immensely. To facilitate both of these goals, I used a 15 ft longline clipped to the front of her harness. I made sure to keep the longline rolled up and out of the way of any dogs but there were a few times I needed to give a gentle tug to encourage her to break off the greeting when it was going too long and the other dog seemed uncomfortable. We have been practicing this exact scenario through the fence a number of times so I knew this setup wouldn’t agitate her the way leash pressure during interactions can sometimes cause problems for dogs.

I don’t have any pics or videos of her interacting with dogs because it requires my full attention but here is a video of her enjoying her first walk through the dog park without other dogs around.

#belgian malinois #3 years #positive reinforcement #service dogblr #dogblr #dog park #dog training center

[mandana-the-service-pup]

Grocery shopping tonight so we can sleep in tomorrow 😮‍💨

#belgian malinois #3 years #medical alert service dog #service dogblr #dogblr

[mandana-the-service-pup]

Mandana did well in class. She was the calmest one there so they put us between the two troublemakers. We were all spaced out pretty well and they had movable dividers to keep everyone separated but she still had dogs hard staring, barking and even growling directly at her and all she did was look at them and then back at me. I had to opt out of the trainers lesson several times but I stuck to my plan and I’m really happy with the results. I want to go back for Wednesdays class if I can make it.

I used all my treats in class so we stopped at the treat store down the road. We were the only ones there so I put Mandana on her harness and let her sniff around for as long as she wanted. She fell in love with some fresh peanut butter cookies so I got a few and we headed to the park.

We had a really nice decompression walk and I got to practice my new longline skills. We both did really well with our new training method and I feel like we made a lot of progress. After that we walked around the outside of the dog park and when it was pretty empty I took her inside for a minute (still on her longline) to sniff where the dogs had been playing. I want her to be able to play with dogs but I need her to be reliably calm and respectful around them first.

We ate lunch in the parking lot and then headed home. We met up with Hubbins after work and now she’s having her regularly scheduled crate rest.

#belgian malinois #3 years #service dog in training #medical alert service dog #service dogblr #dogblr #positive reinforcement #dog training center #decompression walk

[mandana-the-service-pup]

Starting to apply some new training techniques on our longline walks. Similar to what we already do but with more refined skills I picked up from a training workshop.

Working on attention seeking behaviors at obedience class tomorrow. My goal is to set her up for success. It can get frustrating when you are testing limits to see where you are so I really want something easy to build our confidence.

And we’re implementing mandatory kennel time every day. A year from now she will need to be able to do #crate&rotate so we might as well start now. She’s fine when we leave the house and settles just fine out of her room but needs practice relaxing in her kennel while we’re home.

#belgian malinois #3 years #service dogblr #dogblr #positive reinforcement #cooperative care