Anam is only 4 1/2 months old so he's still a "prospect" for a Service Dog and we've only been together 2 weeks. I was in complete denial that I had anxiety issues until I got him and realized I would get "upset" and he would bug me until I paid attention to him, starting with pawing or licking on up to full on flop in my lap, then as soon as I talked to him and pet / played, whatever he went back to his toy or what he had been doing. Reading what several of the people in groups for service dogs go through and the things their SDs (Service Dog) do for them made me stop and think, and realize I wasn't just in a "mood". There was more to it and I needed to face it and I was really lucky I had stumbled across a pup that I wanted to train as a SD for mobility and related things that was smarter than me and could help me out of those nasty, tear filled wells of sadness just by saying, as one oh so wise group member said "Look Squirrel!", with love and furry distraction. So for Anam, he's not trained for anything but "parlor tricks", I wasn't aware I was having anxiety attacks at all, just that I was terrified of "something", I was sad about it, and I was horribly anxious about a million things related to it. He senses it and distracts me by being my buddy. Sometimes we cuddle up and he noses my hand until I find his ear in my fingers (my favorite thing! Lab ears are silky soft!), sometimes it's forced bellyrubs or playing with a toy. Any kind of a distraction that pulls me out of where ever my brain falls into. It helps knowing there's someone there for you that doesn't judge. He doesn't care about the "whys" of it all, just that it's not right and he doesn't like it and wants it fixed. How amazing is it though that at 4 1/2 months old he knows what to do. We really don't give animals enough credit for their intelligence! It's been a really tough time in my life and having Anam as a friend who's always there for me has meant the world. People underestimate the power of a shelter dog!
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