Life with a Service Dog

I have been beyond blessed to be matched with Shadow for about a year now through Paws for Life USA! At this point, we are very connected with one another and know each other well to make both of our lives so much easier although there's always more to work on! And here's just a sneak peek into our journey together:

I had to think long and hard about whether or not a service dog was right for me and if the timing was right as well. It was actually my trauma therapist that brought up the idea of getting one because she thought it might be most beneficial for me when going into public places since this creates a lot of anxiety for me. The timing was also perfect because my treatment team was worried about how I could maintain independence with my mom moving far away and with her being my main caretaker. All my past experiences of living independently did not turn out so well and it helps me to have direct accountability. That's where Shadow comes in!

Knowing that I have to take care of another being, pushes me to take better care of myself so that I can care for her. This means having to feed myself, knowing that I have to feed her, and it means getting out of bed to take her for a walk instead of staying stuck in one spot for hours in a day. You may think "well, any dog can do that" and that's true, but she can do so much more!

Over the past year, she has learned to paw at me and bug me before my mood shifts into a negative spiral that might be hard to get out of by myself. In the beginning, I would get annoyed that she kept bugging me only to learn the hard way of what she was actually trying to alert me to. Now, when she does, I know what steps to take in order to keep myself in a good place or at least lessen the emotional shift the best that I can. Not only that, but she knows deep pressure therapy and will lay on certain parts of my body to hit pressure points that can calm me. It's pretty fascinating!

Something else that is really fascinating that she has been getting better at, is stopping me from scratching myself in general. You may wonder why this is important for me, but it is because scratching is a form of self-harm that I used to struggle with immensely and I still get urges sometimes to do so. Therefore, if Shadow notices me scratching my arm at all, she will nudge and interrupt me so that the urge or temptation is not there or will dissipate with distraction and giving her attention as well.

Perhaps the biggest blessing of all, is the fact that I used to have such heightened anxiety, that going out to public places was a very difficult task. Now, because of Shadow, I actually have my life back and am able to go any and everywhere, still with some anxiety, but it is significantly less with her by my side and that feels like a miracle that I can only thank God for. We've been to so many places and travelled all over the country in the last year and will continue to do so in the years to come!

This was of course, just a sneak peek because she knows so much more and is working on so many more things as well because there is always room to grow! But of course, a service dog is expensive and comes with a lot of expense and so I'm sharing my GoFundMe page here:

https://www.gofundme.com/f/growing-up-in-an-abusive-household-creates-a-need-to-cope?attribution_id=sl:61f35d14-ee56-46c8-a882-a8f3f431c9f8&lang=en_US&ts=1750208649&utm_campaign=man_sharesheet_dash&utm_content=amp14_t2-amp15_t1&utm_medium=customer&utm_source=copy_link&v=amp14_t2

Your support for me and Shadow would be a blessing! <3