Spotting the Lemon, and other service dog silliness
February 5, 2015Handling It
February 24, 2015The “I” in Parkinson’s
DO NOT SEPARATE
The other morning, I woke up wishing someone else would be me for the day, even for a few hours.
I changed my mind when I realized that the person being me would get Sir Thomas for that time. Even for a few hours — even if he’s snoozing for those few hours — I couldn’t do that. I’d be salt without pepper, a hug but no kiss, action minus reaction, a lone sock.
Thomas and I come as a set, work as a team, operate as one unit. With a my service dog, the “I” in Parkinson’s isn’t singled out. It’s added to par. Good days and crappy ones, pairing with my service dog brings each day above average.
4 Comments
What a gifted writer you are, Renee– this in addition to all your other, many, many gifts!
Hi Renee,
Just another PD person with a great dog. My large (not as large as yours!) mixed breed dog has begun self-teaching himself to be my service dog. At this time he braces to help me up from furniture, balances me as needed and helps me up and down stairs and shaky places on our walks.
I’m currently working on training for his Canine Good Citizen test and then on to Rally. It seems this will help us in our surprising, unexpected, but incredibly welcome partnership.
I look forward to reading about you and Sir Thomas.
P.S. We don’t have a fake vest..nor do I consider him an official service dog, yet. But I’m very interested in continuing our education to see if we can form a legit, working team.
Please post these on the SDP-EPW Facebook page. I’m sure all the camera peeps would love to see them! 🙂