Service Dog for Panic Attacks and Bipolar

by Janet
(Tennessee, USA)

Andy my hero and best friend

I'm not to good at organized thoughts so bare with me, as I share with you about my Standard Poodle.

I have what is called a PSD (Psychiatric Service Dog) for my panic attacks and bipolar. He is a Chocolate Standard Poodle named Andy. I've had major depression for so many years and had severe panic attacks too. I was diagnosed with Bipolar years later.

In order to have a Service Dog you have to have a disability according to ADA law, which is severe enough to interfere with a "normal" life which I qualified for. I landed on SSI for my mental disability. To know me, you would never know I was "disabled". It's hard having a hidden disability and the struggles that go along with it.

I worked with the physically disabled many many years ago, so I knew about service dogs and such. It's hard to explain how this all came about but I knew a service dog would help me, I just didn't know how to do it so, I started to research about the different types of service dogs and found out that there was a "new" type of service dog named a PSD.

According to ADA (Americans With Disabilities Act) if you have a disability you can have a service dog for your disability, if you want one. It says that you can have any dog and train that dog yourself. You MUST train it to do tasks for you that help you with your disability. I have trained my own dogs in the past, but I thought this was a bit bigger than I could handle alone. I was so afraid of doing something wrong and going to jail for it, so I got help from a local trainer and several good books on the subject.

When I sat down to think about what type of dog I would want as my SD I didn't have to think very hard. I chose a Standard Poodle because I wanted the elegance, smarts, non-shedding, the height. I wanted to be able to touch the top of it's head when I was out in public to have a reality check and a focal point. I also chose it because I wanted to use the grooming as a type of "therapy" for me. Back then I was very very depressed and I needed something to "get me out of myself".

Andy and I both learned everything together. He has been there through the deep depressions, the paralizing panic attacks, the mania...all of it. The funniest part I think for him to learn was when I would get so flusttered and be running around in circles here in the house ...looking for my shoes or keys or whatever. He learned to just sit in the middle of the room and watch me with that look only a poodle can give you...lol He has been a mainstay for sure.

We have learned how to groom a poodle together from scratch and now I must say we are pretty good at it. I say "in" the bath tub and he gets in ... I say "out" and he gets out. I say "up" on the grooming table and he gets up...well part way.

I didn't teach him to pick anything up for me from the floor because I thought it would make me lazy.

In these last several years my depression is almost non existant, my panic attacks are also. My Bipolar will always be there but he keeps me in check. It is hard to tell you all the things that he does for me. I couldn't have any other breed of dog. He isn't just a dog and he may not be a person but he certainly is a Pawson !!!

Thanks for baring with me. I am not very good at this kind of thing.

Janet and Andy
He's snoring!