AMY SHELLE | CONTRIBUTOR AND FOUNDER OF DOGS FOR GRETA
This past Tuesday morning, I decided to go to Meijer to get my groceries for the next couple of weeks. I began preparing myself for the trip the day before with self-talk and coaxing. The amount of anxiety and fear a trip to the grocery store produces can be immobilizing. It’s bad enough that this is my typical routine just to get groceries. Then you add the COVID-19 pandemic, and I am trying desperately to figure out any other option than to be around people at the grocery store. As these thoughts invade my brain, my service dog, Coal, brings his tennis ball to me and looks at me, longingly, to start a game of fetch. Coal reminds me that I am not alone in this life and I am not alone when I go to grocery store.
As I stand in the checkout lane in the grocery store, Coal nudges my hand and I lean down and receive a wet kiss from him. He knows this is the part of grocery shopping when my anxiety is at its highest. Coal has been trained to read my body signals when I am anxious and interact with me to take my mind off the anxiety. My service dog has allowed me to be more independent, so I am not forced to rely on other people to accomplish basic things, such as grocery shopping. Coal gives me a reason to get out of bed each morning, to put one foot in front of the other each day, to be alive, and the desire to help other sexual assault survivors, diagnosed with PTSD, train their future service dog.
The road to obtaining a service dog for myself was not an easy one. When I started this venture, there were no organizations that trained service animals for civilians with PTSD, so I decided to volunteer at an organization which trained service dogs for veterans with PTSD. While there, I completed an apprenticeship with the trainers and helped in the training of their dogs. Taking this information and experience, I trained my own service dog. Shortly after completing the apprenticeship, I graduated with my Masters in Social Work (MSW). My goal was to be able to add a more therapeutic approach to training service dogs, since the population I would be helping could potentially benefit from that too. I developed an idea to start an organization to train service dogs for other sexual assault survivors diagnosed with PTSD. Thus, Dogs for GRETA (Dogs for Gaining Resilience and Empowerment through Teamwork and Assurance) was created.
At Dogs for GRETA, a potential client reaches out to me and we discuss the idea of getting a service dog for their PTSD symptoms, and what specifically they need help with. There are many factors, including living situations, their own stability, the help needed from a dog, and the time and funds to train a service animal, that go into the decision of getting a service animal. A service animal may not work for every survivor. Once a decision is made to move forward, the survivor will need a letter from their doctor stating that they have a disability and will benefit from a service dog. Next, the search for a potential puppy to train is put into action. The process of finding a dog suited for service work can be daunting, as they need to be a certain temperament. I help clients through this search process by supporting the client in finding a good breeder, visiting the puppies with them, and temperament testing to find a good candidate. Even though a lot of work is put into this search, there is never a guarantee that any dog or puppy will become a service dog. This is one of the hardest struggles we as service dog owners wrestle with. In every step of the process, we question “is my dog going to be washed out?”, meaning more suitable as a house pet. However, we have to remember the goal and benefits, which thankfully outweigh this thought. Once the puppy is chosen, the actual work and dedication begins. I typically meet with my clients once a week for about one and a half to two years. Most of my clients have expressed the benefits of raising the puppy themselves and learning how to train the dog themselves. The training process not only trains the pup but also empowers their owner in many different ways. Also, the presence of the puppy also has many added benefits, such as a reason to get out of bed, a purpose in life, and just having a living breathing being around that provides unconditional love.
I am honored to be able to help other survivors like myself. I struggle almost daily with thoughts of why I am still here and what my purpose is in life. Then a client will text me a picture or video of their pup accomplishing a task we have been working on for a month and my soul fills with the thought, this is why I am here.
Dogs for GRETA is attempting to expand and hire additional trainers. We are in the process of becoming a non-profit and plan to offer these services at a reduced cost/no cost for survivors in the future. I look forward to continuing to provide assistance and support to sexual assault survivors and educate the community about the benefits of psychiatric service dogs.
For quick facts on service animals, CLICK HERE.
To contact Dogs for GRETA, email them at dogsforgreta@gmail.com or visit their website at dogsforgreta.weebly.com/
