I trained my dog myself, from a pup. She is not a certified SD, but she goes everywhere with me. She even wakes me from nightmares and seems to sense my anxiety before I am fully aware of it. I've been told it would possible for me to have her certified, but don't see the advantage to the certification. Dog-unfriendly places don't get much friendlier for having animals forced on them.

Thats awesome that you were able to train your dog yourself! My friend did the same thing. By the way, there's no such thing as a certification for a SD. Any registration you get online is fake and its a waste of your money.

When I looked into the yaddahs of making it official, it looked pretty lame, but then. . . I can't tell the diff between a certification and registration. I am multi-lingual, but can't handle officialese or legalese in any language.

I'm learning how to listen to my dog, though. She has important things to tell me. Dogs empathize so naturally that I feel like helping her understand human rules is all the training necessary.

My dog Molly is trained to detect panic attacks before they happen, and gives me a 3-5 lead time warning before they happen. She is self trained as well and picked up on the attacks all her own. Also knows commands in English, German, Dutch, and hand signals

I wish I could have one. an unjudging support who's there for you. sounds unattainable. go for it Trichster.

thanks for the support guys :) i appreciate it.
Arfie: don't buy any certification or registration online. legally, you don't need any paperwork. Look up the ADA laws. if anything you could have your dog pass the canine good citizenship test. it doesn't have any legal standing but could make access easier for you

My SD is trained to detect panic attacks and nightmares. My SD is professionally trained and certified. You cannot certify a dog you trained yourself.

Scott

you don't need to. it is a big deal for self trained SDs.

self trained SDs need only be clean and well trained to be allowed w/their handler in any public place a person would be allowed. arfie's persilly is more than well trained enough. they want us to have them wear something that says service dog - even one of those dangly medical service dog tags - medical alert? one of those is good : )

we don't have to though. it is not against the law not to wear the service dog vest, etc. some service dogs need to wear other equipment that makes it obvious that they are required.

i look at it as a help to myself. selfishly, i want to help my team be ignored/accepted more calmly so he wears mobility harness that is made w/that on there. he is huge and black and people say scary looking : ( so i do add medical alert - he IS a medical alert dog also for me, but i add the patch and the PTSD dog one too.

the people who are trying to pass off any dog as a SD are buying that stuff online, the fake certificates and badges, etc. and then going places w/badly behaved untrained dogs. it's making things very difficult for people w/trained SDs.

THAT is one reason why people are talking about how important it is to know that self trained service dogs do not need certification.

almost everywhere i go, business owners want to see "the badge" now. there is no "badge" except for fake service dogs. or for people w/service dogs in training who have been duped into the idea that they need those fake things. now, they are training business owners to expect to be shown the badge.

Dogs have their own personalities, my Baby D was nothing like my others. He is very tuned to how I feel and what may be a danger to me. If I need rest he is right at the door laying down. He "talks a lot" some have heard him on the phone and does all sorts of Lassie (or Marmaduke) imitations. He comforts, cheers me up and protects me. I don't always walk steady so he helps with that too. Also taking care to block me from unsafe conditions...uneven side walks, broken steps, loss of balance and helping me up from the ground.
He is trained to regular conversation, not commands (something I didn't want others to be able to use on him, he is my dog)so a lot of language and tone. Certain words whether whispered or spoken would cause a behavior. Also hand signals which work as alerts too.
He is my second dog trained for these behaviors, and turned 10 yrs old earlier this month. All of 140 LBS. He's a big dog, but doesn't always know that.

This morning we worked on me with a sleep mask on and him leading through the house to my chair. He moved to my side with his chest at my thigh and took small steps, stopping if there was an obstruction and bumping me with his nose on the hand, for a direction. He was pretty satisfied, I was over the top. It was cool.
I do have some fears about his age, but right now is good.

Molly has a vest she wears because its just easier for me in tight quartered situations (like college) for her to be seen and avoid. I do have on her vest to be asked by me to be petted due to the "Oh a dog must pet the dog" mentality. It distracts her from doing her job of staying alert and watching for any signs of me going downhill fast. She has a very friendly so I kinda use the colors of the terror alert scale. If I am in "green mode" I dont mind as long as she has access to me and can see me at all times. "Yellow mode" is my discretion, 8/10 times I say no because theres no telling if it will increase or decrease. Her mannerisms change completely when I go to yellow. Shes scanning everywhere and keeping close to me alerting me of anyone coming up fast in front of/behind me. Next is "Orange mode". From this point onward I am basically screwed. The panic has set in, the attack(s) has(have) begun and its a freefall at this point. From here Molly changes again and begins to ground me and try her damndest to distract me by pawing gently at me, licking me getting me to pet her. Anything to take my mind off the attack and she will not let anyone near me until its over. "Red mode" is the same as orange, just more severe. "Black mode" which I will be hitting in around 2 weeks is the nonstop attacks for about 10 days that basically cripple me. I cant move, think, function. Its basically one wave of attacks after another. This is where Molly shines. I forgot to mention she can detect changes in me and can give me around 3-5 minute lead time before it hits. Thats enough time to find a safe place and brace for this. She has yet to ever leave my side during an attack. One of my favorite things about her is when its subsiding and she knows Im no longer in danger she will lick my face as if to say "Dont worry Daddy, I got this." I can say when its time for her to cross the bridge Im going to be an absolute train wreck. Shes 10 now and what I call semi-retired. Shes having issues out in public which I attest to old age and she helps me at home but I dont take her out as much and Im more medication dependant now incase it hits and Im not home. Anyways thats a little tidbit about "The Mollinator"