Introductions...

Hello, my name is Holly and I have a service dog. I've had him since I started training him in February of 2010, and he's pretty incredible. A lot of the issues with service dogs stem from lack of knowledge. I've met people who were told by doctors and other authority figures things about service dogs that are untrue, and I'd like to have a place to talk about the real experience of a service dog handler, and to link information that others can use to help educate people.

One of the major problems I've run into so far is the mental picture people have of service dogs and their handlers. If you don't know me or my dog, I'd bet you have a picture of someone in a wheelchair, with a cane, or with a physical impairment, and with a lab, golden retriever, or maybe a German shepherd.



This is my amazing psychiatric service dog, Nibbler:

The little girl behind him is another service dog named Adara who lives in the same household. They're incredible dogs, and they help us with our various psychiatric problems. They don't need to be big, since their job doesn't have a size requirement. They're enough dog for us, and more portable than larger dogs, not to mention more practical for apartment living. Nibbler's 7.5 pounds, and Adara's trying to hit 5 pounds. I plan on later adding more information, but would LOVE questions in comments or emailed to me. I'll answer just about anything I can, or send the asker to a source if I don't know anything about the subject personally. I trained both dogs here, and learned quite a bit along the way with the help of some of my friends who also have service dogs.