This addresses more than a few of us will confront in time, and HOW we manage to be up front in being honest to ourselves and others will influence whether other emotionally disabled patients face increased acceptance or INCREASED REJECTION.

We asked our psychiatrist to prescribe a psychiatric service dog because we were virtually entrapped in a solitary existence, afraid to leave home, often afraid to even have a neighbor catch a glimpse of us, sometimes unable to even have another human being enter our homes (oh, the horrendous stress getting mentally prepared for a landlord's inspection). And we described the symptoms that went into making us legally disabled and voiced our hopes and expectations that a companion dog, one who could actually go everywhere, might enable us to do what normal people took for granted.

And our therapist considered it, some even reading material we had printed out - and agreed, writing out that precious letter that enabled us to elevate our present of future companion from just "emotional support" (a classification that already guarantees us being able to have them in publicly subsidized housing) to an animal with a higher level of privilege - a Psychiatric SERVICE Dog.

But for some of us, as our condition(s) improve to the point to where the dog we first needed simply to step out the door, go shopping, pick up prescriptions, board public transit, attend medical appointments, we find out dog has actually increased our emotional confidence and sense of security to where we find we can actually regularly (or somewhat regularly) do at least some of these things without that previous total dependence. What a wonderful animal, being able to help effect cures, not just be a crutch. A real medical treatment, not just a bandaid.

But we find that if we try to leave the animal at home when we leave, they are frantic to be with us. That is their job, their reason for being, to live side by side with us, ever present, often touched, held, caressed nearly constantly in order to calm us. It is a temptation to simply continue as if that prescription letter is still fully valid.... It is a temptation to continue to take our dog with us every time we go out, to every place we need to venture, because of the dog's confusion and separation anxiety.

While federal law, as described by government lawyer interpreters of "disability", gives our psychiatric service dog valuable rights, when a person depicts themselves as so disabled that they NEED that dog - when that is no longer true.... Then we would be in violation of that law, subject to be turned in, charged with federal charges, facing a hefty fine for misrepresenting our condition. More importantly, when those we mingle, those who observe us and our dogs, especially when they observe us over time, they may begin to suspect that we are milking the system, taking advantage, unfairly giving our pet a privileged status so we can be special, getting to take our "pets" anywhere we wish to...

I am writing this since I reached that point this past summer, after two years of intense neediness and dependence on my Pekingese, Chewbacca. When I would explain the presence of my dog in a public place to the curious as being "my furry valium", it was exceptionally obvious to all that if I had to drive to get to my destination, then valium (which is prescribed for me) would negate my getting behind the wheel. People see someone having to take a tranquilizers as being worse than depending on a small dog.

Let me point out that a psychiatric service dog of an appropriate size is KEY to wide-spread generous acceptance of psych service dogs for adults. For children who need a dog in order to attend classes, a lab (for all its size) is far more appropriate in terms of gentleness and safety for other children, and his size puts his head in petting reach of the seated child. But for an adult, as a needed companion, a dog that can be carried in an over the shoulder carrier, who can ride quietly and unobtrusively in a basket, using that crate as their "den", it is an avoidable fact that the smaller and less obtrusive the dog, the greater and readier the acceptance. ALL dog breeds bite, but the bigger the dog, the more damage the bite causes. A small dog nips an ankle, a tall dog's mouth is eye-level with a child. A person who fears people, perhaps fears being attacked, will give those unspoken signals to the dog that "strangers are danger" and make a defensive growl or bite more likely... And they pick up on fear and many children and a surprising number of adults have unease or fear when forced to close proximity to a dog. Any dog can smell fear in a person and it causes emotional instinctual behaviors in the dog. I have owned dogs all my life, loved dogs, rescued and rehabilitated dogs, worked for a vet handling a dozen dogs a day.... Enough contact for me to increase my sense of caution when I suddenly see a dog walking a couple of feet away from my knee/thigh, and I always immediately increase the space between us. And as all of us know, there are always those alarming thoughtless people who think we brought our dog into the store for them to meet and greet, pet and play with..

We who need a psychiatric service animal don't need a "protector" -- just that furry valium, always there to touch, squeeze, caress and stroke, helping us achieve some calm, keeping panic at bay.... so we can perform those activities that were impossible or near impossible previously.

We are lucky to live in a nation that has extended "service dog" from only guide dogs for the blind to now encompass a far wider array of disabling conditions. It takes time for the public to get used to each extension of "special rights", for them to understand the essential nature of this special type of psychiatric treatment that does not involve drugs or hours in therapy. When we improve (even if it only involves particular situations or is not consistent under all conditions), we need to be honest with ourselves and begin to determine our dog's role in our lives.

Of course we don't discard them, don't give them away - the bond in their hearts is as strong as ever. They have a job and don't understand why we are now able to do things without taking them along. The answer is not to continue to present our team as still ranking as a psychiatric necessity. Doing so hurts all of those who do now and will in the future hope to access all housing and public settings. Every year, I find more animals in stores with their owners and when it is a large dog on a leash, I DO wonder, "what gives? is this a NEEDED dog?" And I say this as someone who was literally crippled in my extreme dysfunction even 9 months ago.

And I realize I might very well go thru some emotionally trying times - they could hit at any time, and I might very well be back where I started, needing my princess to give me the security and calm she carries in her searching brown eyes. So around our small town, as I now carry on without her presently, I THANK those shop owners, those managers, those clerks who accepted my prior need of her, even if sometimes begrudgingly. I explain to them that their generosity of spirit in allowing me to bring her when she was so desperately needed has helped bring me to this state of feeling relaxed enough in their shop to now manage by myself most of the time.

People can easily see from my demeanor, from my body language, from my not constantly breaking down in tears, that I AM doing better. They appreciate my thanks and my honest behavior. And I know that on those occasions when I do need her, my needs will be respected and acknowledged.

In the meantime, I got a kitten (8 weeks old) for my Chewie for Christmas. They were playing confidently with one another immediately, napping snugly warm against one another. They are giddy with excitement with one another. My princess having her throat gripped with sharp fangs as she lays on her back, being attacked, pounced on, being drug from room to room while Pinky the kitten clings fiercely to a hind leg, gnawing away as if on a drumstick... and Chewie gazes up at me, her eyes saying to me, isn't she WONDERFUL???

Now Chewie no longer frets when I leave. She has a friend, a playmate. I still enjoy her company for drives when I know I can safely leave her in the car in the shade during cool weather... But I can see that I will have to get another harness, this one for Pinky, and then train her to walk on a leash, then take them both out at the park, letting them both enjoy the birds and squirrels.

To get back on topic and to finish this out... There are still a large vocal majority in the actual field of service animal representation who continue to deny that psychiatric disabilities remedied by the company of the right dog IS valid. They continue to demand that only a (professionally) certified dog trained to "fetch pills" and such can possibly qualify as a SERVICE DOG. They are actually, in my experience, the biggest hurdle we have in attaining universal recognition of the reality of psychiatric disabilities and similar recognition that a properly selected adult dog can help us compensate well enough to (hopefully) actually resume normal human activities like grocery shopping and picking up our mail.

We shouldn't have to prove our conditions and needs to others, but as a "hidden" disability, with our dogs not saving us from being hit by cars, not hauling our wheelchairs about, not fetching things we cannot get for ourselves.... Well, we shouldn't HAVE to prove anything, but there is absolutely nothing wrong in our educating others about just WHAT our dogs do. I have so often described my life pre- and post- Chewie, it has been all most people ever needed to hear. And having me explain how she has helped me become more independent is PROOF in their eyes that my dog IS and has been a therapeutic animal that has performed a verifiable and important SERVICE for me, giving me healing that is real.

And on those days when I am walking and I need to pop a valium before I run in to buy some milk and bread, I will TELL them that I am anxious and needed a tranquilizer to come in this day. They will understand and realize if I crash and burn again some day (may it never happen).

So, what do YOU think? Has your animal proved to be a true therapeutic addition to your psychiatric treatment? Has your dog actually helped you change how you (failed to) function for maybe years, decades? Do you find yourself, as I was for awhile, taking your dog because she wanted to come along even on those occasions or in those situations where you knew you would (on that day) feel comfortable without your furry valium?

I hope this starts a dialogue, but even if it only provokes you to ruminate upon it on your own, I hope you can recognize that when a psych SERVICE dog becomes "only" an Emotional SUPPORT dog, it helps our cause to let people know the extent to which the right dog can help an emotionally damaged human being as much as an artificial limb helps a service man returning with war injuries.

OMT