This is so stressful..

[Owlet]

I forgot to add; know your terminology!
Service dogs, emotional support animals, and therapy animals are ALL different.

 

[ravvlet]

Apropos of nothing, I would love to get one of my dogs certified as a therapy dog to take to retirement homes or hospices that allow it. I need more hours in the day, haha!

 

[Owlet]

Apropos of nothing, I would love to get one of my dogs certified as a therapy dog to take to retirement homes or hospices that allow it. I need more hours in the day, haha!

That's kinda what I'm planning to do with my (now) retired service dog. She loves people so I think therapy work would be great for her. Everyone that visits my house is like "we are stealing her" because she will just stand there with her head in your lap.

 

[ravvlet]

Yes! That’s just how my older chihuahua is. He’s 11 now and a total doll, everyone loves him instantly and he’s very calm and good at sitting and receiving attention, haha. I keep meaning to let him go to obedience classes with my older kid who has expressed interest. My pug rescue OTOH is a wild child, but will sit on command for my five year old! He would not make a good anything dog, but it might be a fun experience for them to do some of the canine good citizen training as well.

And then there’s my baby Gifford, an utter menace and stereotypical chihuahua. He only listens to me, and very reluctantly. But he’s gorgeous? People mistake him for papillon (I suspect they have never seen one) but he’s the only dog I have from a breeder, and he’s 100% AKC chihuahua with one parent from champion lines. Ha!

I am rooting for you and your new puppy! If you have time I’d love to see updates about them, I think therapy animals and access/training is so important!

 

[Owlet]

Okay,, I've had her home for a couple days now and overall things are going great. Shes a fantastic little pup, however we think she might have a UTI... trying to get her into the vet to figure out but it sure is making potty training difficult.

https://imgur.com/a/YHMdNrw

 

[RavensGryf]

I'm trying to get myself a puppy that I can train as a service dog. Finding an ethical breeder for a pet is super hard. Trying to find a breeder for service prospect is next level in possible. The breeder I was hoping to go with ended up deciding not the breed this year. She pointed me towards another breeder which looked good on the surface, but the more you dug the worse things got.

I made a post on the reddit page for this breed and only got one message advising me to look at another breeder. I looked into them and I was a little put off from the start. They really promoted themselves a lot and heavily bragged about their training skills. I was hesitant but I contacted them and it was just more red flags. I asked on a forum for this breed about this breeder and was given more red flags for them.

I was also given a lot of reading material and links to help me find a breeder. I sent out ~20 emails to breeders that were referred by the breeds club. I stated I was looking for a prospect puppy and I got several emails back asking what my gender and color preferences were... which typically breeders worth their salt arent gonna ask this when the intentions is a prospect puppy because color and gender are irrelevant and it entirely comes down on temperament. So that makes me hesitant to proceed with them. I feel like I'm just hitting a wall.

I was given some more leads to follow, but I'm just so stressed and frustrated. I feel like I've contact every breeder of this breed in the US and have made very little progress.

Are you still looking? I ‘might‘ be able to find some trustworthy leads for you. In fact, the reason I’ve not been here really at all in the past few years is I’ve been more into my Facebook dog groups. The kind of groups I’m in are filled with professional reputable breeders, trainers, groomers, dog show people, etc. who all have connections, and know who’s reputable and who’s not. Dog professionals. Not dog Joe Schmoes. Lots of people in the groups have service dogs, so I might be able to find something out for you if you’d like.

 

[RavensGryf]

I did it. I found a puppy. I'm picking her up March 1st. It's happening sooner than I thought but I am so happy to have finally found a breeder and puppy I like. And just in time for my birthday!

Congrats! I replied to you first, before seeing you found your puppy. I’m so glad!