Paxil will take the cues from you, so if you relax, so will he. If you stress, so will he. If worse comes to worse, you can always wait someplace quieter and ask that they phone you or come and get you when they're ready for you.

“I'm terrified to bring him”. Your dog looks at you as his
leader. Personally, I would not deliberately put my dog in a situation that I
wasn’t confident I could handle. You are doing well so far and I think it takes
time gradually working on more complex tasks. As the saying goes - Rome wasn't built in a day.

The last thing you need is to be stressed. I like all the above suggestions.

That said, if you are okay with going alone, I don't think missing one appointment with you it will be a deal breaker for Paxil.

Pax is still in training which means he's not fully trained. I would call ahead and explain Pax is still in training and ask how they want you to proceed.

There's a youngish 30's lovely man in my town with a service dog, he was seriously injured in the Military. .he took his dog to the elementary school and showed the children his service dog and explained what a service dog really is. One thing he said was a service dog is a service dog 24 hours a day..they can not be service in public and a pet at home...can you explain this in regards to precious Pax?

If your appointment is early enough maybe you can get there when they open so you can grab a seat or explain to them the situation. If you get there early you may have to sit a little longer but at least you will have your pick of seat. I know it's easier said than done but just try not to stress too much. Everything will be ok. :)

Also you want to make sure and ask yourself if you think you can handle the situation without Paxil there before considering not taking him.

Is it far to where you have the appointment? Maybe you could do a visit to the waiting area at a time you do not have an appointment. You will be more relaxed, and can see how he reacts to the situation. It could be a shorter visit, if necessary, just for the experience. Then when you take him for your appointment, it won't be new. And maybe you will be more comfortable about it, too.

I am going to be blunt here. I disagree with your trainer. Paxil is not a service dog until his training is complete and he has been trained to respond to you rather than his trainer. A service dog is one that can perform a specific duty or duties to assist its owner with a disability. Until Paxil is so so unobstrusive that people would not notice his presence (he should be lying quietly under your chair of at your feet in a waiting room situation) he is not yet truly a service dog. Lots of service dogs in training don't actually achieve service dog status. I would suggest you complete Paxil's training before taking him into places like you describe. Practice those long down stays religiously. You should not need to distract him. His job is to always focus on you while working so he can assist you if need be.

If he can't go into a crowded Walmart yet and have that focus then he is not ready to go to a high traffic medical facility. He is not a Guide Dog puppy. He is a full grown dog. he needs to be trained before going out as a service dog. A good start would be to get his canine good citizen certificate at least.

Here are a couple of sites that will clarify what should be expected and whether he qualifies as a service animal. an emotional support dog or a therapy dog.

http://www.anythingpawsable.com/things-service-dogs-public/

http://www.therapydoginfo.net/servicedogs.html

Wasn't he a shelter dog when you adopted him just a few weeks ago? I might not be remembering this right, but didn't you bring Paxil into your life after your beloved shepherd passed away in late January?

Was he a trained service dog before you met him? If not, I would think that he's got a lot of training ahead of him before he's put in the position of being placed in a stressful situation. That's hard on you both.

Please forgive me if I'm not recalling the facts correctly. He's such a cutie!

Rhizo you said it well..I couldn't find the words.

Scott what I ment by saying service or pet was a service dog is at ALL times a service dog and should perform his tasks at all times except during his feeding, sleeping, and excersise times. A service dog does not run thru the house playing with the other family pets. He should at all times be treated with love, and respect but he needs to learn his mission in life is the service he does for you. I was wondering if your trainer has explained this properly as I know Pax plays with your other darling fur baby.

He's really a great looking pup.

I really think you need basic obedience training. My dog is NOT a service animal. I take her to all sorts of places where dogs are allowed. My expectations are such for her and she is a pet.

1. Heel and stop and sit when I stop.
2. Walk on a loose leash without disturbing items or other people
3. Sit quietly when giving the command to do so while I am conducting business.
4. Not take food from anyone without my permission
Sit at my feet at outdoor eating places without begging food from me much less anyone else.
5. We raised her to be bomb proof. She does not startle at sounds, fireworks,loud vehicles, beeping horns, firearms, thunder etc.

Could she be trained to be a service animal? Maybe/maybe not. What I described above is basic obedience. But no matter how well behaved she is or will be she is not a service animal without being skilled in performing a specific TASK for a disability. Even a psychiatric service animal has to be able to do a TASK. It is not enough to be a feel good companion. The dog should alert to an anxiety attack for example but also be able to do something specific to address it. Just being there is emotional support, not service.

Psychiatric Service Dog Training
Like all assistance dogs, a psychiatric service dog is individually trained to do work or perform tasks that mitigate their handler's disability. Training to mitigate a psychiatric disability may include providing environmental assessment (in such cases as paranoia or hallucinations), signaling behaviors such as interrupting repetitive or injurious behaviors), reminding the handler to take medication, retrieving objects, guiding the handler form stressful situation , or acting as a brace if the handler becomes dizzy.

Psychiatric Dogs are trained to:

• Assistance in a medical crisis
• Provide treatment related assistance
• Assistance in coping with emotional overload
• Perform security enhancement tasks

Service animals can be playful and act as pets at home. I know plenty of people with service animals and they know when they are working or not. Even police dogs are often family pets at home when off duty. But that comes AFTER he is fully trained to perform his duties.

Pawprint, I agree with the others that Pax needs more training before asking so much of him in a public setting. A couple of others time I wanted to bring this up but didn't want to upset you.

About a month ago, I was washing dishes after feeding all the animals. All of a sudden my dog attacked one of the cats that decided she needed a taste of the dogfood. Just about scared the **** out of me! Turned out it was all bark and no bite, thank goodness! Unfortunately, I now have to closely monitor feeding time.

We've never had an incident like that one. I don't know what happened. Maybe the cat nipped the dogs nose as they were eating so closely? I just don't know.

You also had a similar incident with your two dogs just a few weeks ago. Pax is too new to you... too young to know if she may develop food aggression. If you are in such close quarters with lots of people who knows what could happen should a small child drop a snack food. Maybe you're busy filling out paperwork to notice the mother hand that child the snack. To me it's a scary situation given the past incident.

Is it likely to happen? Probably not? But think what you and Pax both would have to deal with if it did. I think you need to slow down and get to know your dog's maturing personality and to get more training.

What an interesting discussion. I don't know anything about service dogs, so I can't say anything about your dog's readiness for the situation.

But one thing occurs to me because my mate who is highly allergic to dogs, (asthma, facial swelling, angioedema) has an appointment with an ENT for hearing loss. A patient like this would want to know ahead of time --somehow-- that a dog would be in the office, so that the appointment could be scheduled to be finished well before the dog arrives. So, yeah, I like the idea of calling the doctor's office to discuss bringing the dog. Nothing against dogs. It would be the same if it were a service cat, or a service guinea pig. ;)

Ding-Dong Avon Calling....Scott where are you? You ok today?

Aside from the issue of an allergenic animal in a packed waiting room, maybe you could make the dog's issues a smaller matter by arranging ahead of time for the office to escort the two of you directly to an empty exam room to wait for your appointment. That's what my internist's office does for someone who comes in vomiting or coughing a lot. It reduces trouble for the sufferer and also reduces chances of spreading the problem to others in the waiting room. Or maybe they could phone you in from a lobby or hallway that has fewer people in it.

Hareball, yes, I found out the importance of monitoring mealtime! It was definitely a stern warning from the dog to the cat but it was something I never expected. It's never happened before. This dog is used to the cats checking out her food so what set off this incident is puzzling. It won't happen again because I've changed the routine and also where the cats eat. The dog now has a reputation, though. I'm suspicious of her every move. lol

Here is a pic of the two that I posted some months ago when the kitten got a cold. You can see they are comfortable in each others company. But, I'm no longer comfortable. :)

OOPS! Poor little Annie feeling under the weather.

moonie_57 (8 NC) - you don't necessarily need to watch her every move but just keep a cautious eye on her :) I have a dachshund who absolutely loves kitties. We have a bunch of cats and he is in hog heaven. Sometimes when we eat dinner on the couch if he thinks a kitty is going to get a treat before him he will nip at them. Doesn't growl, never has bitten anyone but just nips at them to let them know he's more hungry than them. lol :\ He would never hurt a kitty even if his life depended on it but when it comes to food he just can't help himself.

Your babies are adorable! :)