I was assaulted in my home and was suffering from a delayed form of post-traumatic stress disorder. It is amazing how difficult it is to cope when you are afraid in your own home. My husband travels a lot so I was constantly alone. I would say that the fear was affecting my quality of life in a pretty significant way.

My husband and I met Sherri and Kekoah* (my German Shepherd) and were allowed to take her as a sort of trial run. I had never had a dog before, much less a 90 pound-round the clock-go everywhere-attention getting guardian. Two amazing things happened:  I fell in love, and my fear ended. I can't really separate those two things in my mind!

Kekoah has been working with me for almost two years now. I can't imagine life without her. We go everywhere together. She is quite the diva in our community. I have the confidence to go out at night, or to go into areas that I would never have gone before. I am comfortable alone at home now. I rarely have nightmares. Kekoah has proven to me that she will interpret a situation and prevent me from being harmed (she steps closer to me when around people I am fearful of). She is extremely effective.

It has been interesting working with a service dog. There is no way to go anywhere without being noticed. People want to talk to you. They want to pet the dog. They ask you persistent and very intrusive questions about why you have the dog and what she does. They mean well and they are all understandably fascinated but it's very hard to get used to! I think it would be wonderful if the general population were better informed about service dogs, their uses and general etiquette around them. As a victim of assault I found it very difficult at first to field those kinds of questions gracefully and insist on privacy. I was used to not calling attention to myself. Now I am used to the attention and feel like Kekoah is almost an extension of my leg. I feel exposed without her. People in the community are used to her. I really appreciate how little difficulty I had bringing her places. It is understandable that people are not accustomed to service dogs except for guide dogs yet I have had very little trouble with being asked not to bring her into businesses.

I think German Shepherds are a wonderful dog for this kind of work. First of all, they love to work. Kekoah gets more excited when her shab comes out than she does when just her leash comes out! She would rather accompany me grocery shopping or to a movie than she would go play in the park. She even loves her training classes. Occasionally, I get a look from someone who is clearly thinking it is mean of me to demand perfect behavior from her in the grocery store. But she loves it!  If she didn't, she is perfectly capable of rebelling! Besides loving to work, German Shepherds have a mystique about them. A well deserved respect of their protective abilities and their intelligence. Some even fear them. As a deterrent I don't think you can exceed their abilities.

So, I guess I think working with a service dog isn't easy but it is liberating and I can't imagine what it would be like without her.

Sincerely,

Angie Arden*

*Names have been changed