dogs are very good

Woodworm is a wholesome PICO-8 puzzle game where you gnaw through wood to create sculptures!

I often advise against looking up service dog tasks online because you will wind up teaching your dogs tasks that are perfect for other people–but not for you. Then, people inevitably say “I can’t make my own! I don’t know!” Here is a simple guide to constructing a task for a psychiatric service dog.

Note that this is not meant to encompass all psychiatric tasks, but rather to give people an idea as to how they should approach this puzzle.

Let’s start by coming up with some terms.

1. Symptom. This is the symptom that you wish to relieve. It can be sensory overload, panic, dissociation, skin picking, sadness, forgetfulness, or any other symptom that is bothering you.

2. Action. This is an action that a dog takes. It can be pawing, licking, nudging punching (forcefully nudging), barking, leaning, sitting on, bringing something, etc.

3. Tell. This is a sign that your symptom is flaring up. For example, I bounce my leg when my anxiety rises. Some common tells are hair twisting, skin picking, sighing, nail biting, hand wringing, toe tapping, a command word, and cursing. If you cannot identify your own tells, ask a friend, family member, or therapist. You’ll probably be surprised how many they can list.

4. Result. These are the end result of a task. What do you need? A Jolt like a cold or unpleasant sensation can be good for snapping out of dissociated states. A Calming or pleasant sensation can be good for soothing. Distractions can be good for pain or intrusive thoughts while a Focus can be good for sensory overload.

Now put them together.

I need my dog to [Action] when I [Tell] so that I have [Result] to relieve [Symptom].

Example: I need my dog to [bring my medication] when I [start to cry] so that I have [medication] to relieve [depression].

Example: I need my dog to [lick my ear] when I [stop moving] so that I have [a starling sensation to bring me back to myself] to relieve [dissociation].

It can even be helpful to do this exercise backwards. Identify the problem (ex “scarring”). Decide what you need (ex. “I need to know”), your tell (ex. “When I pick my skin.”) and then finally decide what your dog can do about it (ex. “My dog can nudge me”).

Dumb little explanation post of “what to expect when easing your SD/SDiT into full time work” ahead, but I figured it might be appreciated by people who have yet to bring an SD/SDiT with them to work and wanted a general idea of what others have done. Plus I wanted to write this. (Reminder that this is from the POV of someone who has only been working their SDiT for a few weeks now. Also I’m a cashier so I have a rotating work station as well as a place I must “patrol”, so my layout will be different than other jobs.)

So the first photo is Horizon in his crate, sleeping. (Please notice the sun print on the towel because I love it.) This is how he spent most of the first week and a half while at work. I only brought him on days of my shortest shifts because he tired out before the two hour mark that first week, although being the good sport he is, he did do as I asked when I needed/wanted him out. Because he did tire out so quickly however he wasn’t really able to work at “full capacity”, but for the most part I just wanted him with me to get used to the noises associated with my job, as well as the idea of resting only when told to do so (which leaving him crated with a coving helped with). Overall I really think that covering his crate has been a helpful communication cue between the two of us! It lets him sleep more soundly so I know he’ll be well rested when I need him again :)

In the second image Horizon is sitting inside his crate, while the blanket is up and the door is left open. He is watching and waiting for his cue to leave! Although under these conditions he willingly enters the crate and will wait for a release cue in order to leave, sometimes self-preservation kicks in when something falls onto his crate (which I honestly can’t fault him for). He still alerts from this position, but it is a lot harder for me to keep track of since I can’t always see inside the crate well. I started leaving his door open like this whenever he was awake enough to be working, which more or less /started/ in his 2nd-3rd week. (I still made sure to give him plenty of longer breaks for sleeping inside the crate during that time too as I don’t expect him to be able to work multiple hours straight until he’s been working for at least two months.) Overall, this is typically where one can find Horizon when I’m ringing customers up.

In the third and fourth pics Horizon (and I) are much happier with long duration sits/downs. He can alert very clearly from this position, nothing is boxing him in, and nothing is likely to fall on him since those counters were not being used. We also have to deal with other dogs and more comments when doing such, but as long as he’s in the headspace to work I’ll continue to prefer this option. But the “place” command is super helpful in this specific case because I’m sometimes in charge of all the self-checkout isles or the large orders and giving him all the directional commands as I walk around would fry both our brains. (Currently I let him rest in his crate at least 30 minutes for every two hours that I work, which I find keeps him alert and happy!)

Also, when your pup is starting to accompany you to work, and has the energy for it, I suggest loving on them when you can, doing tricks, or training on your downtime to get their mind briefly off the job! After 3.5ish weeks experience Horizon is starting to be capable of small training games while we wait for customers who want to check out. (Not that he wasn’t able to do training beforehand, just now he can manage it and have energy to work the rest of his shift.)