Pia's Service Dog Fund

As I recently posted on Facebook Milo has reached a few service dog milestones!

1. He’s now “officially” prescribed to me, as per my doctor (rheumatologist), so he can be an official service dog here in Germany. In Germany in order to have a Service dog you either need to have a high enough “percentage of disability” (which can be difficult to get) or need an attest written by a specialist doctor (so not just your GP). That came in the mail today - so we are good to continue on with our training! 2. He has now officially met the minimum height requirement for a mobility assistance service dog (over 54 cm tall - he's about 58 cm atm)! He's also only 2 kg away from the minimum weight requirement! Go Milo, Go!

me one year ago - vs me today

Hello everyone :)  So from this point on this blog will be dedicated to documenting my life with Milo and updates on how our training is going - donations are of course still welcome as training is expensive but I just want to do this for fun! I’ll also provide some details on our training so maybe this can help someone else who is training their own service dog. You can donate here:

https://paypal.me/pools/c/8pPZUE6jx0 OR cash.app/$PiaHulse 

Milo had his first full training session today with our assistance service dog trainer - started off a little bit rocky (because of corona Milo isn’t super used to people coming into the house and that isn’t some thing we’ve really been able to work on but something we have to work on somehow in the future) but all in all it went really well! He did super great on his walk and she was really impressed with his training so far and the bond that we have begun to share 😀 his training will take approximately a year and a half to complete (give or take a few months depending on how quickly he picks things up) before he can take his service dog test. Right now we’re just focusing on the basics and continuing to strengthen our bond and I’m definitely happy with where were at as of now (he’s almost 5 months and I’ve had him for almost 3 months). Good job Milo! And thank you a million billion times to all of you that helped me get him. You have all changed my life for the better - tbh you very likely all saved my life as I was in a really dark place and am now doing better both mentally and physically. All the love ❤️

EVERYONE - MEET MILO THATCH MARS - AKA MILO ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

Milo is currently with my mom and I will be flying out  soon to get him (Ill be staying with my mom in the US for around 2 1/2 weeks to train him up / to help him grow up a little bit before we fly back then we’ll start puppy school and working with a professional). THANK YOU SO MUCH TO EVERYONE WHO DONATED!!!

I still need around 2000 more euro to fly to the US (530 euro) and to complete his training over the next year (1470 euro) but this is a big step and I’m SO excited and for once I’m really happy!! Thank you mom for going to get him ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️.

More photos and videos to come soon!

(TLDR: Aunna passed away, I’m heartbroken and struggling, the search for a service dog continues and in the meantime I am also looking into getting another cat because my mental health needs it. Cost update: I need about 2,500 more euro for my Service dog - any amount of donation will help - even just 1.00$)

As you may know I recently lost my baby girl Aunna - it’s been incredibly hard to deal with. I was still mourning the loss of Biene and Aunna had taken over comforting me whenever I was feeling overwhelmed. To be honest without her I feel ridiculously lonely, my house feels empty and I feel unanchored. I’ve had her for 10 years and I’ve always had a cat ever since I was like eight years old. My Benny boy (my pug) also means the world to me but he’s not really great reading a room or doesn’t really seem to notice if I’m upset the way that Biene and Aunna did...

I don’t know if everyone can understand the relationship that I have with my animals but they mean the world to me and because of the pandemic and my autoimmune disorder I am extremely isolated so losing my two babies so close together has been very Traumatic. 

In regards to a Service dog:

I’ve reached out to a number of different organizations regarding a service dog and a number of different trainers and I hadn’t heard back from any of them really. So I decided that I will be adopting a dog on my own and training them with the help of a professional trainer which will also greatly minimize the costs.

I don’t know how long it will take me to find the right dog - i’ve been searching for over a month now and haven’t had any luck. For those of you that don’t know not every dog is suited to being a service dog. If possible I would like to adopt one from a Humane Society or a rescue but they have to be a certain age, a certain temperament, a certain size, only certain breeds are suited to the type of work that they will need to do, and they need to be healthy and that is a difficult combo to find. I’m also considering potentially buying a puppy from a reputable breeder if I can find one but puppies are also in very high demand.

In the meantime I’ve decided to adopt another cat (or two)  - I really need this for my mental health - my house just feels so empty and I’m just so heartbroken and like I said I feel unanchored - Plus I already have everything I need for a cat.  Adopting a cat will cost around 100 - 300 euro.

Update on the cost / how much more is needed for me to get and train my service dog; I have around €1000 thanks to donations and since I have now decided to search for/adopt the dog on my own and will be training the dog on my own (not completely I will need the help of a professional dog trainer) The cost of been greatly reduced. I still need around 2500 more euro in order to complete training and an adoption once I find the right dog. If you can donate I would really appreciate it even just one dollar helps like seriously 🙏💕 thank you

As a reminder you can donate via cash app or PayPal. Thank you again.

Some photos of Benny & Aunna (in her last days).

Thank you Amanda and Sabine - every dollar or euro counts and I am again super grateful to have such amazing friends and family!!

Another important link for my US friends; https://www.thehotline.org/ The above website has an easy escape method built in - you can simply press esc twice or there is large X at the bottom of the screen!