Monday, June 8, 2015

My Family Does Not Understand

I know at times my family drives me crazy. I know my dad when he called this weekend told me Duchess needed to be retrained because he thought she wasn't doing her job. He told me that she needs to be awake all day and until I got to bed. I know my father has no idea about the correct balance that is needed to keep a service dog working such as down time and exercise for her as well. I know each person in my family has these wild ideas that Duchess will never miss a low. I know that day I made some mistakes I normally have Duchess in the bathroom while I shower but that night she was asleep. I know we had a busy day of activity and so I expected her to be asleep. I need to give her down time and some fun because that keeps her motivated. I know my family has not done any research any thing to understand what can happen.

I know when I visit them my dad tends to do the wrong things such as telling Duchess to go away etc. because she was trying to say hello. I find that these situations can relate to a missed low or a low where she felt she would be ignored. I know this can contribute to a bad low but I am not willing to argue with my family about the semantics of what my service dog should and should not do. I know a great deal about Duchess but they tend to only see my once a year and some times longer so they don't seem to get it. I know I told my dad she does not need to be retrained but things some times happen we can't predict but thankfully once I did pass out Duchess did do her job but my father considers it a failure because she didn't  alert sooner. I know at times when  it is not high stress and I am so busy doing things I may miss things because I am human.

I know I am tried of my father harassing me because he has these unrealistic expectations. I do regular scent work with Duchess so she is really great at alerting. The issue is really just trying to get my family on board with the fact that certain things they do can also affect my service dog and that I can only do so much. I know my roommates have also done things to make her not want to alert but thankfully she still does. I know Duchess is doing a great job and I feel like there is nothing needs to be done except to keep Duchess doing her scent her as normal.

No comments:

Post a Comment