Luna the service dog

[draggar]

We spent a week and a half in Orlando, FL with my family doing Kennedy Space Center, SeaWorld, and many days at Disney parks. To say that Luna worked her ass off would be an understatement. She only got Thursday and Friday off (at a kennel) because we wanted her for the FLA meeting over the weekend. She was the only dog that worked every day (Thurs at Kennedy, Fri at SeaWorld, Sat at Epcott, Tues at Epcott and an "Arabian Nights" horse show, and Wed at Animal Kingdom and Epcott.

Here are the pics:

Taking a break on the bus inbetween areas at Kennedy:


Luna in front of a moon landing newspaper with the headline "LUNA!"


Luna and Zorro in front of a space capsule:


Luna and Kiri waiting to work at Epcot:


Luna at the entrance to SeaWorld:


Plus one cute picture of Zorro with Chip and Dale during a Disney "Hodown" BBQ:


Full album:
http://s118.photobucket.com/albums/o...Orlando-Astor/

[Mikael]

Thanks for sharing

Look´s like you all had a good time

What kind of service can Luna do ???
It would be nice to hear, becose Vlcak´s are so lively that service dog is the last thing I would recomend someone to start train them to

Very best regards / Mikael

[draggar]

Luna is being trained / used for mobility assistance (like a 4-legged cane / walker). Right now the training is 75% exposure (getting her out and used to going places).

She did great - especially with the amount of work she did and the heat (low 90's each day, humid). The only disadvantage is that Disney Parks are not great for service dogs - Epcott and Magic Kingdom have very little shade.

[yukidomari]

wow! Is she really being used for weight support ('four legged cane' comment)? Other SD users have told me they don't do support work with a dog until they are fully mature two years and above, hip scored, and not for constant support either. Maybe light balancing work only.

Curious if you practice something else.

Either way, looks like FL has good SDiT protection! Good for SD users.

[draggar]

Right now she's not doing any heavy labor (we left that to Zorro and Kiri). Sometimes we'll "practice" with Luna (act like we're using her but with little to no weight so she gets used to it - that's the other 25%).

My wife uses a service dog (Zorro and Kiri now) and we're very active in the community, I even put up a website for SD handlers and trainers to look up and review places on how service dog friendly they are.

[Mikael]

Originally Posted by draggar

Luna is being trained / used for mobility assistance (like a 4-legged cane / walker).

Aaaa... Yes that is a BIG help, I did not even think about that kind of sevice, even if I did use/train Hronec for it to when I was trekking (se signatur photo ) Now he is bigger and I just got him a bigger bag

He did carry some of he´s own food but he was just 12,5 month old, so it was just about 4kg in the bag, now I think he can easy carry 10 kg...

Very best regards / Mikael

[Priska182]

Thank you for sharing your great story with your dogs and especially your Vlcak That's amazing

[Vaiva]

Originally Posted by draggar

Luna is being trained / used for mobility assistance (like a 4-legged cane / walker). Right now the training is 75% exposure (getting her out and used to going places).

Haha, seems like I have a service dog either, with no separate training she is sooo good at carrying her bag No, seriously, could you tell more about what kind of training it requires? Is there something special people and dogs should know about it?

I really love dog bags - thay can carry their own food and also some more expensive things, that you would like to keep safe - wallet, photocamera, documents, keys, etc... And what company's bags do you guys use? JuliusK9? Manmat?

[yukidomari]

Vaiva.. In the USA, SDs don't require any specific training or certificate. The dog doesn't make the title, the presence of a disabled human does. As long as the dog can perform one task which mitigates a disability. If the dog isn't well trained enough yet for public access, it's (or should be) a SD in training (SDiT).

[Vaiva]

Originally Posted by yukidomari

Vaiva.. In the USA, SDs don't require any specific training or certificate.

Hmm, this is surprising Thanks for explanation.