Bonus Blog: Bodhi’s Transformation from Speech Therapy Dog to Life-Changing Service Dog

Out of the corner of my eye I see his blue eyes look up and for a moment our gazes lock.  I take a deep breath and feel instantly calmer, smiling at him as I reach into my pocket for a well-earned treat. 

To other customers it probably doesn’t seem like Bodhi is working at all. Only I know how much he improves my quality of life for these two years he’s worked as my service dog.

Former speech therapy dog turned personal service dog Bodhi keeps me calm as we wait for check-out at a grocery store.

If you click a link it is likely an affiliate link and I will earn a small commission if you make a purchase. It doesn’t cost you anything extra. If I don’t use and love a product, you won’t find it here.

Why do I need a service dog?

Looking at me you wouldn’t see anything different, but I’ve struggled with severe social anxiety since childhood and have gone through periods where I’ve experienced repeated panic attacks in public spaces. 

My entire life I was told by well-meaning family members to just “get over it” and so I learned to compensate by what I now know to be masking. 

By assuming a public persona, meticulously mapping out my trip aisle by aisle, and shutting off my emotions I’d been able to lead an independent life, but it meant I was often so exhausted after running routine errands like grocery shopping that I would crash for hours afterward. 

Stores with crowds and overwhelming visual stimuli, such as warehouse and grocery stores, are my nemesis.

Six years ago I started training adoptee Delta to work as my first speech therapy dog, a long process that entailed loads of socialization work.  

Socialization--as in going into stores multiple times a week. 

Somehow, though, I didn’t hate it. 

I gradually realized that because my focus was on Delta, I didn’t register what other people were doing or worry about what they were thinking.  People also naturally gave me more space when accompanied by my four-legged friend. 

Even better, if they talked me it was usually to strike up a conversation about one of my favorite topics—dogs!

Delta ultimately became a fantastic speech therapy dog after a year of socialization and training. It was while preparing to partner with her for animal-assisted speech therapy that I first realized how much my social anxiety was lessened when accompanied in public by a dog.

Here Delta was photographed training a local car dealership to help promote their dog-friendly waiting area on social media.

How Bodhi transitioned from speech therapy dog to service dog

It’s probably more common for dogs to transition in the reverse order of Bodhi, training for service work but ultimately not meeting the needs and taking their well-trained, friendly personality into therapy work.

Bodhi however was purchased as a puppy with the intent of assuming speech therapy dog work as I prepared for Johnny Utah, my senior Brittany Spaniel, to retire.

During his year of animal-assisted speech therapy, Bodhi excelled at bonding with clients but struggled to accept some adult caregivers.

Here he offers a hug to a teen whose attitude about attending speech therapy for residual speech sound errors transformed after I began bringing speech therapy dogs to work.

After a full year of training and passing the Canine Good Citizen test I began transitioning Bodhi into therapy work one and eventually two days a week, and in most sessions he excelled in this role.  Around his second birthday however, he began demonstrating fearful behavior with a few adults with no clear pattern I could discern. 

I tried backing off on visits, adding in more intentional decompression routines, resuming obedience classes, and met twice with an animal behaviorist, but after about six more months it was clear he was just not comfortable in a therapy dog role and therefore would not be able to continue. 

(For more of Bodhi’s early story, see Why Not All Good Dogs Make Good Therapy Dogs) 

Bodhi was excelling at accompanying me in public though, where he was highly focused on me while ignoring others.  So I switched our focus to ways he could better support me and I found it life-changing. 

Speech therapy dog hopeful Bodhi coming home from the breeder. Though he ultimately found a better fit in service dog work, Bodhi helped me provide animal-assisted speech therapy from the age of one to two.

Useful skills for a service dog

Among the helpful service dog skills we added were:

·       heeling while I pushed a shopping cart, including backing up or pivoting while staying at my side

·       “settle” where he shifts his hips to lie comfortably for longer periods of time (e.g., checkout lines or comparing items).  While Bodhi already knew this command, we refined it so he would lean against my leg or lie across my feet to both provide comforting physical contact but also stay out of others’ way

·       looking on command to check in, providing me a distraction when I start to feel my stress escalate.  Bodhi quickly began offering this behavior and I reinforced it with praise or treats so that now he makes frequent eye contact and will often maintain eye contact as we walk down aisles when I need something to focus on

·       “leave it” is especially needed in stores were enticing foods are often at a dog’s nose level and food is often spilled on the floor.  At warehouse stores there are often small garbage cans at aisle ends to dispose of sample cups. This last one still gets us sometimes.

Bodhi demonstrates a “settle” to wait comfortably while I peruse appliances with my husband in a warehouse store.

Bodhi’s vest and velcro patches identify him clearly as a service dog and add to his striking appearance.

Helpful tips for a service dog handler

Along the way I learned other helpful tricks for navigating public spaces with a service animal:

·       Bodhi is an eye-catching dog and people sometimes ask to pet him, despite having “Service Dog, Do Not Pet” prominently displayed.  While I usually respond with a polite, “Sorry, he’s working right now”, if it’s a child, adult with an intellectual disability, or just an especially kind  person I will offer to have him wave to them instead before continuing on my way.  

Bodhi shows off a wave, a quick trick that comes in handy as an alternative to being pet by strangers when in work mode as my service dog.

·       I use a broken-record approach of “he’s trained to distract me from triggers” if another customer decides to push the issue of why I have a service dog. (I’ve yet to have a store employee inquire, but occasionally experience a customer who feels the need to know, including one older gentleman who peppered me with queries until I literally worked to lose his tail.)

·       I keep Bodhi’s  favorite treats in my pocket or a treat pouch to continue to reinforce Bodhi for staying focused during unusually high levels of distraction or if he becomes startled, such as when an 8 foot tall motion detector Grim Reaper started moving and cackling as we came around an aisle end recently (scaring both us, quite fairly)

·       I also use extra treats and quickly review our commands (heeling through turns, lie down, settle, wave) in the parking lot to make sure he’s paying attention and feeling comfortable before entering a store

·       Just as with therapy dog work, I am vigilant to watch Bodhi’s body language to make sure I am not asking too much of him.  I’ve put too much time, money, and effort into his training to risk him becoming overwhelmed and shutting down.  While it hasn’t happened yet, I know that if either of us is becoming too stressed I can use the excuse that he needs a bathroom break to exit the building and regroup.   (Just knowing we could use this as a way out helps me stay calmer entering stores in the first place.)

·       When we are done with errands, I take off Bodhi’s service dog vest and reward him with a larger “jackpot treat” so he knows he can stop focusing on me and fully relax.  If possible, I also take him to local trails to run off any pent-up adrenaline from being on alert for an extended time. 

Bodhi enjoys a relaxing walk after sustained focus work running errands with me.

What designates a service dog?

Each person with a service dog has their own specific needs.

While I’ve navigated training Bodhi to perform service work myself with help from an experienced obedience trainer, if you or someone you know is looking for a fully trained service animal they might want to check out Canine Companions or google “Service Dog for ___” to find other non-profit organizations that help match a human’s needs with a dog’s specific training. 

Each state varies in their laws regarding service animals, so if this a route you’re interested in pursuing for yourself or a loved one be sure you know the requirements. 

In my state there is no central registry and no specific qualifications, though business owners can ask you to leave if the dog is behaving in an clearly untrained, unsafe, or unhygienic manner.  They may ask you to state what service the dog provides and there is a list of acceptable jobs  (in my case, distracting from triggers), but they do not have the right to ask you specifics about your diagnosis or to require documentation. 

Clear identification of the dog as a service animal is recommended, though surprisingly not required.  For some options, see Therapy Dog Supplies)

In conclusion…

While this post has been a departure from the usual speech therapy dog content, I hope you found Bodhi’s story enlightening. 

While the fact that he wasn’t able to continue in a speech therapy dog role was initially heartbreaking, I’ve found his career transition to be life-changing for me and my mental health.

Though his role may seem simple in comparison with a seizure-alert dog, seeing-eye dog, or a service dog that aids someone in a wheelchair, his ability to check in visually and provide comforting sensory input while navigating public spaces allows me to lead a normal, independent life while living with an anxiety disorder.

Next week I’ll return to discussing the finer points of Animal-Assisted Speech Therapy. 

In the meantime, find out more about speech therapy dogs in Paws for Progress: Integrating Animal-Assisted Interventions Into Your Speech-Language Pathology Practice, now available from ASHA Press, or check out the online course Talk to the Paw: Foundations for Therapy Animal Inclusion in a Professional Setting!

May your day be filled with puppy wiggles and children’s giggles,

Sharlet