[PurpleFlyingMonkeys]

I've been doing research on service animals and have been considering getting one, I think it would be a big help for a couple reasons.

The seizures I was getting. Although I haven't had one in 10 months and believe I will not have another (I have faith in this) the doctors never found the reason for the seizures I've gotten thus can not determine if I will have another (I've had at least two grand mals documented, a few petits as well within a year). I had a small dog at one point I'd considered training as a service animal. Reason is during the seizure days when I would go out without realizing it, he always knew and would start barking and growling and snap me out of it. At one point he practically saved my life. I apparently started cooking something and sat on the couch and the next thing I know he's barking and the house is full of smoke and all three smoke detectors are going off at the same time. Have no clue what happened to make me not notice but when the smoke detectors didn't snap me out of it, my dog did. Any time I started to go out he was there, even when just the feeling came over me he'd start barking and growling to let me know something was up. Unfortunately he got hit by a car and didn't make it. I miss that little guy

And for non medical reasons, I want a friend. I want a dog to hug and love when I'm feeling down, when I'm feeling anxious, when I just need a friend. I don't need a service animal for this reason but I do want a good dog for this reason.

So where do I go and how do I go about finding a service animal? I've been looking but can't really find one in the South East US

[Travelinglady]

I don't know where she lives, but I know (JD) has a service animal. Maybe she would have some information about them.

[Perna]

I'd check with these people:

NC: Service dogs for people with disabilities
SC: HOME : The Service Dog Institute

[thunderbear]

Hey PurpleFlyingMonkies.......My psychiatrist recommended that I get one for my PTSD & he said I would have to go to my regular doctor and she would fill out a form about my disabilty & send it off to the folks who provide the animals. From there, they would get with me and we would discuss my needs & what I would need from my companion. A fellow patient of my psych has a little yorkie dog for her panic disorder & I asked her if they would train my black lab as a service dog & she said no that she wanted to do that with her german sheperd but the service animal people said that companions are born being trained & it takes at least 2 years to train them.

[PurpleFlyingMonkeys]

I'll talk to my doc about it, I have a german shepherd right now I just got, we're working on training him to be a service dog. I would have waited, only issue being they said it can take up to two years and they can be thousands of dollars and I honestly can't afford that right now, and I've been going on two years since my conditions peaked and I don't want to wait another two years before I can feel comfortable alone again. But I'll contact my doctor and see what they think I should do. Thank you