What tasks do you have your service dog help you with?

What tasks do you have your assistance animal help you with?

I don't have a MH assistance dog, though I did look into it. They're not really a big thing here in the UK so I would have to justify his presence all the time (basically 'outing' my crazy all the time), and I couldn't afford to pay for the training to get my dog accredited (if he could pass it).

If I could, I would want to train him to very persistently wake me up when my alarm goes off because I'm awful at getting up in the morning, but he's just as lazy as I am and loves to sleep in late. He does wake me up when he needs the toilet, but that's usually hours after I was supposed to get up.

I have trained him to give cuddles on demand, and he is also usually very good at picking up when I am distressed and supporting me even when I don't ask him to. He also makes me feel safer when I have to leave the house, and encourages me to leave the house to walk him. And he cheers me up when he does silly things and when we play together. Technically he would qualify here as a MH support dog if I got a doctor's letter for him, which means I'd be allowed to keep him in housing that usually excludes dogs, but I can't take him into shops or on planes etc, like you can with a MH assistance dogs.

Do you have a MH assistance dog, or are you hoping to get one? Personally I think it's an amazing idea. I hope it takes off in the UK too. Here all of the signs in shops and restaurants that I've ever seen still say 'no dogs, except guide dogs', so assistance dogs are seen by the general public to be only for blind people, which is a shame.

ETA: he also helps me know if something is a hallucination by whether he reacts to it or not.

*Willow*

Willow can you post a picture of your dog? He sounds amazing!

I have a service cat. Some states in the US only allow dogs, but most aren't that strict. My cat isn't trained to do anything. I just have a note from a mental health professional saying I need a cat as a part of my treatment plan. So, my cat just loves one me, and it helps. (I don't hear voices when being around cats. I can't explain why.)