Service Dogs are incredible canine companions specially trained to help people suffering from various psychological or emotional disorders. They provide essential support and enhance their overall quality of life. These highly trained animals serve a critical role in mitigating the symptoms and effects of multiple psychological conditions, while also offering emotional comfort and practical assistance.
When people are looking for a psychiatric service dog for sale, it is usually for a specific condition that they are struggling with. To give our readers a better idea of what specific types of conditions these incredible animals offer support with, we put together this quick reference guide with a few common disorders they can be trained to assist with:
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
Support dogs are especially helpful in assisting those who suffer from PTSD.
They can be trained to interrupt nightmares, offer comfort during anxiety attacks, and create a sense of familiarity and safety in triggering environments or atmospheres.
By being alert regarding their owner’s changing behavior and mood, these pups provide timely intervention; quickly stabilizing their handlers and alleviating stress-induced symptoms from past trauma.
Severe and Chronic Depression
Many individuals seek a psychiatric service dog for sale to help with their depression. By providing both unconditional love and support, these incredible canines can uplift the spirits of their owners and encourage them to engage in various social interactions and physical activities. Their mere presence alone stifles one of the biggest and most common symptoms of depression; loneliness.
Various Anxiety Disorders
Support dogs also help people struggling with anxiety issues such as social anxiety disorder and generalized anxiety disorder. By using deep pressure therapy, these canine companions help reduce stress and anxiety by applying gentle pressure to their owner’s body. This has a calming effect that provides quick relief of anxiety symptoms.
Additionally, their continual presence creates a sense of reassurance and security, helping individuals suffering from these conditions to navigate life’s daily obstacles and challenges much more easily.
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder
Another one of the many conditions support dogs assist with is OCD. They can be trained to perform much-needed tasks such as providing distractions during obsessive moments and interrupting compulsive behavior and activities.
Through structured and rigorous training, these dogs learn to not only recognize but also anticipate rising anxiety levels and intervene to disrupt reparative behavior; helping their owners reestablish control of their thoughts and actions.
You Don’t Want to Buy Just Any Psychiatric Service Dog for Sale
Unfortunately, just as there is with any other type of dog breeding, there are unscrupulous breeders and trainers that will promise the moon while selling you a bill of goods. While you may think that you are getting a thoroughly trained and conditioned dog to help with your or a loved one’s condition, you could be getting something that could make it worse.
Under or improperly-trained dogs can actually do more harm than good, as their stress or anxiety levels can cause an increase in the stress and anxiety of their handlers. You want to make sure that you purchase your support canine from a reputable and trusted provider.