Invisable Disability ~ The Storm You Can't Always See

When you think of the word 'disabled', what do you think of? A spinal cord injury survivor in a wheel chair, a blind person with a guide dog, or a quadriplegic? These of course are all very visible and life altering disabilities but not all disabilities are as visible.
So what is an invisible disability?

"The ADA defines a person with a disability as a person who has a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activity. This includes people who have a record of such an impairment, even if they do not currently have a disability. It also includes individuals who do not have a disability but are regarded as having a disability. The ADA also makes it unlawful to discriminate against a person based on that person’s association with a person with a disability."

An invisible disability is the same as any other disability, it's just not always visible but it's still just as hard for those of us who have them. It's easy to have a disability and be depressed, careless, and angry. When it gets hard is when you ask people for help. I think a lot of college students are afraid to ask for help for the fear of people telling them they are too young to be going through this and to just get over it. Most of us can't get over it unless we ask for help.

Medication can't fix 80 % of the issues people with invisible disabilities are going to encounter. I have a difficult time focusing when I'm in pain, sometimes I have to leave class to take a break or slow down. Unless you know me, really really really well, you can't usually tell when I'm having a difficult day. I kind of just stick a smile on my face and try to complain as little as I possibly can while still getting through the day. I wouldn't even call what I have a disability if it weren't defined the way it is in the ADA. But it effects my life every day and I can't change much about that.  I want to be able to do everything everyone else can, and I know I can do that. I just have to do things a little differently and not rush into a life that I will later regret. Maybe someday soon I will be better but for now I have to take care of myself.

So to anyone else in college trying to hide their invisible disability, ask for help. The #1 best thing you can do is make friends with people who understand what your going through. Create a support system you can rely on. And remember just because something is wrong with you doesn't mean your being selfish. Your just taking care of yourself and there's nothing wrong with that!

Trek on,
Girl minus dog 

A Guide to Service Dog Ethics

A Guide to Service Dog Ethics

I’m going to do something I haven’t done in a while. Let’s have a chat about Service Dogs. Particularly, what makes a dog a service dog, what is required for an individual to need a service dog and finally how ethics play a role in the use of service dogs. In today’s world a Service Dog can be trained to assist with many disabilities. But that’s what they are for, Disabilities.

Let me start by defining what a disability is. A disability is a medical, psychiatric, learning, or physical condition that alters an individual’s ability to function in the same way the majority of society does. Now, that’s not exactly how the ADA defines it, but for the purpose of the service dog world, that’s how we are going to talk about it here. A condition has to alter your life just about 99% of the time you are attempting to do something to warrant the need of a service dog. Since I’m a college student with a lot of stress in my life I’m going to us a psychiatric example to explain this. Let’s use Anxiety. Everyone at some point in their life has anxiety. Anxiety is essentially being afraid of something. Last week, I was really afraid of the big oral Animal Nutrition exam I had to take, but after I took it, it was over. That’s a perfectly normal example of test anxiety. Now let’ say for the purpose of this example that I have an Anxiety Disorder (in the real world I don’t). I’m waiting to take my test when suddenly I go into a full blown panic attack, sending my body into shock, passing out on the floor with no one around to help. How could a dog have helped prevent this? Psychiatric support dogs are trained to respond to a change in emotion. A dog would have heard my heart rate starting to increase, smelled a difference in the scent of my sweat, and alerted me with a distraction to leave the situation. If I would have continued to go into shock a dog would have been able to bark alerting those around me that I needed help. If I had fallen on the ground a dog could have stood over me and possibly protected my head from hitting the ground. The anxiety attack isn't just a one-time deal; it’s a constant battle that happens every time someone with an anxiety disorder is in an event that triggers anxiety. It’s a life altering disability for many and yes, a service dog can help with it. But please don’t mistake having anxiety about your mom coming for a visit with having an anxiety disorder. Having normal anxiety does not warrant a service dog.

 Next, I’ll define what a service dog is. A service dog is a dog that in most cases has been breed from a superior genetic pool of other extraordinarily successful service dogs. However, there are some extra-extra ordinary exceptions to this rule. All service dogs, no matter what purpose they serve, can perform at least 3 tasks that aid their disabled handler in leading a healthier life filled with more independence. Service dogs are however limited to psychiatric and physical disabilities. As much as I wish they could, unfortunately a dog can’t write or read to help someone with a learning disability. But they can, guide the blind, alert the deaf, assist with mobility issues, alert to seizures, hypoglycemic attacks, changes in psychiatric condition, and the list goes on and on. That’s why these dogs are typically bred to do what they do. A higher degree of physical health, natural ability, and intelligence is not always something you can pick up from your local AKC Labrador breeder. Occasionally you will find a one in a million dog in the pound that you take home as a pet and instead of being a pet starts naturally alerting to whatever medical condition you may have. You can’t take an abused dog, rescue it from the humane society, and force it to work for you. That is just another form of abuse called emotional abuse. Upon occasion you can take a dog from a rescue and after it has settled in to your life for many months and established your trust, then and only then could you start introducing it to potentially being a service dog. And even then you have to find a program, private trainer, and expensive testing to make it all work. So in the long run it might be easier to go through an established program. Any dog can be great with the help and training of a human but not every dog can be a great service dog. To conclude what I just said, since I’m kind of going off on a tangent, to be a service dog, a dog must willingly perform AT LEAST three tasks that assist their disabled handler.

This brings me to my final discussion, what is an ethical amount of work to ask a service dog to do? I’m not going into extreme “no one should own pet’s and dog’s shouldn’t do anything but sit on the coach and eat potato chips all day” views as some animal rights groups might. But I would like to get you thinking logically about what is a fair amount of work to ask a dog to do for a human. Let me start this by saying, asking your pet to go everywhere with you is unethical. They will be exposed to screaming children, loud noises, offended people, other animals, toxic substances, potential viruses, and more. Just don’t do it. It’s not only illegal and punishable by a $1,000 fine to say that your pet dog is a service dog, it’s also unfair to your dog’s emotional health, safety and overall wellbeing. A dog, just as a person, can only do so much before they reach a breaking point. Many students work 40 hours a week, go to school full time, and often some have families to take care of at home. They make compensations in their life to be able to do all that, maybe they aren’t involved in the clubs they want to be involved in, don’t go to the gym, and sleep only a few hours a night. A service dog has a 24/7 job to take care of his disabled partner in crime. That dog needs breaks, out of harness or uniform time to play, relax and still be a pet dog. Even while he’s on breaks he is still keeping himself mostly focused on his handler. So how much is to much for a dog to handle? A dog trained to guide a blind epileptic doesn’t sound to bad, but if that dog is a seizure alert guide dog is that to much? Maybe, maybe not, It depends on the dog and the person. What if the handler is a blind, epileptic, confined to a wheel chair and requires the dog to assist with mobility tasks, is that too much to ask? These things come up in the world of service dogs and ethics are going to play a huge role as these issues continue to grow. What are some of your views?

 

Signing off,

Girl and Pup

Everything discussed here is my own personal opinion. Everyone is entitled to their own however, this is mine and I wanted to share it with you as I feel it is very important for everyone to know where they stand on this issue. This is not the view of New Mexico State University, Aggie P.A.W. Service Dog club, Guide Dogs of the Desert, or Foundation for Service Dog Support. This is my view, and my view only.  

Falling into Winter

A dog to protect me 

A horse to teach me 

The hours of darkness are longer, the days shortening into cooler weather with beautiful sunsets and sunrises. Fields of corn that surrounded the place I call home have been chopped down revealing another layer of mountainous horizon off in the distance. In the mornings I move the puppies from their warm bed of hay snuggled up closely to each other inside the puppy box. Tucking them in my arms nestled up to my sweater I carry them outside and feel them shiver as the crisp cool air nips at their nose. At night I snuggle up to my 60 pound husky curled up in a ball underneath the mountainous pile of blankets we cocoon in.

The full effects of winter are approaching quickly, and with them come longer exams, late nights of studying with hot chocolate, and longing for my warm Arizona home and my mothers cooking. When homework, studying, horse judging, school clubs and work are finished early, there is time in my day for a left to spend in the saddle improving my riding or out taking pictures.

“I wonder if the snow loves the trees and fields, that it kisses them so gently? And then it covers them up snug, you know, with a white quilt; and perhaps it says "Go to sleep, darlings, till the summer comes again.” 
― Lewis Carroll, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland & Through the Looking-Glass

The Simple Life

'Simple', the word can be used in many ways, but what does it mean to me? Simple is not having to worry about dramatic things happening or when the next time I get to have a relaxing day will be. I have a set routine I live by. I live in less than 100 square feet in between a horse corral, dog training kennel, and a corn field. I see the stars and constellations every night, and watch the sunrise up against the fluffy white New Mexican clouds every morning. Instead of paying rent, I earn my keep by training dogs and doing farm chores. Someone famous once said something about chores aren't really chores if your having fun, and that's pretty much how I live my life.

I have come to the realization that there's no point in doing work I don't enjoy unless it will help me accomplish something else I want to do. Every day is spent covered in mud, working with horses, and having a dog by my side. There are things that aren't worth fighting for any more, and I know what I stand for. Of course that's an ever changing thing, but for now, I'm done letting the little things interfere with my life.

In the middle of Southern New Mexico, I have found peace, quiet, and an even balance between school and living my life they way I want to. Advice for the rest of the world? Balance things. Make your work play, and figure out how to enjoy life as much as you can. Don't just do school, there are other things you can do with school that will make your life so much more enjoyable.

XOXO
Kyia + Lucas

Updates on Life

I haven't posted in quite a while. The truth is, I have been extremely busy and my health hasn't been exactly as wonderful as it should be (mentally or physically). I have been living with my mom in Phoenix this summer. To say the least, it's not my favorite place in the world to be. But it does have it's perks!

In an effort to learn more about canine reproductive physiology and behavior, I took on a summer job working for a world famous dog breeder. I wasn't really expecting to be working with 14 pound show dogs all summer, but I have learned so much! Every day I train 6-14 dogs and help take care of about 45 King Charles Cavalier Spaniels ranging from 8 weeks-10 years old. Things are done a lot differently when you have that many dogs to work with at a time. I'm the Dog Groomer, Trainer, Housekeeper, pooper scooper, and much more. I admit that a Cavalier probably wouldn't be the right dog for me, but I do love some of their personalities! They are fun to train, but challenging at the same time. I'm hoping that one day I will be asked to show one off in a fancy show ring somewhere, and win a pretty ribbon. Who knows?!?!

Yuma at 7 weeks old! 

Next semester is approaching quickly. I have purchased my first vehicle, a blue 2002 subaru outback, lovingly known as 'the bluebaru'. There where many reasons why I decided upon a subaru. One of which was that my friend Amelia over at www.doggoestocollege.com, convinced me that 8 labrador retrievers could be fit in it quite nicely, and you could pull a 1 or 2 horse trailer behind it. I will have to put this to the test sometime. Anyone willing to loan me some labradors? (warning: you might not get them back).

Blueburu

Another big thing going on, I'm moving off campus. Although living on campus was a great experience in some ways my freshman year, there was simply too much drama and the cost of living on campus is significant compared to what it cost me to live on my own. I want to be more independent, and this is my opportunity. I have applied for an apprenticeship with a hunting dog breeder in the next town over from my school and hope that it works out. The big bushy husky/Australian Shepard my dad has had since I was about 12 years old, will be moving to college with me temporarily. If i'm going to be living on my own, I need a big security system to protect me, and Lucas fits the bill!

I'm taking 15 credits next semester instead of 18. This will hopefully allow my health to improve and give me the opportunity to do more service dog things, and things I enjoy doing with my life that aren't related to school or dogs at all. I'm hoping to train at least 2 more horses in the next year. I love school but it stressed me out terribly and believe it or not, there are other things that I also enjoy doing. So, I will be taking it easy, studying hard, and enjoying life!
Leave a comment below! I love feedback :)

Girl and Pup A.K.A. Kyia + Lucas <3

Lucas after bath and a shave

I've Got That 4-H Camp Spirit!

I recently returned form 4-H camp, where I served as the camp nurse and lifeguard. It was tons of fun but also super exhausting. Through lots of hard work, fundraising, and club contributions the Arizona 4-H youth development program was recently able to purchase the James 4-H camp at Mingus springs. It's a small camp with they typical log bunkhouse and stone cabins. A nurses cabin, cooks cabin, cafeteria, rec room, cabin for the adult staff members and a beautiful mosey green lake. But it's not the structures, landscape, or amazing weather that make this camp amazing, it's what happens during camp and what all the campers get to learn that makes it what it is.

         

     
 
 
YuPiCopa. What the heck does that mean?!? Yuma, Pima, and (most importantly) Maricopa County 4-H camp. On Friday night Maricopa and Pima county counselors and adult staff arrived at camp after some much unwanted vehicle trouble, (if you want to get somewhere don't rent a chevy, spend the extra money and get a ford). And several boxes of elbow crushed pizza, courtesy of my elbow pizza front seat off-road in the dark front pizza smashing abilities (no one will forget this for as long as I live). The next few days where spent preparing for camp. There wasn't much for me to do since I wasn't a counselor, so I went on lots of long walks, took pictures and helped with the cooking.

On Monday, the campers arrived! Last year I was a counselor so it was great to see lots of faces from camp last year. The campers go settled into their cabins, played icebreaker games, and other get to know everyone type things. The fast pace didn't stop there! The week continued with shooting sports, swimming, boating, arts and crafts, sports, A 4th of July carnival, Color Run, obstacle course, GPS workshop, scat and tracks workshop, dances, hikes, and many other things I'm forgetting. I helped where I was needed. The counselors always needed help with one thing or another and brought to me a steady stream of injured children, sprained ankles, stubbed tows, bloody noses, bee stings, scraped up kids, sprained, bruised and battered children, you name it of things that might happen to a kid at camp, and I probably saw it over the last week. As much as I enjoyed it, remind me never to go to nursing school! I think i'm going to stick to Veterinary Medicine instead. Most importantly I was the lifeguard, my number one job was preventing emergencies from happening, and for my first SOLO lifeguard job, watching up to 60 kids at once, I think I did pretty well. No one drowned, and I only had to blow my whistle about a hundred times before kids started taking me seriously (I worked for my respect!).

Your probably wondering what I did in my free time, or maybe not, I don't really know what your thinking right now. I'll tell you anyway. It was often suggested that when I had a free hour or so that I should go sleep, but who wants to sleep when they already got a good 6 hours of rest the night before and there are plenty of things to do? I finished reading a wonderful book (book review to come soon), went for hikes, explored the stream, and worked on my shooting skills in archery. Archery, I have grown very fond of this sport and really would like to make it a hobby. I love how I can totally zone everything else out, focus on the target, and make a shot. The more I focus, the better I get, and by the end of the week I was turning into a pretty good shooter. This sport is probably going to be addicting once I can afford to get supplies (cabelas gift card for my birthday anyone? hint, hint), much like all the other sports I play are addicting. But this one could really help me to manage my stress instead of increasing it. Lots of pros to trying this, not much to loose!

The best part of camp (besides archery) was watching the kids have fun. In today's age it's horrible to see kids glued to electronic devices. All of that gets put away at camp and they learn to just be kids for a while. Mud fights are often encouraged by counselors, trying new activities, taking risks and learning new things are all things that happen at camp. This year was especially wonderful for me because I was able to step back and watch the counselors work. My brother was a counselor at camp and I get to spend a lot of time talking to him and just being friends, something that we don't get to do very often. We where on a short walk together after lunch, just to get a break from all the hustle and bustle and I asked him, Ross, what do you think makes a good camp counselor? He summed it up perfectly, "You have to have the energy of a camper, but the leadership and authority of a 4-Her". Not to brag about my brother or anything but I remember last year he was the counselor who was always frustrated, letting everyone else do the work, and standing off to the side in major situations. This year he really did have the leadership and authority of a good 4-H teen and the energy of a camper. I never once heard him complain around the campers about being exhausted, homesick, angry, or tired of camp, that's what makes a great camp counselor. There where other counselors who did an amazing job and made huge leaps and bounds from where they started last year. Being able to step back from being the leader for a while and just watch them succeed was wonderful to see. If this is what being a 4-H leader is like, then sign me up!

There are many long lasting memories made at camp and I hope I get to have many more. I may be grown up, but no matter how old you are or where you go in life, If you grew up as a 4-Her you will always be a 4-Her. Being a grown up is hard, not being in 4-H after 13 years is hard, but camp really made me realize that no matter what I do or where I go, I Am a 4-Her. <3

Love,
Lifeguard Kyia, Nurse Kyia, VIT (veterinarian In Training), Certifiable Cripple, Gimpy, Dishwasher, Photographer, Pizza Crusher, LIFEGUARDDDDDDDDDD HELLLLLPPP, and other names.....

Swimming! 

 My Archery Battle Wound. Ouch.

My Brother Ross Playing some Lacrosse 

Campers Boating

Leading a campfire song 

Shooting Sports 

Lifeguarding from the dock

      

You Might Be a Dog Trainer If....

You find your cell phone inside your bate bag

 

Your cell phone has multiple bite marks on it

you're wearing more leashes than you have dogs

You have a favorite leash that no one else is allowed to use.




you dump the contents of your treat bag all over yourself when you sit down.

you're favorite words are 'leave it'

you have the urge to train the people around you.

You often feel the urge to rip the leash out of an owners hand and show them how to train their dog, but know not too.

You find doggy clean up bags in ever purse/bag/backpack you own.

You walk into the grocery store with a leash draped across your body but no dog.

people tell you that you smell like pee.

you hate going to petsmart because the dog trainers think they know more than you

you stop people walking their dog to reajust their dogs collar and show them how to use it safely

you're idea of a fun day consist of training 5-10 dogs

you're favorite kind of treats are made out of some kind of weird animal organ

you're dog has more expensive shoes on then you do.

you spend half your income on things for your dog

you ask people if they need to 'get busy' instead of asking if they need a restroom. 

When people in large crowds are walking very slowly, you tell them to 'step up'.

You're dog can spell, 'w-a-l-k" "l-e-a-s-h" "t-r-e-a-t-s" and "d-o-g-s-h-o-w"

You say good boy, or good girl, when you are pleased with something someone did for you.

When you meet someone and their dog you ask if you can give their dog a treat because you just randomly carry around treats with you.

When you start walking you always lead with your left foot.