Since service dogs undergo extensive training to learn particular skills, it’s important for people unfamiliar with their function to treat them with respect. The Americans with Disabilities Act provides us with these tips:

-Do not touch the Service Animal, or the person it assists, without permission.

-Do not make noises at the Service Animal; it may distract the animal from doing its job.

-Do not feed the Service Animal; it may disrupt his/her schedule.

-Do not be offended if the person does not feel like discussing his/her disability or the assistance the Service Animal provides. Not everyone wants to be a walking-talking “show and tell” exhibit.

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He uses his nose to nudge her on the leg. And he barks twice.

Elaine Jordan of San Antonio takes the cue and reaches for her pills.

Destry, a psychiatric service dog, just prevented the mentally ill Mrs. Jordan from having a panic attack.

“Service dogs are trained to sense changes in a person’s behavior and body and react appropriately,” said Joan Esnayra, founder of the Psychiatric Service Dog Society. “What a service dog does depends on the kind of help a person needs. And just like different kinds of medicine work for different kinds of people, different service dogs work for different kinds of disabled people.”

Mrs. Jordan, who suffers from post-traumatic stress syndrome, has come to rely on her Belgian sheepdog like people with asthma rely on their inhalers. Her diagnosis, she said, is linked to the death of her parents; both of them committed suicide before she was 10.

“It was in 2005 when I realized I needed help. I didn’t leave the house for five months. I talked to nobody and did nothing,” Mrs. Jordan said. “My doctors told me to learn about psychiatric service dogs and consider getting one. They thought it would help me. It did. That dog got me to function as normal as I could.”

Destry leads Mrs. Jordan through breathing exercises when she feels overwhelmed. When stressful situations make her dizzy, she gains her balance by leaning on her dog.

“He’s always there. His sole job is to make things easier for me,” Mrs. Jordan said. “He’s a protector. There’s no way I could talk to strangers if I didn’t know I was safe.”

She trusts her dog’s senses more than her own.

“I go through bouts of depression where I sleep so heavy that I’m unaware of alarms, the alarm clock, the fire alarm, police sounds, whatever,” Mrs. Jordan said. “But the dog can hear them. I can depend on that. He has a bark that means danger, and he has his way of waking me up in the mornings. If I don’t respond to his regular bark, he’ll open the curtain, and then lick me and jump on me until I move.”

New idea

The idea of a psychiatric service dog is relatively new, barely 10 years old.

Ms. Esnayra coined the term in September of 1997.

“I was newly diagnosed with bipolar disorder,” Ms. Esnayra said. “Through the recovery process, I realized my dog would get upset in my manic phases. She knew something was wrong. She just had to be taught what to do to help.”

With degrees in philosophy and genetics, Ms. Esnayra had the know-how to approach doctors and psychiatrists and ask for help in developing her theory. She said it took about a year for the term to enter the working vocabulary of mental health professionals.

“Now, there’s about 5,000 mentally ill people in the United States who use psychiatric service dogs,” Ms. Esnayra said.

Paula Pollei, president of the Temple branch of the National Association of Mental Illness, is quite familiar with the psychiatric service dog concept.

“Joan Esnayra was the one who really pushed for doctors to consider it as a legitimate way to treat mental illness,” Ms. Pollei said. “People were already doing it and researching it when she came up with the term, but it wasn’t until 1997 that people started to hear about it.”

Public awareness of psychiatric service dogs is just now beginning to grow, Ms. Pollei said.

“It’s been a grass roots effort to get the word out,” Ms. Pollei said. “Part of that’s because of the stigma that comes with mental illness.”

Within the last three years, though, Ms. Pollei said she’s heard of more mentally ill people wanting to use service dogs and more doctors suggesting it.

“I don’t know of anyone in the area who uses one, though.”

The Psychiatric Service Dog Society provides consumers and health-care providers the information necessary to start PSD treatment on its Web site, www.psychdog.org.

Success

The Psychiatric Service Dog Society routinely receives letters about from mentally ill people whose service dogs have allowed them new freedoms.

“They’re stories are powerful,” Ms. Esnayra said. “And heart-warming.”

Veronica Morris, a bipolar woman from California, said she owes her independence to Sabrina, her psychiatric service dog.

“Until I had my service dog, I (couldn’t) utilize public transportation by myself or go to a new place alone,” Ms. Morris said. “I can still remember the first time I took myself to a strange hotel in the middle of a new city. My mother was delighted - I was able to function like a ‘normal’ member of society.”

After about a year with Sabrina, Ms. Morris said her family realized how dysfunctional her prior behavior was.

“My parents are finally getting to know their ‘real’ daughter for the first time,” Ms. Morris said. “Sabrina gives me life - a life that I would have otherwise missed-out on.”

Shanna Hollingsworth has an autistic son who has also gained more independence through the use of a psychiatric service dog, a.k.a. Magick.

“Magick is valuable medicine for my son,” Mrs. Hollingsworth said. “She can locate him on a moment’s notice. She leads him, as would a guide dog for the blind. When he has an ‘overload moment,’ he has learned to sit on the floor and hug his Magick.”

This time-out of sorts is part of a therapy called “Deep Pressure” that’s often administered to autistic children.

“It calms them down from a frantic state by providing them a single focal point,” Mrs. Hollingsworth described.

Her son’s mobility has also improved.

“Being guided by his service dog seems to give him a sense of direction,” Mrs. Hollingsworth said. “He no longer crashes into commercial displays and shelves. He walks through the store like an average person. “

In case studies, the Psychiatric Service Dog Society reports that service dogs can prevent autistic children from repetitive, obsessive behaviors by diverting their attention elsewhere.

It’s a phenomenon Mrs. Hollingsworth has witnessed.

“Continuously flapping your hands on your face seems harmless enough, but it makes it harder for the child to make friends,” she said. “Magick has helped (my son) to get away from behaviors like that. He’s getting along well with the other children.”

Magick as also helped his person to refrain from sleep walking, grinding his teeth and experiencing night terrors.

A Newfoundland able to pull 2,000 pounds, Magick is able to lead the Hollingsworth boy out of emergency situations.

“It’s help my son will need,” Mrs. Hollingsworth said. “I have witnessed him during fire drills; he becomes frenzied and cannot coordinate his mind or body properly. Having a dog like Magick will help him to evacuate. It’s valuable task that will provide my son a safety net into adulthood.”

--Email Tomie Lunsford at tlunsford@temple-telegram.com