Replacement Dog License San Diego Form

I didn't make my dog into a service animal.She did it on her own.Let me explain. (Long but worthy as I say the things so many want to say but don't)I am 100% Deaf, I have a bad heart valve, I need a pacemaker (which I cannot afford) and I have Phenylketonuria which occasionally causes seizures.My wife bought this 160 pound 2 year old Labrador for me on my birthday because we live on a homestead on the side of the mountain in the middle of nowhere, and she works in town and thought I could use a companion for the time of day while she is at work. Great! An untrained dog that has zero fucks to give about rules like trash, food on the table, where to shit, let alone staying within eyesight of me or anyone for that matter, doesn't listen and doesn't respond to commands… $200 food gobbling black lab with brown eyes. She is apparently incapable of any facial expressions at all. None. Not even a little bit.It took so much effort just to get her to listen to basic rules and let alone stay on the 5 acres… the number of times I had to physically go hunt her ass down and drag her back (yes, drag. As in hog tie and drag like a sack of gravel though the woods and often up the road for about a mile in mud and gravel) and she weighs 160 pounds was over the top!This monstrous dog was nothing but trouble… the only redeeming quality was that she didn't eat shoes.I would let her out to go potty, and she would come back in an hour from wherever… come inside and take a huge crap on the floor inside the house! So much for that huh? Grab that monster stinky turd and rub it in her face… then rub her face in the piss she just let loose on the floor… both were an incredible feat of brute strength because even with welding gloves on holding her collar, she would twist and pull so hard that she twice broke my fingers in the process which took no less than an hour of hard wrestling which resulted in both of us daily being bloody and bruised and covered in dog shit, the house a disaster, and we both slept really good that night from being worn out, repeat process the next day and the next.. it seemed like it was never going to end…Little did I know… she was bonding with me during that horrible time.We discovered exactly the physical limitations of each other. She discovered that I don't cry when I smashed my forehead into hers, and I discovered exactly how strong she is and where her weaknesses were.Slowly, she stopped getting into the kitchen trash, primarily because she didn't like having the trash can put on top of her and then having it drummed on for hours with no escape.Now… at the mere smell of trash she display zero interest in it at all. I can let her loose at the landfill and she doesn't want to touch anything.Progress was painstakingly slow, and aggravating at best.Then… we got to the point where she would follow commands, basic stuff like sit, stay, come, lay, “stick with me” (she didn't respond to “heel”), no, yucky, gentle, and a few others.Then one day I had cooked up a whole stack of hot dogs and hamburgers from Walmart (they taste like cardboard) and had my wife video recording in absolute disbelief that I was able to set a freshly cooked burger on a plate on the ground and have Maya (the dog) be told to sit and stay next to the plate and not touch it, then be called to come to me sit and stay while I found a new place to be (to the other side of the hamburger) and then be called to me and when she got to the burger did not stop to eat it, but would walk right by it and not stop to sniff or do anything more than glance at it visually. This went on for 12 burgers all on video and of course at the end she was treated to all the burgers.Life resumed with the 5-week cycle of stupid raring its head up aggressive bad.I would have to chain her up to the tractor and pour 5 gallons of cold water on her and yell at her to chill the fuck out. Then leave her in that misery for hours before even giving her the slightest acknowledgement that she even existed at all. She figured out that I am deaf on her own because whining had zero response from me.This 5 week cycle of unwarranted aggressive behavior was very dangerous and worried me a lot.Turns out she's 1/2 Pitt. That explains the square head and large size with muscles like concrete and short hair.To the vet I went and no answers for the aggressive behavior until I explained that it's a 5 week cycle of peace and then she just goes off dangerously. THAT is when I got key info… I had to let her get the pitt out to play every so often- and that meant hard wrestling.Every few days, to the untrained eye, it outwardly looks like we are trying to kill each other, I have a leash that affixed to my wrist and connected to a chest harness on her, and there were no rules, she could try to do anything and I can do anything but no killing. It probably did a lot more for me than her with the increase in physical hard exercise.It was a lot of work to just keep up with her, extremely demanding of my time and energy, which just made one day blur to the next…But… one fateful day… I was repairing a tractor in my driveway, and she came to me in a hurry and started shoving me… like herding me with great zeal and force to the gun cabinet… I grabbed the shotgun (why?? I don't know… but it was the first thing to come to mind) and she then herded me out the door, I even tried to stop and she grabbed my pant leg and started just outright dragging me. I followed her out to the woods a ways… and then she just sat down and refused to move. Her eyes deadlocked toward the house area direction. I survey the entire area and all directions and see nothing. I try to move her… she refuses to budge. I even tried to drag her and she tripped me and dragged me back to that spot and again sat down and refused to move. Finally I saw it: a black bear is now basking in the sun on the ground next to where I was working on the tractor. I then realized that I was being the stubborn one!A nice apology to her and I set out to seek a safe place elsewhere, and that's when she changed.A month after that, she wrapped herself around my legs and pinned me against the nearest tree and for the first time ever: a facial expression. I hold still… and look with my eyes only… then I see it… a pack of wolves moving through the woods about 200 feet away from us going up the hill and seems like they had zero interest in Maya or me at all.My health was in (and continue to be) steady decline, and my heart stopped. I dropped like a rock. Guess who was underneath me to break my fall? Maya. Not only did she make sure to be there to let me land on her (she's big! Little to no chance of getting hurt) but she rolled me over and started jumping on my chest to get my heart started again. I never taught her that, and a nice conversation with the guy my wife bought her from only let us know why Maya was afraid of chainsaw but had zero training for anything to save a human life. (Maya had a birch tree land on her in winter and pinned her to the ground, so close quarters chainsaw action to rescue her is why she was skittish of chainsaw- or so we have been told- but in reality when I am working the saw, she stays visually close ready to push or drag me away from harms way)So these instance keep popping up- like I had a seizure, and she pinned me to the floor to ensure that I didn't hurt myself, or other times warn me about 5 minutes before a seizure happens to let me know that I need to get somewhere safe.Nobody trained her to be a service dog, nobody showed or taught her about these things.Her demeanor has totally changed since those horrible first months… she is gentle to all life now, and is best friends with a couple very geriatric dogs who sometimes get to stay at my place while their owner is in the hospital. These super old dogs love that Maya has free roam of the property and they lean up against her to walk around without falling over.Only ONE time did she do something in public that surprised me and all the people that know her… we were in a store, a busy store, and there were lines. She barked at one older lady. Just one bark, then sat down staring intently at her, not pulling not menacing. The old lady came over to us, Maya sniffed her leg and then gave a facial expression and I looked at the lady in the face and recognized it right away- the same face my dad made when he had a debilitating stroke. Maya's call out to this lady had saved her life. She said she was dizzy for most of the day but other than being temporarily disoriented and having “a case of the dropsies” (where she would be unable to hold onto things without dropping them) she said she was fine. A volunteer EMT off shift was curious to what was going on there and took instant note of the signs of a stroke and called an ambulance immediately.Recently we were in the store and there was another “Service dog” but that dog immediately notice Maya and tried to attack Maya. Maya's response was to sit down between me and that other dog and not allow me to get but. She got bit 5 times by that dog and did not even make a move to bite back. She just took the bites and didn't flinch at all. The other dog was a German Shepherd. In the grocery store. Where my wife is a manager.The clerks and staff all know me, and the 3 closest that watched​ it all go down were astounded by the fact that Maya did not fight back, she merely made sure that I did not get bit. After the owner restrained his dog, and things settled down, I tethered Maya to a post nearby, and showed the other dog owner how to nonviolent show the dog who is the alpha and in control without pain or spanking (flip the dog on it's back, put your fingers in a V gently press on it's neck to both sides of the windpipe, then with the other hand steer the face at yours, look directly into the dogs eyes, and sternly declare “No.” or whatever else you need to say. So the guy let me do this to his dog, then I invited his dog back to Maya (but not close enough to attack) and as it lunged for Maya, I simply said “NO.” and the Shepard immediately backed down.The store staff that stuck around were starting to clap. One was taking video on her phone of the whole deal. The guy was really nice and apologetic and thankful that his dog's actions were able to be corrected.Eventually, over a year ago, as fate would play out, I was in the feed store with Maya, and the lady who does service dog training was there and did an impromptu test right there of Maya's temperament, ability to focus and not be swayed by distractions, and passed the test flying colors.Now this next part is for those with fake service dog and why it's not a blessing:For starters, I genuinely miss the independent life. I have to always make sure there is room in the car for Maya, and food and water and and and… whatever. If she is going to be with me, then there's some infrastructure that goes with.She does not ride on a motorcycle. I miss that freedom.Swimming pool? Nope.Ice skating? Nope.Hot pond? Nope.Movie theater? Yes. But I can't go on premier opening night. Too many people and there is no room for her the way the seats are designed. I have to wait a week.When she's sick, I have to be ready, willing, and capable of cleaning up her puke and her runny super stinky shit no matter what.Work? Yeah- she stays right with me when I am working, welding, machining, doing carpentry, plumbing, landscaping, mechanic, roofing etc. It takes some of my attention to keep an eye on her when working.Visiting people's houses? AWKWARD!! One guy had a new house that had never had anyone except for humans inside. It was winter and so he rolled out a rug in the garage, I told Maya to lay and stay. Left her there, went into the house, had lunch, chatted for 3 hours and came back, and she had not moved from that rug.Industrial setting? Yep. She's no stranger to metal shops, and machine shops.Doctors office? Yep. She does worry about my getting poked and prodded and things attached to me (EEG/EKG) but doesn't interfere with the doctor without being told. I have had many doctors comments about how they have never seen a service dog so properly behaved in their entire career.But… it's a headache. I can't just go March off on a 400 mile hike anymore because aside from my supplies and provision pack, I also must carry her food supply and stuff she needs as well.Right now she is snoring against me as I type this while laying in bed… but I also just lost 1/2 my personal sleeping space real estate to a 103 pound Labrador in exchange for the services she provides me 24/7.She is not allowed to bark at anyone in public (see above for the surprised moment when she did for the right reasons) nor is she allowed to be fed treats in public.Yes, I know all about how she thinks all food must go to the lab for testing, but in a restaurant (interesting that I never taught her about going under the table and staying until time to leave…) she goes under the table and lays there silently no matter what happens, even if food is accidentally dropped onto the floor under the table, she won't touch it.In my shop, not only do I have to keep myself safe when operating tools, but I have to keep her safe too. Things like the lathe and the mill both throw off a steady supply of razor sharp small pieces of metal from my work, which could bet in her eyes and her paws, both of which are painful bad news.She is both a blessing and a curse, because she takes time from my day, she limits my life activies to things that I can't take a dog to, like roller skating rink does not allow them because she could quickly be injured and I can appreciate that point of view.Little children often run up to her and just grab her anywhere. Especially little Chinese kids (the little tykes don't mean harm) and Maya just sits down and let's them do whatever without complaints.The not-so-service-dogs typically lunge toward Maya, often times spilling the shopping cart, and Maya looks at me like “uhhh… that dog is defective….”In the emergency room, she sits patient and does not cause a stir. There is little to no one or thing that bothers her anymore.If your “service dog” lunges or attacks my service dog, I can tell you that nobody is stupid enough to believe that your dog is a service dog.If your “service dog” is sniffling up all the food in the store, and getting on the table in the restaurant, then please leave it in the car. That's not good manners.If you or someone nearby is not experience any medical issues and your “service dog” is barking just to hear itself bark then clearly your dog is not a service dog.Ankle biting “service dog” isn't a medical treatment.And last but not least… have you ever had to go into a public restroom with a real service dog? Go up to the urinal and pee with the dog there? If your dog does anything more than sit there patient waiting… hmm?Yeah, I openly admitted to all that inquire about who trained Maya for the service dog work that I didn't ever teach her to do things related to cardiac arrest or seizures, nor did I teach her any manners regarding restaurant or grocery stores or how to not fight back when another “service dog” is biting her. I just told the horrible story of my time with her extremely fat and stubborn life when I first got her. She wasn't intended to be a service dog. She was intended to be a pet. A companion to keep me company in the middle of nowhere on the homestead. I didn't ask her to step up to that, and I didn't train her for it either.My wife has a dog as well, my wife is almost deaf and has vestibular imbalance, but that dog is not a service dog. Yes he picked up a lot of manners just by being around Maya, and learned to be watchful of visitors to our home. Does she take her dog into places where he is clearly not a service dog? NO!! She dearly wants to, she is a hard core animal loving type personality and is highly jealous of Maya being allowed into restaurant etc. But… she does not break the rules like some people do. She did, however, do public testing of his demeanor at Walmart and he did so well that I was amazed. Two other service dog walked right by him and zero response from any of them, they might as well been invisible to each other.Some places I have been with Maya had some interesting turn of events, like the table near me had someone who was allergic to dogs, and I immediately offered to wait for a table to open up on the other side of the restaurant, but the person smiled and inform me that they know service dog is supposed to go under the table and stay there so the chances of allergens being dispersed in quantity enough to cause a reaction was so low she would not be affected. Another one had us upgrade to a different seat across the restaurant because the staff didn't want to be a distraction for Maya as the first table was right by the entrance to the kitchen which means a lot of foot traffic back and forth, so we went from what I would describe as a “standard table booth” to a “queen size” table booth and it was in a better part of the restaurant anyway.People can be surprising when it comes to being courteous, and it's a 2-way street.If you have a disability and a service dog can help, by all means please get one. Some cases a service dog will not be a good fit because of the lifestyle changes necessary to accommodate one are not conducive.There is so much more I want to write about this, because of the fact that the bond between a service dog and their human is so close that it is stronger than that of a standard pet dog.

What about posting in their local Craigslist?