Hey everyone,
Welcome back to this mini blog series on my new service dog Sebastian. I'm sorry I did not post last week, I was dealing with a flare-up and never got around to writing this post.
People tell you that getting a dog will change your life. However, when you have a service dog, it really changes your life overnight. Overnight, I had to build a new routine that not only involved me but involved Sebastian as well. He was used to waking up around 7:30-8 AM to be let out. Luckily during nursing school, I had to wake up early, so it was not too hard for me to stop sleeping in again, however, I had to figure out how to fit his routine into my routine. Here is what mornings typically look like for us now that we have been together for a month and are finally into a routine:
7:00-7:30 AM I wake up, skincare, get ready for the day
7:30-8:00 AM get Sebastian out of the crate, walk around our culdesac to use the bathroom, both of us eat breakfast, brush Sebastian
8:00 AM-9:00 AM go play fetch at the dog park or go for a walk (we are starting to do more walks now because my cardiologist thinks it will help me a lot)
9:30 AM-4:00 PM I am on my computer day trading, but Sebastian will bring me toys and things to play, or take a nap
4:00-5:00ish play fetch or just spend time messing around
5:30 dinner
Training session at some point in the evening
10:30 PM bedtime
It has taken time to build a daily routine because it took time to learn each other. For instance, Sebastian paces at the door when he needs to be let out, however, if I don't catch it he will nip at my ankles. I ordered bells and now he rings the bells to go out, but it took time to learn that's why he was nipping. Another example is that if I don't do some level of activity with him in the morning, he is high energy all day and it is hard to train or take him in public since he is just puppy.
He has changed my day to day-to-dayday life, but also given me my life back. I am so thankful for him and could not imagine life without him anymore.
Next week, I'll be posting about training, how I keep his focus and the transition from training with his previous owner/handler to training with me.
Yours truly,
Kaitlyn
@trusting.my.gut
@service.dog.sebastian