Train Prints the SDiT!

Hello,

Many of those seeing this page will know who I am. To those who don't, my name is Stormy. At 18 years old, I am facing a life-long illness. At 15 I began to feel the effects of a disorder known as Fibromyalgia (FMS). This disorder is mainly a chronic pain disorder, but has lots of other fun comorbid conditions. A good list of the symptoms that may effect me at any given time can be found at http://www.fms-help.com/signs.htm 

Some of the symptoms that effect me the most are dizziness, fatigue, dysequilibrium, fainting, clumsiness (walking and dropping things), many sleep problems, mental and emotional disturbances, cognitive and speech problems, disorientation in familiar places, and of course, the pain. All day every day I am in pain.

This is what I have to look forward to for the rest of my life. FMS is one of the worst of the worst of invisible disabilities. Some days I can go out and be normal, however more days than not I am overwhelmed by this disease.

Now, I'm sure you're thinking... What's an SDiT? Who is Prints? What does all of this have to do with him?

An SDiT is a Service Dog in Training. Prints is my 19 month old Great Dane/Labrador pup who has learned on his own to alert to my conditions and to assist me when I am down for the count.

I got Prints when he was just 6 weeks old. His owners put him and two of his brothers up for adoption when their mother could no longer produce milk. I had my choice between the three of them, and who could resist such cute pups? I certainly couldn't, but Prints and I had an immediate connection. I brought him home with me and named him Prints for the great big dust pawprint he left on my leg. At about 8 weeks, he began to alert to my impending panic attacks and fibro flares. As he grew, he showed a trend of laying across my legs when they would be in pain. The deep pressure therapy helps me to deal with the severe pain with less or no painkillers. There are many other things he can be trained to do to assist me when I am in higher levels of pain. These things include picking up things I've dropped, guiding me to places when I am having cognitive problems, as well as openning doors and other helpful tasks.

Under the ADA, Prints is already a Service Dog. By Service Dog standards, he is no where near trained enough behaviourally for public access. This money will go towards Prints, his behaviour training, his care and his CGC test. Please donate so I can have a better quality of life.

Any amount you can donate will help. $25, $15, $10.34 or even a single dollar, everything will help.

Thank you very much.

 Stormy Thomas