Page 978 - Total War on PTSD

but she is with me because I need her to be there. If I didn’t have her with me, I most likely would not be out in the public doing normal things that other take for granted, such as grocery shopping or going to a medical appointment. With that being said, I do enjoy positive interactions with people concerning Kodiak and Service Dogs in general. I am more than happy to pass on what I know about the ADA to others, and the training that Kodiak has gone through. I will allow people to pet her, depending on a few factors such as how crowded the area is (I don’t want to get mobbed or stuck there), how I am feeling at that particular moment in time, and how Kodiak is feeling as well (we all have days when we don’t want to be bothered at work, that goes for dogs as well). All that I ask is that people be cognizant of the fact that I may have to say no. When I do allow people to pet her, I use it as a teaching moment and explain that all of her tasks are reactive (I give her a command) as opposed to proactive (such as watching for signals of a medical episode like seizures or blood sugar levels) and how distracting a dog with proactive tasks could have bad results.
Kodiak has been a lifeline for me. I started to not want to go out in public by myself, and when I was in public, I would have a panic attack. Kodiak has allowed me to venture out and live a more normal life.
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