We’ve been quietly dealing with some health issues with Sjiriki for a while. From a pretty young age Sjiriki’s been dealing with pain in his body, specifically his hind end. He was first diagnosed with growing pain, but didn’t react enough to pain medication, and I just had a gut feeling that there was something else going on. After several more vet visits, scans, and referrals we finally have an answer! This week Sjiriki was diagnosed with Tethered Cord Syndrome, which basically means that his spinal cord is improperly attached, causing him a lot of (nerve) pain. This is generally pretty treatable with surgery, though not all dogs recover fully, some still needing pain management even afterward. But there is almost always a big improvement after getting the surgery! The specialist had an opening quickly, so he’s going in next Wednesday. I am incredibly stressed about the whole situation, not knowing if he’ll make a full recovery after surgery and uncertain about what that means for his future quality of life, and his career as a service dog. But I’m also grateful to have some answers and not have to keep searching for a diagnosis any longer. So overall some conflicting feelings and a lot of uncertainty still! For now I’m pretty busy getting everything in order for the surgery, preparing to keep him comfortable downstairs as he’s not allowed to walk up and down them, prepping enrichment to keep him busy, and dreading six to ten weeks of exercise restriction with an adolescent husky 😬 We’re just gonna take things one day at a time!
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#husky #siberianhusky #dog #dogs #huskydog #siberianhuskydog #forcefree
#servicedog #servicedogintraining #psychiatricservicedog #autismservicedog #hulphond #hulphondinopleiding #autismehulphond #psychiatrischehulphond #assistentiehond #assistentiehondinopleiding #autismeassistentiehond #forcefreeservicedog

Went to a pet friendly store yesterday to let Sjiriki pick out a toy for his birthday (which I can’t believe is this weekend already!!) and since he seemed up for it we did a little bit of training as well 😊 We’ve not done much in the form of training for quite a while, especially not in public, so we kept things really simple. We practiced the counting game, the ping pong game, a few hand targets, and moving together. He did so good!
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#husky #siberianhusky #dog #dogs #huskydog #siberianhuskydog #forcefree
#servicedog #servicedogintraining #psychiatricservicedog #autismservicedog #hulphond #hulphondinopleiding #autismehulphond #psychiatrischehulphond #assistentiehond #assistentiehondinopleiding #autismeassistentiehond #forcefreeservicedog
#forcefreetraining #forcefreedogtraining #positivereinforcement #positivereinforcementtraining #positivereinforcementdogtraining #positivereinforcementworks #dogtraining

When your baba climbs a wooden tractor so you have to loudly yell until they help you up too 😂
We’ve been dealing with some major teenage brain lately. It’s been very hard to find the motivation to train as everything feels hard, and just helping him exist in the world is like a full time job right now. Sjiriki is also not feeling great, which doesn’t help either. He’s got some pretty bad growing pains, which are (understandably) making him cranky and easily frustrated, plus he still has the occasional Giardia flare up (though those are thankfully getting less and less intense with each treatment). We’re trying to mostly focus on doing fun low pressure things, and I’m doing training together with my mom to both keep Sjiriki more motivated (he has some major FOMO so if Maya is doing something he wants to also do that thing 😆), and to keep myself from spiraling at the smallest setback. So we’re surviving! But I am already very much ready for this whole teenage phase to be over 😅
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ID 1: a teenage Siberian Husky sits on the seating area of a wooden structure shaped like a tractor standing out in the woods. The dog has his mouth open in a relaxed pant, and he looks content to sit there.
ID 2: the same shot taken from further away, showing more of the wooden tractor.
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#hiking #hikingdog #hikingdogsofinstagram #hikingwithdogs
#husky #siberianhusky #dog #dogs #huskydog #siberianhuskydog #forcefree
#servicedog #servicedogintraining #psychiatricservicedog #autismservicedog #hulphond #hulphondinopleiding #autismehulphond #psychiatrischehulphond #assistentiehond #assistentiehondinopleiding #autismeassistentiehond #forcefreeservicedog #adolescence #adolescentdog

Posting a puppy photo to celebrate him being 6 months old today! Time flies by so fast 🥹
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ID: a grey and white Siberian husky sits on a brick driveway, looking up at the camera with pricked ears and a tilted head. He’s wearing a harness and a long leash.
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#husky #siberianhusky #dog #dogs #huskydog #siberianhuskydog #forcefree
#servicedog #servicedogintraining #psychiatricservicedog #autismservicedog #hulphond #hulphondinopleiding #autismehulphond #psychiatrischehulphond #assistentiehond #assistentiehondinopleiding #autismeassistentiehond #forcefreeservicedog #puppy #puppies #huskypuppy

We had to go to the dentist today, and Sjiriki came with on his first big(ish) PA trip! He did so good 🥹 Just as we were entering the building a big group of children came running out and some clustered around him which he got very excited by (he loves kids), but he calmed back down super quick and did a great loose leash heel through the building until we got to the dentist. In the waiting room he pretty immediately settled, and did great ignoring other people walking past. When I had to go in to the exam room he initially came along with my mom handling him, but struggled with having to be on the other side of the room from me, so my mom took him back to the waiting room where he got a snuffle mat to help him calm down. He was a little bit fussy there, wanting to wait near the door, but immediately went back to settling when I came back and then stayed chill all through waiting for the rest of my family to be done. Heeling out of the building was no problem either, he was happy to stick by my side and didn’t care for any distractions. I’ve really done very little formal training with him, only focusing on his being comfortable wherever we are and rewarding engagement when he gives it to me. I get insecure sometimes when I see other puppies his age with a whole repertoire of behaviors while he doesn’t even know sit, but today showed me that the foundational stuff we’ve worked on is in fact paying off, and that he has the potential to be a wonderful service dog 🩶
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ID: a nonbinary person sits on a couch in a waiting room. At their feet a lies a teenage Siberian Husky, his head pillowed on one of their feet. He wears a tactical service dog vest, the leash clipped to it held loosely by the person.
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#husky #siberianhusky #puppy #puppies #huskypuppy #siberianhuskypuppy #forcefree
#servicedog #servicedogintraining #psychiatricservicedog #autismservicedog #hulphond #hulphondinopleiding #autismehulphond #psychiatrischehulphond #assistentiehond #assistentiehondinopleid

He’s just the prettiest dog 😍
We’ve been taking a break from training for a bit as he’s right in the middle of teething, which is making him feel not great and making it hard to turn his brain on. We’ve instead been focusing on lots of decompression, enrichment and rest!
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ID: a Siberian Husky puppy sits in a parking lot, seen in profile view. He looks intently at something off camera.
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#husky #siberianhusky #puppy #puppies #huskypuppy #siberianhuskypuppy #forcefree
#servicedog #servicedogintraining #psychiatricservicedog #autismservicedog #hulphond #hulphondinopleiding #autismehulphond #psychiatrischehulphond #assistentiehond #assistentiehondinopleiding #autismeassistentiehond #forcefreeservicedog