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| Name: |
Electra
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Age: |
Five years old
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| Gender: |
Female |
Breed: |
Labrador Retriever/Bernese Mountain Dog
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| Home: |
Quebec, Canada |
Electra, The Service Dog: As a service dog trained at the Mira foundation, Electra is an amazing therapy friend, family member and life-saver. For me, the use of the term "life-saver" fits the interactions Electra has with my situation. I passed through a lot of bullying and anxiety from early on as a child and when I was about to turn 14, some things went down. I was hospitalized in 2009, diagnosed with Asperger syndrome and later in 2014 with Borderline Personality Disorder.
"The MIRA Foundation is totally dedicated to helping disabled individuals by teaming them with dogs bred and fully trained to respond to their adaptation and rehabilitation needs. All of MIRA's services are made available free of charge to individuals with one or many visual or motor disabilities, and to children presenting Pervasive Development Disorders such as autism."
In the meantime I was getting help, I got Electra in August 2013 and it's been a big ride. First was learning to know her personality while she gets used to her new home and environment. It wasn't easy at first, but our relationship grew strong. Electra had to go back three weeks to the foundation for a "re-training" since she wasn't obeying on everything. It was becoming troublesome at school, yet I understand she had difficulties adapting here. I wasn't in the best of shape psychologically and she could obviously sense that. Let's remember that while Electra is a service dog, she's still a dog who will tend to disobey, do stuff that aren't allowed and play like a puppy. Her training and reasoning abilities don't make her a robot like many seem to think about service dogs. What's the point of having a service dog if they're not allowed to make mistakes? I made mistakes and learned from them. Electra does too, with help to guide her through good behaviors.
Mira dogs can follow you everywhere with few exceptions like zoos and hospitalization. To have such a high value dog that follows me wherever I go, it also includes me caring for her. Electra is expensive in food, toys, beds, veterinary bills, time and energy, but that's the price to pay to care for a life. I worry about her when she coughs or appears sick. Almost everytime, I'm wrong, I overthink it and worry more than I should, but I'm glad about it. I'd rather be wrong than learning she has health issues. On 28 May 2016, I noticed a tick under Electra's ear, right where the fur covered the bug. I was panicked since the type of tick you see more talk about is the Dermacentor variabilis, also known as the American dog tick or Wood tick. Turned out the species was Rhipicephalus sanguineus, commonly called Brown dog tick or Bush tick. This is an example of how much Electra matters and possible sudden money expenses.
While my disorders don't define me and effect me on a light to medium level, I still have work to do. Electra helps me a lot, especially with social interactions, fighting anxiety and gaining motivation. By being a service dog, Electra can follow me everywhere I go, be it the restaurant, shopping center, taking the bus, etc, except zoos and hospitalization. Electra has to wear her harness when she's at work and I need at all time to have the Mira foundation card with me since both are proof. Many people still try to pass their pet as "official service dog" or "service dog in training" which can cause trouble for anyone having a legitimate service dog. Me and my mother filled a complaint and went in mediation with my city's transport society because a driver outright refused me entry into the bus. There are people who don't know much about Mira dogs, but this information is already in a bus driver's "things to know" about adapted service. Situations like these can be frustrating, yes, but I manage to deal with it. Electra does great work and it's enough.
Electra, The Family Dog: At first sight, Electra looks more of a Labrador, yet she's actually a "Labernese." Her mother Calypso is the Labrador while her father Moose is a Bernese Mountain Dog. At the Mira foundation, they have around 50 themes for name and Electra's was "audio video." My mother and I thought her name came from the Greek Goddess of the storm clouds, but it's actually from the Marvel character Elektra. On another note, she has earned the nickname of "Garbage disposer" since she'll eat almost anything and tear stuff into literal small pieces and "Land mower" because she eats grass and herb like a cow. Sometimes, it can be dangerous though. For a dog her size, a chocolate bar isn't poisonous, but still something she shouldn't eat. It ain't the first time Electra steals my food or mom's, despite all the care and stuff in the way. Well, mistakes happen and I learn from them.
Whether it's snowy, raining a river, dry outside or comfortable, the weather doesn't bother me nor Electra much, which exceptions of course. If temperatures reach 30°C and above, I'm not bringing her outside, especially when the humidity is high. Going out on such days is the best way to get a heatstroke. No thanks. Same can be said in winter. Temperatures of -25°C and below will freeze Electra's feet enough that she'll curl anywhere to warm herself up, including when we cross the street. I can't always avoid those days and well, she has to pee and therefore we go outside for a few minutes. Electra has over 20 toys, which only 4-5 are out at the same time. Of all the toys, she loves the red-orange ball, so much I had to buy another because she destroyed the first. I can't really play with her for a long time in the backyard, a park or elsewhere if I don't have this specific ball. Electra uses toys to play, throw around, run after, but give it to her for a while, or any other objects and she may tear it down.
The first time Electra met our cats, she was pretty curious, yet Milady and Angel didn't share the same feeling. They had heard dogs and saw dogs, but never up close like this, let along living along side one. Milady is forth-coming and territorial, while Angel is shy and easy to scare. Days, weeks, months to years passed and their relationship grew stable. Milady doesn't want Electra to get close to her at all while Angel tolerates to an extant. The dog tends to scare the cats on purpose, making them flee in my mother's room or behind the couch. Because Milady would growl and throw a fit, I have to make her leave my bed so Electra can stay, otherwise the dog gets hit in the face and a "fight" begins. There's only Milady who's mad. Electra doesn't care that much. Angel, already being the weird cat she is, often goes and lays or sleep on Electra's bed, toys and related stuff. She'll still flees if the dog passes by.
Electra's personality is outgoing, easy to amuse and empathetic. If I or my mother is sad, Electra will come to cuddle us. If we're happy, she's happy. Often when she plays, she makes growling noises, except they're not aggressive and can be funny to hear actually. When she's not eating grass, she'll roll a lot and shake herself, then go back to either eat or play with her ball. Electra loves to sleep or relax on her back, like shows on the above photo. She can pass hours like this and even wag her tail when she notices me.
Electra, The Therapy Dog: I've had quite great moments with Electra. Every days bring new opportunities and time to get better. It's hard to describe the feeling of how much Electra helps me, simply by being here. Some people see dogs as "just animals" while others see them as the sentient beings they are. For me, as I said in the beginning, Electra is a life-saver. I hold on dear to promises, that's why I made only a few, never broke them and never will. I treat "promise" as it is, a declaration or assurance that one will do a particular thing or that a particular thing will happen. There's a difference between "I promise" and "I'll do it." That's how I see it and that's where Electra comes into the picture. Whatever belief people have about anxiety, bullying, suicidal thoughts and self-harm being "for the weak" and all that ignorance, I don't care. On a personal basis, I didn't give up on myself, nor do I let these horrid people win. It comes at a cost with mental scars, yet they do heal a little faster with Electra and therapy with a specialist. I promised to Electra personally that so long as she is alive and with me, I'll never harm myself or commit suicide. It's not as simple as it sounds. Only me knows how I feel. By promising such, I assure myself, my mother and my friends that I'll have the time to heal before Electra's death. I'd surely keep that promise up anyway. Death isn't the end.
Electra is amazing and always will be.
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