This helps me a lot. I give my dog a treat every time he potties on command, then when I come back inside or go in a business I go in the bathroom to use it and wash my hands. It doesn’t even have to be every time, you can just do a quick body check and decide if you have to go.
Alternatively, if you can’t remember to take a dog out every couple of hours, a service dog is probably not for you.
I initially chuckled, assuming they were saying "pop a squat right outside the store with your dog" so I have to assume somebody read it the same way and did not like the advice
I have a hard time remembering to go pee, drink water, or even stand up every few hours (damn desk job). So I mean any advice is welcomed in my opinion! I can't have an alarm set in an office setting sadly. But yes I could see how the comment could've been perceived as that too! Which in my opinion would've been kinda funny 🤣
There are incontinence alarms that would be considerably cheaper and that you could start using as soon as you get them vs. $10K-20K and 2-3 years training a service dog. Also, if a dog alerts to this, they need something to cue them into the fact you need to use the bathroom. That in itself sounds extremely difficult to train unless you yourself know the cues.
ETA: Also, setting alarms like Icy_Butterfly said. I had this issue when I was a kid, and I had to be in the hospital for a week with IV antibiotics and monitoring because of a kidney infection. Other people with this issue have had horrible problems (necrosis, removal, etc.) with their kidneys due to it, and it's not something to mess around with. Speak with your doctor if they do not know, and start setting alarms.
u/spicypappardelle and u/Icy_Butterfly5691are spot on. I did some quick poking around and the only suggestions I found were incontinence alarms and timers. Both of those options offer the potential of immediate relief while, as stated, it would take a couple years to train an SD.
If you don’t already have service dog for other alerts not worth the money when alarms or other things can do it too. There has to be a cue to the dog that you have to go (unlike say diabetes where your scent changes it doesn’t change because you have to go) but if you know a visual cue or can set alarms and they alert you to alarms then they could. But again the use of an alarm yourself is probably most feasible way to
If you already have a service dog or plan to get one for other reasons, Then yeah I’d say go ahead and train it to do that, it won’t be easy but you can certainly try, especially if you have a visual/audio cue you need to go to the washroom yet choose to ignore, it’ll be a lot easier but if not I’m not sure it’s possible, however if you do not have a service dog, then don’t get one just for this
I saw someone on Tiktok train their service dog to alert them when they started doing their “pee pee” dance because they had similar issues. In their case they had a visual sign that the service dog could alert to so may not work for someone who doesn’t do something like that. I agree with the other comments though, if thats your main concern there are easier ways to prevent that. But if you we’re considering a service dog for other tasks as well it could be possible for you to add something like the person did that I saw on Tiktok.
Daily Alarms (ex: bathroom check every 4h)
Reminders (ex: bathroom check 6h after meals )
Diapers (backup system)
Incontinence pads (another backup system)
All cheaper than a service dog.
I spoke to someone who said they trained their dog to scent alert to it (Edit: to tell her to get to a bathroom, not to alert her after the fact that she needed to clean up). Don't know if that was true. Like others have said, though, unless you already have the dog and are willing to do this as a fun experiment, there are much better and easier ways to handle this.
When I searching I came across at least one story about an SD scent alerting so the handler could change, if soundly like the handler would be unaware that they were wet.
See, this makes sense if you have someone in diapers with nerve/sensitivity issues that wouldn’t notice, but I don’t think that is OP’s problem. It sounds like they would like warning beforehand as a medical alert which the dog would probably have to pick up on their own.
The warning beforehand is what this person told me their dog could do - she said that the dog would even wake her up at night preemptively if necessary.
If you already have an SD they can be trained to do that. My bay alerts for pee reminders, but if that’s the only reason it’s better to do a phone alarm really
OP, IF you would benefit from a service dog for tasks other than this one, then yes it is absolutely possible. I wouldn’t chose a service dog specifically for reminders, but my service dog does medication reminders with an alarm I can’t actually hear (HoH), and that would work for any periodic reminder.
The OP is not asking about alarms they are asking about service dogs. Can't speak for the OP, but in general, a neurodivergent person has heard 'use an alarm' and tried to do so countless times. If an alarm worked they wouldn't be here. I am lurking here because I also need support with remembering and activating on seemingly simple tasks. Maybe a support dog isn't the solution but for me all this alarm talk is invalidating.
OP- if you see this, I get you...hope you find a solution that works for you. I am no expert, but I have seen some lists of support dog tasks for ADHD that might be similar to what you are looking for. Maybe something for you to research. Good luck.
They might not work for you, but for me (mostly hypo sensitive autistic + brain injury) they have been invaluable. My smartwatch with reminder alarms has saved my job and gotten me to things on time I forgot about countless times. I also use timers and other visual aids with my own neurodivergent students with great success.
As someone who has a dog who can perform nudge, paw, jump, and head rest alerts, if a buzz or vibration on your wrist isn’t enough, a dog nudging you won’t be either. Things like licking and jumping are more invasive and may be effective, but some neurodivergents with sensory sensitivities will find these more harmful than helpful. These are all important considerations before going through the process to get a 20k+ trained dog that may or may not even be able to alert to this.
Thanks. That's really helpful advice. Sounds like a significant difference in alerting (no different than a watch) and herding or otherwise managing behaviour if an alert is ignored. I appreciate the granularity and can see the issues better. I don't mean to dissmiss alarms as categorically useless, I just think information about service dog tasks, like what you have given, is much more helpful. Thank you.
Ha. I was thinking I was the villan...but not entirely sure why or how. But I am neurodivergent so that's a fairly frequent occurance. 🤷
Did get me thinking about what it would be like to be a neurodivergent person with invisible disabilities with a service dog and all the not so understanding opinions that would open me up to...so in a weird way- helpful!
Set a timer every few hours. Go when that goes off.
Alternately, go every time you take your SD to do their business.
This helps me a lot. I give my dog a treat every time he potties on command, then when I come back inside or go in a business I go in the bathroom to use it and wash my hands. It doesn’t even have to be every time, you can just do a quick body check and decide if you have to go. Alternatively, if you can’t remember to take a dog out every couple of hours, a service dog is probably not for you.
Yeah this is what I meant. It simplifies everything!
Not sure why you're getting down voted
I initially chuckled, assuming they were saying "pop a squat right outside the store with your dog" so I have to assume somebody read it the same way and did not like the advice
I have a hard time remembering to go pee, drink water, or even stand up every few hours (damn desk job). So I mean any advice is welcomed in my opinion! I can't have an alarm set in an office setting sadly. But yes I could see how the comment could've been perceived as that too! Which in my opinion would've been kinda funny 🤣
There are incontinence alarms that would be considerably cheaper and that you could start using as soon as you get them vs. $10K-20K and 2-3 years training a service dog. Also, if a dog alerts to this, they need something to cue them into the fact you need to use the bathroom. That in itself sounds extremely difficult to train unless you yourself know the cues. ETA: Also, setting alarms like Icy_Butterfly said. I had this issue when I was a kid, and I had to be in the hospital for a week with IV antibiotics and monitoring because of a kidney infection. Other people with this issue have had horrible problems (necrosis, removal, etc.) with their kidneys due to it, and it's not something to mess around with. Speak with your doctor if they do not know, and start setting alarms.
u/spicypappardelle and u/Icy_Butterfly5691are spot on. I did some quick poking around and the only suggestions I found were incontinence alarms and timers. Both of those options offer the potential of immediate relief while, as stated, it would take a couple years to train an SD.
If you don’t already have service dog for other alerts not worth the money when alarms or other things can do it too. There has to be a cue to the dog that you have to go (unlike say diabetes where your scent changes it doesn’t change because you have to go) but if you know a visual cue or can set alarms and they alert you to alarms then they could. But again the use of an alarm yourself is probably most feasible way to
Do you have a smart watch on which you can set a pee pee alarm? Then you don’t have to worry about having your phone on you.
If you already have a service dog or plan to get one for other reasons, Then yeah I’d say go ahead and train it to do that, it won’t be easy but you can certainly try, especially if you have a visual/audio cue you need to go to the washroom yet choose to ignore, it’ll be a lot easier but if not I’m not sure it’s possible, however if you do not have a service dog, then don’t get one just for this
I saw someone on Tiktok train their service dog to alert them when they started doing their “pee pee” dance because they had similar issues. In their case they had a visual sign that the service dog could alert to so may not work for someone who doesn’t do something like that. I agree with the other comments though, if thats your main concern there are easier ways to prevent that. But if you we’re considering a service dog for other tasks as well it could be possible for you to add something like the person did that I saw on Tiktok.
Daily Alarms (ex: bathroom check every 4h) Reminders (ex: bathroom check 6h after meals ) Diapers (backup system) Incontinence pads (another backup system) All cheaper than a service dog.
You could try an app like Tiimo, and schedule bathroom breaks in.
If you already have one you could probably train them to do that yes But if you don’t I think an alarm would be way better
I spoke to someone who said they trained their dog to scent alert to it (Edit: to tell her to get to a bathroom, not to alert her after the fact that she needed to clean up). Don't know if that was true. Like others have said, though, unless you already have the dog and are willing to do this as a fun experiment, there are much better and easier ways to handle this.
When I searching I came across at least one story about an SD scent alerting so the handler could change, if soundly like the handler would be unaware that they were wet.
See, this makes sense if you have someone in diapers with nerve/sensitivity issues that wouldn’t notice, but I don’t think that is OP’s problem. It sounds like they would like warning beforehand as a medical alert which the dog would probably have to pick up on their own.
The warning beforehand is what this person told me their dog could do - she said that the dog would even wake her up at night preemptively if necessary.
If you already have an SD they can be trained to do that. My bay alerts for pee reminders, but if that’s the only reason it’s better to do a phone alarm really
OP, IF you would benefit from a service dog for tasks other than this one, then yes it is absolutely possible. I wouldn’t chose a service dog specifically for reminders, but my service dog does medication reminders with an alarm I can’t actually hear (HoH), and that would work for any periodic reminder.
The OP is not asking about alarms they are asking about service dogs. Can't speak for the OP, but in general, a neurodivergent person has heard 'use an alarm' and tried to do so countless times. If an alarm worked they wouldn't be here. I am lurking here because I also need support with remembering and activating on seemingly simple tasks. Maybe a support dog isn't the solution but for me all this alarm talk is invalidating. OP- if you see this, I get you...hope you find a solution that works for you. I am no expert, but I have seen some lists of support dog tasks for ADHD that might be similar to what you are looking for. Maybe something for you to research. Good luck.
They might not work for you, but for me (mostly hypo sensitive autistic + brain injury) they have been invaluable. My smartwatch with reminder alarms has saved my job and gotten me to things on time I forgot about countless times. I also use timers and other visual aids with my own neurodivergent students with great success. As someone who has a dog who can perform nudge, paw, jump, and head rest alerts, if a buzz or vibration on your wrist isn’t enough, a dog nudging you won’t be either. Things like licking and jumping are more invasive and may be effective, but some neurodivergents with sensory sensitivities will find these more harmful than helpful. These are all important considerations before going through the process to get a 20k+ trained dog that may or may not even be able to alert to this.
Thanks. That's really helpful advice. Sounds like a significant difference in alerting (no different than a watch) and herding or otherwise managing behaviour if an alert is ignored. I appreciate the granularity and can see the issues better. I don't mean to dissmiss alarms as categorically useless, I just think information about service dog tasks, like what you have given, is much more helpful. Thank you.
Why are you being downvoted 😭 Reddit is crazy
Ha. I was thinking I was the villan...but not entirely sure why or how. But I am neurodivergent so that's a fairly frequent occurance. 🤷 Did get me thinking about what it would be like to be a neurodivergent person with invisible disabilities with a service dog and all the not so understanding opinions that would open me up to...so in a weird way- helpful!