I’m only looking for comments from people who are knowledgeable about service animals or have one. I would like to hear other’s experiences.

I am contemplating on getting a dog and training it to be a service animal. I am 29 years old. At 27, I had a stroke and I had no physical deficits but emotionally I’ve been different. One reason is because leading up to the stroke, I had headaches for two weeks. The worst I felt in my life. I kept going into the hospital where they did CT scans and MRIs and found nothing. Then one early morning my left side went numb. I had a seizure because of the blood clot in my brain. Now every time I have these really bad headaches I get scared and panic. I suffer from depression.

Another reason is I have two small children. 6 and 3. I live alone. I’m trying to teach my 6 yr old son to call 911 if I am hurt. I feel bad because I would never want him or my daughter to see me that way but maybe if the service animal encourages and is around my son, he wouldn’t be so scared. I thought also about having an aide come to the house but I know they cannot be placed 24/7.

I would like to read anyone’s positive and negatives on having a service animal.

Thank you in advance.

When I wrote training I didn’t mean training it myself but I can see the misunderstanding. I would like a service animal for medical reasons. I haven’t asked the doctor yet because I am trying to understand the positives and negatives of having a service dog from people who have one. That is why I wrote this post. Thank you for sharing your experiences.