Soraya and Harley: Finding Confidence Together

Episode transcript

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[Music]
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hello everyone and welcome to the emotional support animals live show my name's Dave uh we're so excited to have you all here tonight this is a show that
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is all about exploring the incredible impact emotional support animals or esas have on people's lives right here in the UK whether it's providing Comfort
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reducing anxiety or just being that constant source of companionship 's playing a crucial role in the lives of so many individuals with hidden
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disabilities throughout this series we'll be diving into experiences of Esa handlers and their and hearing firsthand
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how their support animals have changed their lives for the better and uh tonight we're thrilled to have a special guest and that Essa who will be sharing
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their story with us both the ups and the challenges that come with the world of having an Essa uh so sit back relax and
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join us on this journey as we shine a light on the amazing bond between humans and the emotional support animals and to everyone watching thank you for being
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here uh please hit the like button share the video and let's get started so hello can you start by introducing yourself
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and telling us a bit about your emotional support animal uh what kind of animal do you have and what is their
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name right uh my name is serea I'm a bit of an older lady um I've
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suffered with anxiety and depression for a very long time time now but I had um a
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really bad experience in 2020 and my anxiety got extremely bad uh to the point where I couldn't even go
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over my front doorstep um
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um my son found Harley who's a Pomeranian Chaba cross for
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sale thought it would do me some good to have some company and my mom paid for him for
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me never had a male dog before always had females um but he's been absolutely
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amazing I don't know whether you can um see there he is there he is you very cute
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um he has helped me so much um it took four months to be able to get him out um
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with somebody um cuz it was very anxious about going out he um helps me extremely well with
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my anxiety he seems to know when I'm going to have a panic attack and he'll Pour at my arm until I sort of wrap my arm
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around him and having that closeness to him helps bring my P panic attack under
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control I also have um physical disabilities and he's tuned into them as as
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well um he's four years old now he'll be five in in um July in June rather um I got
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him when he was a pop in August 2020 um my support worker told me about Esa
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dogs I've never heard of it before and um well Esa animals um I looked into it
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thought I'd apply support work he did a letter of support and I was very lucky to be accepted he has made a massive
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difference to my life I'm now able to attend Hospital appointments with my support worker or
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friends which I couldn't do I was waiting a special surgery which I hadn't been able to get
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to but um with him being able to come to the hospital with me um I was a lot more
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relaxed about having a surgery done he he knows me inside out he he
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really really does he's amazing oh great well that was the question too was actually what specific reason did you get it so we'll skip that one because
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you just said that so sorry no no that's all right that's all right that's all right um how has having Essa impacted your day-to-day life and mental
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wellbeing right um I suffer a bit with OCD I've got to have SE routines during the day
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otherwise I panic I have carers that come in if I get out a routine I get
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myself into a bit of a panic and now Harley normally sits on the sofa with me if he I don't know how he does it but he
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seems to sense if I'm getting panicked or agitated and he'll put put himself on my knee and lay across
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me um and I'll stroke him which will bring the anxiety level down
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um when I'm out he seems to know if I'm getting anxious I use the mobility scooter when
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I'm out and he's a little devil for jumping on the foot part and having a ride and um when he you must sense it
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through the lead when he feels me getting anxious he'll jump on the foot part of the mobility scooter and pour up
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my leg so I'll stop have a breather give him a stroke and I can carry on again
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then great could you share a particular story or instance where your emotional support animal provided Comfort or
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support during a challenging time uh don't have to go into great detail
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just I had a lot of issues with my family mhm um who aren't very accepting
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of my mental health problems and my anxiety mhm um it got really bad last year and I was
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in an extremely dark place last year um Harley wouldn't leave my sight and
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I'm not exaggerating he would not leave my sight during those during that two weeks
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um he he was pouring at me all the time he was snuggling into me he was sitting on the back of the sofa with his head on my
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shoulder um I I found my found stroken him helped
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relax me and ease the tension when the tension built up again I'd call Harley
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and he'd come and sit beside me and I'd stroke him and he'd give me a nozzle or a couple of kisses and um he'll calm me
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down again he really helped me through a really difficult time as I previously said I was in a terrible terrible dark
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place and if I hadn't have been for Harley I don't know where I would be
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[Music]
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now what are the some of the biggest benefits you've experienced since getting emotional sport animal right
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um I had a lot of trouble going out mhm so let help with that yeah because obviously I got to taken for a walk it
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started with once a day day and now up to four times a day at first I was only going round the block and then
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um a few months in after having Harley he was walking in front of me he suddenly stopped turned around looked at
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me and pulled the lead and I thought he's wanting to go a bit further here he's getting bored of the Walk cuz
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it was the same walk all the time and I panicked and I thought i' got to do this for him but how am I going to
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cope with it so I talked to him like a human I said okay I said we'll go a bit
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further and he got he got me almost round the other block I was in a state I
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won't I will admit that but I also felt a great sense of achievement MH um I
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felt like Harley was gently pushing me to go a bit further and now I can go uh quite some
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distance with him now and if I start feeling anxious during the walk I just call him he comes and sits beside me I C
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bring get himself together and then I'll carry on with the walk yeah we've had we've had a few people that we've talked to saying that
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uh taking the animal out for a walk and that just help them obviously get out in the public and walk socializing as well
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because I um I'm very isolated I don't have many friends and I have my carers come in um and my family lives quite a
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distance away um and uh I am a bit isolated but having Harley and increasing my Mo walk for them and
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meeting more people and getting to know the community more which has really being a big help I've got a question about that
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coming up have you encountered any challenges or obst schools with having an emotional support animal especially in public
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places or specific establishments right um public places I haven't had any
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issues but um I did have one issue um when I was at the hospital once with um
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a ward sister she was definitely an old matron style Ward sister MH um she tried to stop stop me at the door my friend
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was pushing me in my wheelchair and Harley was on my knee um and she said you you can't bring
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that in here and I said he he is registered with the esa and I got his ID
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out and um she sort of looked at me and my friend very good of raising an eyebrow
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and um giv people a funny look and she she backed off but but since then I've
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noticed a lot more people in the last 12 to 18 months have been more accepted to
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Esa animals but on the other hand a lot of people think it's an excuse to keep
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your dog with you in hospitals or public places so it's a very hit and miss um
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situation yeah I think the education of public is the big thing yeah y do you feel that having emotional support
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animal has helped you connect with people in your community or has it affected your social life it's um social
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life not as much cuz I'm not still not very good at going out of my comfort zones but in the community he's definitely made um a big
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difference um I'm talking more to to people um I don't feel as anxious when I'm out
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in my safe areas mhm
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[Music]
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um I'm talking to people that I I've seen go past and I've avoided I had a terrible habit
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apparently of um keeping my head down so I didn't make eye contact um but now my I I'll sit up a
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bit more confident because I got Harley with me it's made me feel more confident when I'm out yeah
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um yeah yeah he he's definitely helped me locally definitely and I'm hoping um
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I'm um I've got a grandson who's seven this year and I hate to say but I've missed
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his birthdays but I am hoping um with my conf new found confidence and with
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Harley's help that I can actually attend his birthday this year which would be a really big thing for me yeah good sorry
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I've just gone blank I'm trying to fix you have I wasn't too sure whether to carry on I'm still here I'm still here I'm still sorry about that I'm just trying to fix why we're talking
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um okay what's the most surprising thing you've learned about emotional support animals since getting one
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um I'd never heard of them before until my support worker told me about them mhm um I looked into it I was surprised to
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see that you could have cats as as an say as well y
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um I looked into um the type of work that they do and I felt it was for me so my
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support worker did the letter for me and I was accepted um it's been an absolute
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Lifeline for me it really really has um and it it it brings up a talking point
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because I've got um um a harness on Harley with um it Esa don't provide them at the moment I've had to get them
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online but it's got emotional support animal on his harness which makes a talking point so I'm able to get my word
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out about esas that way as well yeah they're um the registry is just about to get those um round so on patches so oh
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that would be fantastic yeah so uh the found a place that'll be able to do them so they'll be able to start supplying them oh that would be brilliant next
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month yeah and also they're trying to you know the their problem is with the the harnesses and all that is is um
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you've got to stock so many for different size animals and all that it just becomes cost prohibitive you know never know to go on that's the problem
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so they're trying to look for a supplier that they can just you know if you want one they'll order and it'll just you know order straight direct from the
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supplyer yeah so we'll see that anyway what's the most uh oh I asked you that one what are the misconceptions about
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emotional support animals that would you would like to clear up to our viewers right they're not an excuse to take your
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dog with you or your cat or your rabbit um the person on
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Thea is needed by the owner to cope with
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everyday life to cope with going to appointments to do social
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activities um they help with the anxiety with the Panic that people
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suffer from MH um knowing he's only a hand away from
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me is it makes a big difference to my daily life outside my home um
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yeah uh yeah he he he he makes he makes a big difference yeah I think the biggest biggest problem is most people think
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they're just pets that people want to yeah I think that's what the biggest issue I've come across is is people
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think oh um you just want you do with it yeah yeah yeah and a couple of people have said to me because Harley is so in
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tuned with me if somebody comes up to me that I don't know um he knows I get anxious around
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people that I don't know and he jumps on my Mobility Scooter mhm and uh I had one really rude person who' passed me a
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couple of times and when I'd been out and about and hardly used to jump on a scooter and she' previous asked me what
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the emotional support animal stood for so I I told her and she rudely turned around and said said I don't know who
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needs um who needs each other most you you or the dog um which I found quite
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upsetting um that he's not just a pet um he's my lifeline without
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him I wouldn't get out I wouldn't be able to get to hospital appointments or doctor's appointments I've had to have a
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lot of dental work done over the last five months and I wouldn't have been able to to attend them yeah um I was surprised that I found out uh from the
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registry a lot of people can't get even a letter from a doctor cuz the doctors don't believe in them no no I was very lucky I had um a very very good support
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worker who told me about it um because I've been anxious about reapplying because she's actually left now um but
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luckily i' I've haven't had any issues about reapplying because of the letter that she did the cover letter she did for me
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um a lot a lot of professionals don't recognize them whatsoever yeah I know it's very strange
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where a doctor's supposed to help you but they weren't right to help you yeah I mean I have District nurses come in every other day and they see the
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difference he makes to me um when they're doing um the procedures um him sitting beside me how
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more relaxed I am why they're doing the procedures um so they've noticed is the big difference a couple of them have
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never even heard of es esas before um so that's made a big difference cuz it's got the word out a
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bit more yeah yeah yeah I mean we've roughly covered this next question is how does your Essa help you
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manage specific symptoms of your disability or condition so I've already sort of covered all that sort of thing
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how receptive have businesses and service providers in your city or town being towards your Essa have you found certain places more accepting than
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others um I was really worried about taking them to hospital appointments but the hospital Believe It
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or Not despite GP some GPS not accepting them or even some um psychiatrists and
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psychologists not really accepting the role that they do um I was I was very very anxious the first time I took him
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to the hospital cuz I thought this is going to be a make or break for me um but he was welcomed he's um probably
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like all the essays he's he's very very friendly um very quiet when he seems to
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know when we go into a building that he's not in play mode
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[Music]
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um the only time I had a bit of an issue was when I went to a garden
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center and they used to have um dogs allowed in the cafe but I don't know
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what happened um something must have happened with another dog and it stopped the dogs from going into the cafe inside they could only go
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outside um and I sat down at the edge of the inside Cafe with Harley my my friend
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went to get a drink and one of the staff members came up and she said we don't allow dogs inside anymore
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so I showed him showed her his ID and she said that is Fant she she she couldn't believe it she didn't know such
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such a um what's the word looking for such a thing existed she'd never
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heard of esas before and she was she said to me don't worry you don't have to move you stay exactly where you are and
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if any other staff members come over and question you just tell them that you're SP spoken to me and it's being it's being cleared up yeah that's great so
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yeah I was made up over that cool um next question is on traveling but you haven't traveled yet with youra so no
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no uh what advice would you give to someone who is considering getting an emotional support animal
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[Music]
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right you have to consider that when you get an emotional support animal that you are taking on a pet as as well you have
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to make sure you are going to be able to afford it you have to make sure that you're going to have the time to look after
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it um that you're going to be able to
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um deal with yearly things like boosters and uh wear treatment and flea treatment
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especially if you're going into hospitals and stuff like that um some esas need grooming and if I know if um I
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got a Hospital appointment um coming up I will send Harley to the groomers so uh which the hospital really appreciate me
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doing that you got yeah you got to think you're not just taking on an emotional
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support animal you're taking on a living thing as well that you need to provide for it's a family member yeah definitely
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a family member yeah definitely a family m yeah yeah yeah yeah I prefer him to
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humans well yeah well I prefer the uh animals to humans as well yes yeah definitely yeah um do you have any tips
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for managing the care and well-being of a Essa especially for people with disabilities or mental health challenges
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um I was very worried at first um that my an Harley was feeding off my anxiety
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and I was worried that I was going to make him an over anxious um dog because of my
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anxieties um and I spoke to the vet quite a few times at the beginning saying about my concerns that
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was void he he'd end up feeding off my anxiety and become a very anxious dog himself and she said no she said if if
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he was feeling uncomfortable he would move away from you the fact that he staying close to you means that he's
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trying to help he's trying to support you if he was distressed in an in any way he'd go off and hide or move away
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from me and which I found really really reassuring
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[Music]
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um um introduc them slowly to family members and um
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professionals um um you got to be able to put the time in
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for them okay lastly what's one thing you would like people to understand or
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appreciate about emotional support animals that they might not realize right uh my biggest issue is
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registering for an Esa MH is not an excuse to have that Esa with you all the
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time mhm they are with you for a reason they provide invisible
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support to the person who owns that Esa and they don't know how that person
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would react if they didn't have the esa with them when they were out and about sorry Harley's just heard something
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outside um um yeah uh
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I I'd love it I'd love it to be shown more um more widespread than what it actually is um as I said I'd never heard
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about it apart from my support worker at the time trying to do with these shows we're trying to yeah yeah it's a brilliant
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idea brilliant idea yeah okay right do you want to show hary again for us
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Harley come up here Bubba come here minute come here say hello
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hello say hello very cute hello
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hello ohing next one he wants waving hello to
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everybody okay that was great thanks for being on the show today thank you very much for having me it was lovely to talk about
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esas yeah it's great to have you on and um thanks everybody for tuning in and we'll see you on the next show
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goodbye
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[Music]
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