Venus's Service Dog Journey

I have mulitple chronic illness, like POTS, hEDS, and fibromyalgia, along with some other issues like PTSD. Now that I'm on campus, I realised how ill-prepared I was for college life. After much consideration, I think I've landed on getting a service dog to help me live more independently. This mini article is dedicated to my experience getting, training, and living with a service dog as a college student

Step One: Planning

Definitely not the most exciting part of the process but arguably the most important step. I've found a good trainer in my home town that I can see semi-frequently on breaks and on weekends and it's not too terribly expensive compared to other trainers in my area.

I have my eyes on the cutest little English Cream Golden Retriever named Skye. She's only $400 and I am head-over-heels for her. I'm hoping my parents will agree to get her (they're the ones footing the bill, I'm very lucky in that regard) because she's so so so cute and part of one of the big four breeds for service dogs. Golden Retreivers also aren't too big for my single dorm and I have a semi-private bathroom so hopefully my suitemate won't mind

Cost Breakdown

Adoption: [proposed] $400

Training: [proposed] $625 monthly, for 6 months

Crate:

Food: monthly -

Toys:

Other gear: