Introducing Sadie: my pitbull service dog

 I got Sadie after months of searching. My old service dog had to retire because he needed to work way more than I required (he now works to train new service dogs with a trainer!). I work from home, so there is a lot of downtime for my service dog to just be a dog. After Winston, I emailed many rescues and told them exactly what I was looking for in a dog: a chill dog who was still down to work but was equally content just chilling at home. I looked at many dogs, but they were not the right fit. Then, I saw Sadie at the Pasadena Humane Society. I was hesitant because all the other rescues fostered their dogs out so I thought they knew their personalities better. But I still emailed them about Sadie. They said she had a wonderful temperament and even added notes from her field trips, which were very helpful because they let me know what her personality was like. So, I went to meet her and saw what a good girl she was. She is confident and friendly. I asked if I could do an adoption trial to see if we were a right fit and have my trainer evaluate her for service work. The trial week went well and my trainer took her to Home Depot and said she has the qualities for service work! So, I decided to make it official and adopt her on March 27th, 2026! 

I had trained service dogs for many years; however, I had no clue how to train basic obedience like “sit” or "come." So, I looked for a positive-reinforcement-only boarding trainer. I found Pawsitive K9 Solutions and sent Sadie off to boot camp for a week. They don’t train service dogs, but I just needed her to learn the basics and plan to train her by myself and with a service dog trainer going forward. They were so awesome! And sent video updates every day, which helped me follow along on her progress. She came back having a good understanding of basic commands, which just need to be reinforced with continued training. And now I get to start her public access training only a few weeks after adopting her!