I hope you have a great time today with your family and friends. Remember, if things get a bit overwhelming — with noise, conversations, or just everything going on — here’s a simple tip: 👉 It’s completely okay to step away for a few minutes. - Excuse yourself to the restroom or a quiet space, take a couple of minutes to breathe, ground yourself, and reset. - Those few minutes can help your auditory and nervous systems calm down so you can come back and re-engage with everyone. Key takeaway: It’s okay to take breaks when you need them. 👍 Enjoy the day, take care of yourself, and be present in the moments that matter. 💛

Alright, so here’s the first update! The first thing we focused on this week was walking together. More specifically, walking with a short leash, what they call a 'leader leash.' Up until now, Leo was used to a longer leash, so he had more freedom to move around. This is very different. Now he has to stay right next to me, same pace, same direction. At the beginning, it was not smooth at all. (understatement of the year 😂) He kept trying to switch sides, crossing in front of me, going left, then right. Basically trying to figure out where he’s supposed to be. And honestly, I also had to adjust. Because this is not just about controlling him, it’s about both of us getting used to moving together. After a few days, it started to look much better. And now, after almost 2 weeks, he’s staying next to me pretty consistently, and we’re already doing this in public spaces too. For example, I took him to Home Depot. We walked through some pretty narrow aisles, sometimes with people around, and overall he did really well. A couple of times he tried to pull me toward things that caught his attention, but nothing too crazy. At one point there was another dog, and he definitely noticed… but he still stayed next to me and kept walking. We also went outside to the garden area and then back inside. The whole experience was actually pretty smooth. 🐕‍🦺 I’d say 95% of the time he stayed in sync with me, which honestly surprised me. One small step for dog.... one giant leap for service dog qualification! 🥇 I attached a photo and a 10-second video from one of the walks this week. Next step will be adding more real-world situations and distractions. This week we started working on alert behaviors (he alerts me of things happening). But I'll save this for the next update. 🐶 Quick question: Have any of you ever trained a dog like this, or seen this kind of process before? Happy Friday! Guy & Leo PS - Tagging the people I believe showed interested in this journey.

It doesn’t have to be something big. It could be: > something you’re working on > a small win you’re building toward > something that helps you feel a bit better day by day Let’s share our goals, support each other, and stay accountable. I hope everyone had a great weekend. 🙏🙌

When you’ve gone for so long or you haven’t noticed tinnitus and you forgot almost what it is then it comes back two or three days plus full force. Me just venting.

I’m currently training Leo to become a service hearing dog for me. This is actually not about tinnitus — this is about my hearing loss. My hearing loss is severe 😬, and because of that, there are situations where I can miss important things that most people wouldn’t. For example: - Someone rings the door while I’m in my office and I don’t hear it - Something loud happens outside that I should be aware of, but I miss it - Or I’m in a noisy place like an airport, and someone is trying to get my attention… and I don’t notice Leo does! So, part of his training is to alert me when something important is happening around me. It also means practicing in real-life environments like: - stores (Home Depot / Lowe’s) - public places - airports So it’s been a really interesting… and sometimes funny 😄 process. ❓ Here’s my question for you: Would you be interested if I shared updates about this journey here in the community? Things like: - how the training works - what I’m learning - what works (and what doesn’t) - and some real-life moments along the way 👉 Please be honest, though, I completely understand if this is not really interesting to others. I'll not be offended. I promise. 👍 🔔 Quick reminder: We have the workshop tomorrow, and we’ll be focusing on the attention loop and how to break it. If you’re planning to join, please comment below. I’d love to know who’s coming. Happy Friday! Guy.