About Helper Hounds: The Owner
Hello!
My name is Myranda Miller. I was born October 14, 1991. Do the math of my age yourself, as updating this little blurb about me every year would be silly. I enjoy cross-stitch, video games, and working with dogs the most. I hate having my photo taken, so the photo above this will be updated very sparsely.
Anyway, I am disabled, and my disability began when I was born with a Club Foot. I had repair surgery done, but because I was raised by my great-grandparents and they didn't have me wear the special brace like I was supposed to, it didn't heal properly. I've had issues with that foot, and the connected ankle, because of that. I was also born with a Growth Hormone Defect, which caused me to not grow properly, and so I'm a very short-statured person of only 4ft 5in.
As for the rest of my life, I suffered through multiple abusive relationships and some childhood trauma that I don't desire to go into details about. These traumatic experiences caused me to develop what is known as Chronic/Complex Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, or CPTSD. I was also diagnosed with ADHD as an adult.
Despite these things, throughout my life I've had a large interest and investment in learning to train dogs. I started out in childhood as a dog walker, and gradually progressed into working with dogs of varying degrees of obnoxiousness. I would constantly research how to fix a problem that I faced with a dog, and then try every method I found until it worked. By all rights, despite no official degree or certification, I was a Canine Behaviorist. I was very proud of my ability to work with dogs that almost anyone else would have given up on, and help them to succeed, and still am. However, as I got older, my disabilities were affecting me worse and worse. I decided to stop helping dogs and their people unless it was something I could handle.
It was when I was asked to help with a puppy that my world into Service Dogs developed. I was contacted about basic puppy things, and when I asked for more information, I was told the puppy was to be trained as a Service Dog for the person's partner. I started researching into Service Dog training and such things because I wasn't even sure it was legal to train a Service Dog outside of a program (it is, by the way) and I started learning that I would benefit from a Service Dog myself. However, I didn't know how to train things that would help me, so I didn't bother with it then. But when I was contacted to help someone with issues with their current PTSD dog in training, I dug more, and learned a lot about what would help me specifically.
December of 2015, I bought my first dog to train for myself. I got Jessabelle, a Bluetick Coonhound, from a Craigslist ad, and she cost me very little. Throughout the next two years, I learned a lot, messed up a lot, and still persevered. That first dog introduced me to the online Service Animal community, and to my mentor, the late Susan Grill. My first dog ended up having to retire in April 2018, so I decided my next dog would be a well-bred purebred with a solid temperament to ensure that she would have the best option for success. I got Saoirse, a Redbone Coonhound, in July 2018, and with Susan's assistance and guidance through it all, we succeeded. By May 2019, Saoirse was considered fully trained by my (fairly strict) standards.
Then, the unthinkable happened and Susan Grill passed away in June 2019. When I found out about it, I mourned her loss, and then remembered the mission that she had in her life. To help others get the Service Dogs that they so desperately needed. So, I decided that I would carry on her legacy and start my own program. I already knew a lot, and I could find resources for what I didn't through other trainers and books that those trainers had written. With Susan's mantra of "Don't Give Up" behind me, I got to work, and here we are.
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