KingsleyHere wrote:Thanks for the replies. Never thought about the opposite..the animals having a preference! Oh, what if York doesn't like one of us???!!! Are there such a thing as service fish lol !!!
Thanks!
A lot of cats will avoid humans who doesn't understand how to behave with them. I think that's why cats are more prone to avoid some alters and "play favorites". They just go to the people who seem to understand their language (and each cat have their own).
Dogs are less prone to do that, usually it takes a lot to have a dog avoiding you
My cat totally sense each alters and adapt her behavior depending on who is close to the front. She will stick to us like superglue, following us in every room, when it's the Littles. She obeys mostly to Daem and me. She is way more cuddling with Kal, I think she can sense that he only tolerate outside physical contact with animals and really needs it.
She also senses stress and dissociation, and will do everything to catch our attention when she feels we're on the verge of a panic attack or a flashback. It took me a while to understand why she could suddenly misbehave (it triggers Daem) and/or meow like she was trying to howl at the moon (it triggers me).
Service dog outside of guide dogs aren't really known in France, and mental health service dog are even more unknown (only one association have started to train them), so I've discovered that only few months ago.
As I do zootherapy with my cat, with children who have school issues, I've already trained her to a lot of commands : she knows about 20-25 command words, she knows how to adapt and combine them depending on the context, and she pays so much attention to everything we do and say that I've lost the count of all the words she responds to in the daily life. And she knows how to walk with a harness and leash, she is used to public transports. Yes, she's basically a dog

I wish we could take her everywhere with us, but sadly, a lot of places aren't safe for a cat...
When I discovered that service dog for PTSD and even dissociation were a thing, I started to train her for specific things for us.
We taught her to paid attention when we're in the bathroom, in order to disrupt our picking behavior by jumping between us and the mirror if we stay in front of it for too long ; to lay down on us when Nico or Kal has a panic attack (deep pressure therapy, if one of your alter is prone to panic attack, you should have a look at this for your service dog). She's a 5kg Norwegian cat (cousin of the big Maine coon), so between her weight, her long soft fur and her loud purring, she helps a lot with grounding.
We had a spinning ring for our birthday, and the ring makes a noise when spinning. We're currently training her to come to us every time she hears that noise.
Just those three, plus what she's naturally doing, she's a huge help, and I seriously consider taking and training a dog when I will graduate from university and move from my mom's place.
I've got a YT playlist about service dogs and emotional support animal, mental health related or not, if you want to have a look :
SD and ESA