Service Dogs & Magic Pumpkins!
A service dog has many wonderful benefits. Legally, it is considered a medical device, much like a wheelchair, or an oxygen tank. The trained animal can help mitigate disabilities and make life significantly easier for those of us who are handicapped.
But a service dog is not a cure.
Cinderella had a fairy godmother who turned a pumpkin into a carriage to take her to the ball. Service dogs are, unfortunately, not magical in that way. They can help fetch, alert, or otherwise care for us, but they cannot make our symptoms simply cease to exist…
It is critical to keep in mind as one considers the use of a service dog that there are other responsibilities that will need to be attended to with the use of an animal- such as the care and upkeep- physically, emotionally, and financially.
Grace does many things to help me daily. I do things daily for her health and well being also. We function well as a team, but it took time and effort to achieve the routine that works for us. She is many things to me, and with her help I am more active in the community, at work, and at home, but I have always had realistic goals for our partnership.
For more information and help deciding if a service dog is a good option for you, follow the link below.
Service Dog Information for Individuals
IS A SERVICE DOG RIGHT FOR YOU? Often times it is difficult enough to find creative solutions to mitigate a disability in daily life that it can be hard to predict if a Service Dog would help or hinder progress. The most common obstacle is the plethora of incorrect/misleading information about service dogs. Lindsay strips away some of the… Continue reading Service Dog Info for Individuals