Loving Paws Assistance Dogs of Santa Rosa (www.lovingpaws.com) trains service dogs for young people with disabilities. Here is what two Loving Paws clients have to say about the importance of their very special working dogs.
Before I had Freedom I was very shy and unhappy because I have mitochondrial disease and it is very painful. It leaves me with no energy so I miss a lot of school, and life seemed too hard to do. I didn’t like talking in front of people at all.
Since Freedom has been in my life, I have accomplished many things. I have put on many fundraisers, spreading awareness about mitochondrial disease and raising funds for research to find a cure. I have given interviews for a number of papers and done a handful of live interviews for our news station. I go to science classrooms and talk about the mitochondria cells and how it affects me that mine do not work correctly. I get kids to help with my fund-raising dinners, golf tournaments, and walk-a-thons. I have raised almost twenty thousand dollars in less than a year and was named the first Youth Ambassador for the United Mitochondrial Disease Foundation.
Freedom has given me so much confidence, courage, stability, and unconditional love. I meet people and talk to them because they see Freedom first and not my wheelchair. Freedom helps me if I need help or if I drop something, and she stays at the hospital with me when I am in for days, weeks, and months at a time. While in the hospital, I see sad children who do not have family stay or visit them, so I take Freedom to visit them or have my mom take her if I can’t get out of bed. She makes them forget their pain and loneliness for the time being.
Freedom is my best friend and I thank the Lord for leading me to Loving Paws in Santa Rosa.
—Brittany Wilkinson
I broke my neck on July 15 of 2005 and have been in a wheelchair ever since. I received my service dog – Mr. Bojangles, or Bo, Bobo, Bo-d-Bo, and/or Bozo – on July 29 of 2006 from Loving Paws Assisstance Dogs. He is a three-year-old black lab with the eternal heart of a puppy, yet the temperamant of a seasoned service dog.
He was placed with his “mama” (or as I call her, Sheila) at about eight weeks of age. With Sheila, Bo learned to be well behaved in public in a wide variety of situations, including movies, sporting events, shows, public transportation, and large crowds. He also learned all of his basic obedience that allows him to be a successful service dog.
In spring of 2006, Bo traveled to Oregon to receive his advanced training. There he learned many of the commands that service dogs have become famous for. For example, Bo can flip light switches, push elevator buttons, open doors, pull me in my wheelchair, and many other helpful things.
However, one of the less known benefits Bo and other service dogs provide is the emotional support of having one of your best buds with you all the time. Being disabled brings many additional challenges. I need to be strong and confident in order for my dog to respect me and work for me. That alone helps me through some tough days.
Having a dog like Bo has been one of the best things to happen to me.
—Jesse Woodard
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