Some Of My Best Friends Are ---

Mom trained me to be useful as her service dog. See, she has problems with her back (lots of problems) and her right leg. She taught me to heel on her right side so that I can help steady her when we walk. And if she has trouble getting up from a chair, I go over and stand in front of her so that she can use me to help brace herself. I love working with Mom! It makes me feel good to be able to help her, and especially to go places with her that she might not be able to go by herself.

One of my Mom’s friends has a dog who helps her with emotional support. That mom was in a war and she sometimes has problems being in noisy places or around lots of people. Her dog reminds her to take a deep breath and helps her get out of situations that make her feel uncomfortable.

My Mom says lots of humans need the help of service animals. Sometimes people have problems that are invisible. Just because a person isn’t in a wheelchair, or their eyes are fine, doesn’t mean they don’t need us. My Mom can’t bend over to pick things up, so I help her with that around the house if she asks.

Problem is, a lot of business people think that because I’m not a seeing eye dog or a hearing dog, I’m not a service dog. Funny, usually the customers of the business know the laws better than the business owners and managers do. Mom has another friend who works at a national pet supply store in the city. That lady has some really complicated problems and her dog helps her get out of bed in the mornings and pulls her wheelchair for her – he has a really important job to do for her. But the place she works for didn’t want her to bring him to work! She had to do something that my Mom calls “get down and dirty” to get them to agree for him to have a trial period in the store. I couldn’t believe that! A pet supply store that wanted to ban their employee’s service dog?

They gave him a thirty day trial period. Unbeliveable. Wonder what their customers would have to say about it if P------- decides he can’t come to work with his mom to help her do the things their other employees who aren’t disabled do easily?

AAARRROOOOOOOO!