The 9-year-old Wellington boy
is autistic and relies on the black Labrador to keep him safe and calm.
James cannot speak, and
recoils from touch and eye contact with his family.
But he will curl up happily
with Mahe.
“And for Mahe, James is his
best mate, he is all about James," mum Michelle Isaac said.
So important is the bond that
Mahe was allowed to join James at the Wellington Children's Hospital as he
underwent an MRI scan to diagnose the cause of his seizures.
As he went under general anesthetic,
Mahe watched with concern, nuzzling his master's face.
"He was just looking at
James, and looking really worried."
As Michelle waited in the
hospital cafe for the scan to end, Mahe sat beside her, calming the mother as
he had calmed the son.
"I was really shaken, it
was pretty stressful watching James struggle."
Life for the Isaac family has
improve immensely since Mahe came into their lives, 2½ years ago.
Michelle said going out into
public with James used to be nightmare. He was likely to run off and lose the
plot in any unfamiliar or over-stimulating involvement.
"We couldn't even go to a
cafe as a family. James would get very anxious and want to leave immediately.
But when we got Mahe, James would just sit there waiting for us to finish our
coffee."
Mahe's presence not only calms
James, but keeps him safe. Out and about, he is attached to Mahe on a tether.
If he strays too far, or starts running towards a busy road, Mahe sits down and
won't budge.
The Assistance Dogs New
Zealand Trust trained Mahe for six months from a puppy to help children with
autism.
The trust trains puppies to
help people with a range of disabilities, from autism to diabetes to cerebral
palsy.
The dogs can be taught to
distract their owners, warn other family members of an impending medical event,
or track down missing people and objects.
Wendy Isaacs, the trust's
funding development manager, said Mahe had been picked for autism training
because of his calm demeanor.
"There is such a magic
that happens between a child with autism and the dogs, they just calm the kids
down. The kids will maintain eye contact with the dog, but often not with their
own parents and siblings."
If James' seizures persisted,
Mahe could also be trained to pick up on early warning sign and whine or bark
to alert his parents, she said.
