Lowes in Regina, Saskatchewan Hires a Special Needs Employee and Makes a Vest and Name Tag for His Service Dog

A man in Canada was having trouble finding a job. His support dog, Blue, accompanies him at all times because of his special needs, and most employers weren’t ready to take on a pooch employee in addition to his human. But one Lowes home improvement store in Regina, Saskatchewan was willing to hire the man and his dog, and they took it a step further.

The store created an employee vest and name tag for their new canine worker, and now Blue is waiting with his owner to greet you at the store. Take a look at the adorable doggy uniform! I’d be happy to visit stores that had cute dogs working alongside humans.

Some Reddit users have questioned Blue’s ability to assist customers with their needs. One user said, “Betcha he doesn’t know jack s**t about plumbing either.” Another user replied, “Nonsense. I’m sure he knows that the American standard wall mounted toilets with wide bowls are MUCH easier to drink out of, as opposed to the non-mounted elongated ones.” Maybe Blue will have some of the answers, after all!

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Service Dog Etiquette: When a Service Dog Has a Vest on in Public with Its Disabled Handler, it is Working

When a Service Dog has a vest on or is in public with its disabled handler (or trainer), it is working, even if it appears as though it is not. Distracting a Service Dog by making noises, offering food, water, toys or petting may be dangerous to the dog’s disabled handler, especially if the dog is a medical alert dog or brace/mobility support dog. Many handlers have “invisible disabilities,” such as diabetes, hearing loss or other symptoms not readily apparent and if a Service Dog is paying attention to someone who’s distracting her, she’s not doing her job for her handler.

How to Behave Around a Service Dog

Service dogs are all around us and this is truly a wonderful thing. They can help people to open and close doors, retrieve dropped items from the floor, walk across the street, and retrieve medication from a refrigerator, as well as a variety of other tasks. Each dog is tailor trained to meet the specific needs of their handler. And yet many of us still do not know how to properly interact with these fascinatingly furry helpers. Here are six etiquette tips to remember the next time you encounter a service dog.

Speaking to the Service Dog Team

That's right, the service dog and its handler are a team. And should you want to approach a service dog team, please speak to the person first. Speaking, touching, or making rude noises to the dog may only confuse him or her.

Petting the Service Dog

It may be tempting to pet or touch the service dog, but only do so after receiving permission from the dog's handler. Moreover, don't be insulted if your request is denied. Releasing the dog in order to greet you may distract his or her attentiveness to the handler.

Feeding the Service Dog

Do not offer a service dog food or dog treats. Even though service dogs are trained to ignore food on the ground and not beg for treats, your offerings may serve as a distraction for the dog. Besides, you can't be sure that the dog food or treat you are offering will not inadvertently cause the dog to become sick.

Interactions with Your Dog

If you have a dog with you, do not let him or her approach the service dog without first consulting with the handler. This can distract the service dog and, despite his or her training, may lead to an unwanted altercation between the animals.

Asking Personal Questions

Asking the handler about his or her disability is impolite and an intrusion of privacy. You should also never assume an animal is not a service dog if he or she does not wear a vest, patch, or any other item that would identify the dog as a service dog. This is not required by U.S. federal law.

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9-Year-Old Boy with Autism Relies on His Service Dog to Keep Him Safe and Calm While in the Hospital

Where James Isaac goes, Mahe follows – even into the boy's hospital bed.

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.

To learn more about assistance dogs, visit the trust's website. 

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Family of Autistic Boy Launched a Fundraising Campaign to Get $12,500 Needed for a Therapy Dog: Taylor Swift Donates $10,000

Two schoolgirls who created their own version of one of Taylor Swift's most famous songs to raise money for their autistic relative have received a huge donation from the popstar herself.

Jordan Fox and Makaylee Duhon, who are both 12, joined together to rewrite the lyrics to Swift's hit 'Blank Space' as a way of helping Jacob Hill, who suffers from autism.

Jacob, who is five, suffers from the condition, which makes it harder for him socialize and he is prone to wandering off from his parents.

His mother Allison was keen for Jacob to be given a service dog, which would stop him from putting himself in constant danger.

His family then launched a fund-raising campaign to gather together the $12,500 needed to train a dog and his sister Jordan and cousin Makaylee decided to rework one of Swift's songs where they plead for donations.

The video of their song, their own take on Blank Space, was posted to YouTube and spotted by the hitmaker who wanted to help out the cause.

She then went on the appeal's Gofundme page and donated $10,000, meaning the family now have enough for a therapy dog.

Writing on the page, Swift and her mother Andrea Swift, wrote: “Jacob, we hope you love your new dog! Please tell your cousins that they did a great job on the song! Love, Taylor and Andrea Swift.”

And when the two girls were told that Ms. Swift had made the donation, they were shocked.

Makaylee told KPRC: “She was like, 2Taylor Swift just donated $10,000.

And we were all like, 'Oh my gosh!”

While Jordan added: “I couldn't just look at this situation and ignore it, because he's my brother.

I love him a lot. He's really special to me.”

A service dog will now be chosen for Jacob and will take two and a half years to train before going to live with the family.

Schoolgirls Jordan Fox and Makaylee Duhon, who created their own version of one of Taylor Swift's most famous songs to raise money for their autistic relative Jacob Hill, pictured.

The two girls reworked the words to the song Blank Space and performed a music video to go with it, which they posted online.

After posting the video online for Jacob, left, it was spotted by Taylor Swift, right, who donated $10,000 to help him afford a service dog.

The hitmaker spotted the girls' song on YouTube and wanted to help Jacob afford to get his service dog.

When the two girls were told by Jacob's mother, Allison that Swift had made the donation, they were shocked.

Thanks to the popstar's donation, the family now have enough money to afford to train the dog.

The message that Swift and her mother Andrea left on Gofundme after making their donation.

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The Prison Pets Program at the Medium-Security Maryland Correctional Training Center Has Been Suspended After a Prison Worker and an Inmate Were Bitten by Dogs

Hagerstown, Maryland  — Maryland's prison agency said Wednesday it has suspended one facility's program allowing inmates to prepare rescued pets for adoption after a prison worker and an inmate were bitten by dogs in separate incidents in recent months.

The civilian worker required stitches for a bite in the face, and the inmate suffered a puncture wound to his hand, a spokesman said.

The suspension of the Prison Pets program at the medium-security Maryland Correctional Training Center near Hagerstown does not affect animal-centered programs at nine other Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services institutions, including two programs similar to Prison Pets, spokesman Robert Thomas said. Most of the other programs involve inmates training service dogs.

Thomas said the Prison Pets program was launched at the 180-bed prison with good intentions but without higher approval of any guidelines or agreements with the animal shelters that supplied the dogs and cats, which otherwise would have been euthanized.

"We think the program has merit. It needs to be implemented in the correct way," Thomas said. He said agency officials hope to make a decision about the program's future by the end of January.

The Herald-Mail first reported the suspension Tuesday. In an earlier story in July, Warden Phil Morgan told the newspaper that the program, then a year old, had had "a total calming effect" on the prison's inmate population.

Thomas told The Associated Press on Wednesday that the warden or his representative should have made sure the program was properly approved. He said the warden sent authorization paperwork to an assistant Division of Correction commissioner last fall, but the assistant commissioner retired in November, apparently without taking action on the proposal.

The program adopted out 100 dogs and 30 cats, Thomas said. He said he expects the 26 animals remaining in the program to be adopted by Jan. 8.

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Washington, DC: MPD Officer Shoots Service Dog Outside of Dog Park in Greenbelt, Maryland

Greenbelt, Maryland - Greenbelt police are investigating the shooting of a service dog by an off-duty Metropolitan Police Department officer outside the Greenbelt Dog Park on December 13.

The service dog, a Pit mix named Cleo, was wounded and is recovering, according to her owner LaToya Plummer of Greenbelt.

Plummer, who is deaf and depends on Cleo to alert her to visitors, is demanding that charges be filed against the unnamed police officer.

According to Greenbelt police, the off-duty MPD sergeant told investigators that Cleo ran towards her and her dog aggressively.

The off-duty officer reported Cleo was "bearing teeth", and the officer said she feared for her safety, according to Greenbelt Police spokesman George Mathews.

The off-duty officer immediately reported the shooting to police.

Plummer said because she is deaf she did not hear the gunshot and wasn't aware how Cleo got injured. At first, she thought Cleo had been in a fight.

Plummer said she did not know the woman was an off-duty police officer and she did not see a gun. Plummer said she left the dog park before police arrived to get Cleo to a veterinarian.

She called police later in the day after learning from the vet that Cleo had been shot.

Plummer said she was at the dog park with Cleo and two other pets and preparing to take her dogs out of the fenced enclosure to her vehicle when the shooting happened.

Plummer disputes the claim that Cleo was aggressive.

"She is the most calm and gentle of my dogs," Plummer said through an interpreter.

Investigators said Cleo was outside the park fence and was unleashed.

The incident happened on Sunday at 6:30 a.m.

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New York Service Dog is Now Being Hailed a Hero: Jumps In Front of Bus for Blind Owner

A New York service dog is now being hailed a hero after saving his blind owner from an oncoming mini school bus.

The Brewster, New York, school bus was carrying two kindergartners to St. Lawrence O’Toole Childhood Learning Center when the service dog, Bigo, became alert. The driver reportedly didn’t see Bigo and his owner, Audrey Stone, crossing the road on Monday morning, so Bigo leapt into action.

“I don’t know if [the driver] thought [Stone] was going to move faster, but it looks like the dog tried to take most of the hit for her,” Paul Schwartz, a manager at the Xtra Mart gas station near the intersection where Stone was hit, said.

When Schwartz reached the scene of the crash, Stone’s head was bleeding and she was complaining about pain from her hip. In photos, the driver’s side wheel and intersection of the accident are covered in dog fur.

“There were 15 EMTs and people all around her and the dog didn’t want to leave her side,” Shwartz said. “He was flopping over to her and she didn’t want him to get away from her, either. She kept screaming, ‘Where’s Bigo? Where’s Bigo? Where’s Bigo?’ We kept telling her he was fine.”

Schwartz added that Bigo was a good sport as EMTs bandaged his right leg. He never barked or yelped, but simply allowed the EMTs to work without complaint. However, Bigo appeared lost once Stone was pulled away in the ambulance, Schwartz noted.

Bigo was taken to the vet in a fire truck, where he underwent surgery on his leg. Stone is also currently being treated.

The driver of the bus has since been given a summons for failing to yield to a pedestrian.

  

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Service Dogs Help Children with Epilepsy, Autism and Other Disabilities

When Alyssa Howes was 4-years-old, she lost her sight and started having seizures. Her grandmother stayed in the girl's room at night, monitoring her for attacks. That ended three years ago when Alyssa got a service dog named Flint.

When the golden retriever moved in, life changed for Alyssa's Los Angeles-area family. He gives the 11-year-old a more normal life by alerting her family to seizures, guiding her so she doesn't fall and allowing her to have a bit more freedom.

"It gives her a companion to enjoy the moments when she is doing things she likes to do," said her mother, Juliette Palomaki. "And if she is having a bad day, she will call him and they will just be together."

But not enough dogs are being trained for children with epilepsy, autism and other disabilities, said Karen Shirk, founder of 4 Paws for Ability, a nonprofit that breeds and trains service dogs. Other agencies train dogs specifically to help people with seizures, but Ohio-based 4 Paws is one of just a few that does not exclude young children.

Most require a minor to be 16 so they can handle the dog alone in public. Because a younger child cannot do that, 4 Paws trains at least two adult caregivers, such as parents, teachers and baby-sitters.

Service dogs allow children to feel comfortable at the park, school and restaurants. In Alyssa's case, it means no one has to stand guard at night in case of seizures.

"Once we got Flint, she said she wanted to start sleeping on her own with him," Palomaki said.

Animal behaviorist Brandon McMillan, the star of "Lucky Dog" on CBS, says it's very easy for a child with disabilities to become a recluse.

"Life shouldn't be so complicated at 5," said McMillan, a spokesman for Magnolia Paws for Compassion, which raises awareness that kids can get service dogs. 

"Take a child who has a condition. Give them a dog. The dog opens up a world for this child. It's important for a child's life."

Seizure dogs are costly — taking 4 Paws $22,000 to breed and train, with each family asked to raise $15,000 — but they can alert their companions to seizures before they strike.

Scientists say pooches smell a chemical change when a person is about to seize — they just don't agree how dogs do it, Shirk said. At her training center, dogs learn to bark to signal a seizure so an adult can give the child medicine.

For Shirk, who has a service dog, Piper, to help her with her muscular dystrophy, getting that warning allows her to take medicine that keeps her breathing.

"Messages don't get through from the brain to the muscles," Shirk said of a seizure. "Without Piper, I barely have time to call 911 before everything shuts down."

In Alyssa's case, if Flint detects a seizure, he will lick her, become very attentive, lie on her and bark, the girl's mother said.

"When we hear him bark, we know something is up because he doesn't bark for any other reason," Palomaki said.

Alyssa also has leukemia that's in remission and lacks full use of her right hand. Doctors won't give a prognosis because they "don't want to put expectations or limitations on her," Palomaki said.

"She walks, talks and can read the whole Braille alphabet with one good hand. She's a true joy, and they are a dynamic duo," Palomaki said.

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Heartwarming Story: Two Teens, Both with Disabilities, Go to Different High Schools and Had Never Met, Until Their Service Dogs… Brought Them Together

Seniors Delaney Johnson and Nick Ackerman, strangers until a few weeks before their high school proms, both planned to skip the big night–that is, until they and their adorable service dogs Troy and Griffin met. What happened next is something you just have to see for yourself!

The two teens, both with disabilities, go to different high schools and hadn’t even met until their service dogs, in a way, brought them together.

Nick, who has a service dog named Troy, was interviewing Delaney, who has a service dog named Griffin, for a school video project on service dogs.

Making small talk, she asked him, “Are you all geared for prom?” When he told her he had no plans to go to his, she volunteered to go with him. He accepted.

With their service dogs along, they attended his school’s prom, then hers.

A Lansing State Journal columnist and photographer went along .

Delaney, 17, goes to Haslett High School, where, before she got her 2-year-old Dutch shepherd Griffin, she would faint or pass out up to 20 times a day due to narcolepsy.

Between medication and help from Griffin, that condition — and a second neurological condition called cataplexy — have been brought under control.

Her dog acts to distract her if she’s experiencing anxiety and, in case of an attack, he’s trained to stay with her, lying on top of her if she becomes incapacitated so that she feels protected.

“Since I got Griffin, I’ve not had any major cataplexy attacks at all,” said Johnson, a singer and songwriter who plans to take Griffin with her this fall to attend Grand Valley State University. “…He’s my own personal little bodyguard.”

Nick attends Forest Hills Central High School in Grand Rapids, where he’s a champion debater. His service dog Troy helps Nick, who was born without arms, do everything from carrying things to zipping up his coat.

Nick, who plans to attend Eastern Michigan University in the fall, met Delaney two weeks ago, when he interviewed her for a class project on service dogs and the subject of proms came up.

On May 2, they went to his prom. Last Saturday, they went to hers.

The columnist and photographer accompanied the foursome — from home, where they posed for family photos, to a sushi dinner and then to the prom itself.

“I was going to stay home and eat ice cream and watch movies,” Delaney said later. “I’m just so glad I went…It was an amazing time.”

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Man's Seeing Eye Dog Has Eye Troubles of His Own

Ronald Henry's guide dog Kehotay has been by his side for the last eight years, but now it's the golden retriever who needs a helping hand.

Kehotay helps Henry get around because Henry lost his sight and hearing several years ago. But now the 10-year-old golden retriever is having eye troubles of his own.

"I've been worried sick about him," Henry told ABC's Nebraska affiliate KETV. "He's my team, my partner."

The dog arrived at veterinarian Dr. Mike Hord's office with a cloudy right eye and corneal ulcers in December. But after the ulcers healed four weeks later, the pressure in the eye had more than tripled, which may be a sign of a bigger problem called pigmentary uveitis, which is common among golden retrievers, Hord said.

Now, Henry and Kehotay are headed to a specialist to make sure the condition isn't more serious, and that Kehotay can keep his right eye.

"They have definitely grown into quite the pair," Hord said, adding that he's been treating Kehotay for the last seven years. "All you have to do is see them together and you can tell that."

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How to Ask Dog Owners to Keep Their Pets Out of Stores

What's the correct way to ask someone to remove their dog from a store?

That's a question I'm still being asked in response to an earlier Ask Laz about whether dogs are allowed in businesses, especially businesses that sell food.

I acknowledged that I had been guilty in the past of taking my own dog into the supermarket.

After looking at the relevant federal, state and local laws, I concluded that "the impression you get is that non-service dogs aren't allowed in grocery stores or any other place that sells food."

To read more on this story, click here: How to Ask Dog Owners to Keep Their Pets Out of Stores FOLLOW US!

Pets Allowed - Why Are So Many Animals Now in Places Where They Shouldn’t Be?

What a wonderful time it is for the scammer, the conniver, and the cheat: the underage drinkers who flash fake I.D.s, the able-bodied adults who drive cars with handicapped license plates, the parents who use a phony address so that their child can attend a more desirable public school, the customers with eleven items who stand in the express lane. The latest group to bend the law is pet owners.

To read more on this story, click here: Pets Allowed - Why Are So Many Animals Now in Places Where They Shouldn’t Be?

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Afghanistan Veteran and His Former Canine Comrade for Two Years, Reunite After they Both Returned from War

Any reunion between two war buddies is bound to be emotional, but after a nationwide search brought together a U.S. Marine Corps Veteran with the bomb-sniffing dog he served with, tears and wags were in order.

Lance Cpl. Dylan Bogue served in Afghanistan for seven months with the black lab Moxie, but hadn't seen his former partner for two years.

'I'm very happy, very grateful for the people that made this come together. It's really truly a dream,' Bogue told (WHDH- TV).


Bogue and Moxie were paired up at a training course in North Carolina in 2011 before being deployed to Afghanistan, where they worked to detect improvised explosive devices.

Still, Bogue insists that Moxie did more than just protect his unit from bombs.
"It was comforting and reassuring to myself and my unit to have a dog there in the stressful situations of a combat deployment," he told the Boston Herald.

Bogue said that he suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder, and believes that Moxie does too.

After returning to the U.S., Moxie began working with Boston's transit police and was an integral part of security at this year's marathon, searching for explosives on Boston's metro line.

"We did a lot of security work leading up to the last Boston Marathon, we were all over that Green Line," said Chip Leonard, the handler who gave up Moxie.

At the handover ceremony on Wednesday, Leonard was emotional as he saluted Bogue and said goodbye to his trusted partner.

"This was probably one of the toughest things I've ever gone through,' he told WBZ. Leonard later posted to Facebook that Bogue has "got his good pal back with him."

The reunion was made possible by Vietnam vet Lon Hodge, who sent out a call to find Moxie through his blog where he writes about the importance of service dogs to veterans' well-being.

Now that Moxie is retired from service, he'll join the civilian canines at Bogue's home, which include three pit bulls and an Australian shepherd.

Companion: Lance Cpl. Dylan Bogue had not seen his former partner Moxie for two years after the pair served together in Afghanistan.

Comfort canine: Bogue says that he and Moxie have PTSD but that his partner's presence with his unit was reassuring.

Service dog: Moxie will be with civilian dogs when he returns to Bogue's home. Here he dozes with Bogue and his unit.

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