Testimonials

My service dog’s name is Stella.  I got Stella as a 6-week-old pup in August of 2018.  She is a labradoodle with brindle colored, curly hair.  I have 3 sons with disabilities and felt a medium sized dog would be appropriate with 2 wheelchairs around.

I decided to have her take a basic dog training course with Allison.  My daughter had used Allison for her dog training and recommended her to me.  I called Allison and an arrangement was made.

I had wanted an emotional support dog when she started training. Allison keeps the dogs at her home during this training period.  It was during this time I discovered I had Parkinsons disease, and it was affecting my balance.  When Allison brought Stella home from her initial training, we discussed my balance issue.  I was asking questions like what kind of service dog could I get, did she know of any trainers, etc.  I had extenuating circumstances and could not travel for training as I was the sole caregiver to my own disabled children. She said she would investigate it and get back to me. Service dogs weren’t her main focus at the time, and she mainly did psychiactric dogs. She was fairly booked up with her behavior modification clients and wasn’t sure she would have time.  About now I’m thinking, well I won’t hear from her again.

She did call me back and said she would like to do it.  She hadn’t formally done mobility service dogs but had assisted owners training their mobility dogs, and if I was willing to take a chance, so was she.

Again, she took Stella home with her.  She was working with Stella on advanced behavior and obedience skills as well as public access and started some of her tasks and when she finished, we worked together taking her into the community so I could learn how to do it.

I missed Stella and was so glad to see her.  Allison taught Stella and I how to work as a team while together, and all the expectations of a service dog, we practiced restaurants, stores, and any other place she could think of.  Allison and I were thinking we would need to train Stella to assist me after I had fallen, and Allison had concerns that Stella was not big enough to support my weight should I fall.  She is too small to take my weight so we found other ways for her to assist me with my disability.

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Stella was very in tune with me.  She would adjust her stance or gait if she noticed my balance was off before I could recognize it, and Allison taught her how to retrieve different items that I needed.  Stella devised her own way to help me so that I do not fall.  I have not fallen when Stella is with me.  I could not go into the community without her.  She keeps me independent.  If she feels me pull back as to fall, she leans forward and stands still using counter balance.  If she feels me stumbling to either side, she will take a couple steps to tighten the lead and then sit until I regain my balance.  At times she will quicken my gait just enough to keep me walking forward with a smooth rhythm.

 

Allison and I continued to take Stella in all types of situations and I practiced on my own and a year and a half later of me practicing with support from Allison, Stella and I graduated. Since she hadn’t worked with us in person for several month, she met us at a noisy mall with other dogs so she could check our progress and make sure we were up to her standards of a service dog team.

 It’s not just about training the dog; the owner must be trained also.  They must work as a cohesive unit and Stella and I proved we could do it and be safe wherever we need to go in public or at home.

 

I am eternally grateful for Allison’s skill and intuition while working with dogs.  Instead of correcting Stella’s actions, she let her do what she felt would help me maintain my balance and shaped it into the tasks I needed.  Allison uses methods that aren’t like other service dogs and believed in the bond Stella, and I have, to help us get through.

After the training, I am not sure Allison actually thinks about what a change she has made in my life.  Just to go to the grocery store or go out to eat with my husband is something I do not take for granted.  Without Allison training Stella and I to be a team, this would have never happened.