I love learning about new technology that can help make my life easier, especially when it pertains to living with a disability. The December 2010 issue of New Mobility magazine published an article by Justin Moninger entitled, “5 Things to Make Life Easier.”
He based the list on the five essentials that helped him to get back to living an active life after his spinal cord injury. Would you believe that a service dog was the number one essential on his list? I sure would!
He attributes his service dog, Rocky, with getting him back into mainstream society and helping him with a host of tasks both inside and outside his home. Moninger talks about how he underestimated what a great emotional support Rocky would be to him.
It takes me back to my own experience when I received my first service dog, Ramona. I had been living with a disability since I was six years old. I thought I was independent. I had a wonderful husband and a job I loved. Life was great. But, I didn’t really understand all the things I had been missing until Ramona came into my life. Ramona gave me a higher level of independence that I didn’t even know existed.
As the year comes to an end and I think of all the things I am thankful for, my retired service dog, Morgan, and my current service dog, Whistle, are at the top of my list. Living side by side with a service dog is life changing. It is a partnership that enables people with disabilities to fulfill dreams and lifelong goals that were once thought to be unobtainable.
Service dogs are not perfect and they are not robots. It takes a great deal of work and commitment to fully engage in a working relationship with a service animal. I truly appreciate Anatole France’s statement that “until one has loved an animal a part of one’s soul remains unawakened.” I would even take it one step further and say that until someone with a disability has been partnered with a service dog, a part of their life remains suppressed.
Thank you to everyone who contributes to the birth, growth, development, and success of assistance dogs throughout the world! Whistle and I wish everyone a Happy and Healthy New Year!
