10 years of giving Stories of Service WINNER - Milo

In 2007, Milo entered my life. He was partnered with me because I have autism. Autism is a neurological disorder that affects the way I process the world around me. As a result, loud, high pitched noises and certain textures of food, clothing, or surfaces can cause me to go into sensory overload. When I'm in overload, I can lose the ability to speak and move. When Milo came on the scene, he was taught to assist me with offensive everyday stimuli like fire alarms, screeches, brakes, and the like by first nudging my head if I was sitting, and my hands if I was standing or walking. The nudging would then lead to him pushing his weight on my lap, which would "reset" my brain, allowing me to function again normally. Another facet of my disabilities is that I am extremely forgetful. For example- before Milo, I would lock myself out of my apartment several, several times. Also, my brain is so busy dealing with the environment I'm in, so I often drop important items without even knowing it. Milo learned quickly how to not only retrieve my keys and handbag on cue, he would prevent me from moving if I left my keys (or any other item I dropped) on a chair, the floor, or in the door and went to walk away. Once he stopped me, he would then retrieve them automatically. If I went into overload as mentioned, Milo had a card he could give to anyone nearby stating that I was non-verbal and needed immediate help. He would give the card and then lead them to me. I am glad to say that this skill did not need to be utilized often, because his deep pressure usually helped me enough that I could go back to normal functioning level or I could go to a sensory-safe place. He was learning how to lead me to an exit when I lose the ability to move and I need to get out. Sadly, Milo was diagnosed with a toxic liver, and he was released from his suffering in September of 2011. As of now, I am on my way to being partnered with Milo's successor. If I were chosen, the fantastic products from Planet Dog would be a huge assistance for me and for my future partner. Milo loved Planet Dog, and I'm sure my next service dog will too. Either way, Milo's memory will forever resonate within my heart.

Story of Service Finalist - Mina

My Siberian Husky, Mina, may not be the brave search and rescue helper, or the seeing eye dog, but she does provide a tremendous amount of stress relief for classes at a local community college as a therapy dog. I bring her in around a week or so before test time and you can feel the stress just melt away! She also gets to advocate for adoption and the prevention of animal abuse while she's there. Hopefully by the beginning of the year she will be working in an elementary school helping kids be more confident with their reading skills.

Story of Service Finalist - Noah

Noah and I started our journey totally by accident. My Grandmother was put into a nursing home after her stroke. I don't like those places and to visit her, I asked the nursing staff if I could bring Noah with me. I didn't want to go alone. They enthusiastically said 'yes', even though he was not certified. And so, our journey began. It wasn't like my Grandmother loved Noah that much, but he was a diversion to an otherwise typical day. He loved going to visit - EVERYONE and for a puppy of just a bit over a year, he was very well behaved at the home. My husband was very apprehensive to my idea of taking Noah (since he was still very rambunctious), but he said for me to try. He had visions of Noah knocking someone over, the family suing us, and ultimately we'd be living in our car. None of that happened. We visited every weekend faithfully until my Gram passed. After that time, I knew in my heart why we had begun that journey. That's when I researched how to get Noah certified. He had already been thru puppy school. We attended the CGC and ultimately took his TDI test at Animal Friends when it was still housed in the Strip District in Pittsburgh, PA.

I then looked for facilities that welcomed Therapy Dogs (shouldn't they all?). We settled on Elmcroft - South Beaver, which is relatively close to our house. Noah goes to visit there at least once a month (depending on my work schedule). He LOVES his job!! The word 'visit' cannot be mentioned in our house, because he thinks that's what he's going to do. When I tell him that we are going to visit and pick up his leash, he starts to cry and bark. I guess I never move fast enough to get there!! It's like he's telling me, "hurry, there are people that need to pet me and feel better. I'm a professional, just ask me!" When we get there, he walks in the front door as if he owns the place. We've had some wonderful experiences there. We've had the staff tell me that this or that person hasn't spoken in days, but they did to Noah. We've had folks tell us about their dogs past and present and about their youth. We've made people smile that otherwise hadn't smiled in many days. We've made many friends (and have sadly lost some) at Elmcroft. But the thing is, Noah NEVER sees their infirmaries. He sees a hand to pet him or one to shake or one to give a kiss to. He makes me feel very proud to be his partner.

Noah also volunteers to listen to stories at the Beaver Library in Beaver, PA. I volunteered his services after I read a story in the newspaper about the library starting the "Reading with Rover" program with a dog named Rory. They were happy to bring him on "staff". We go to the library once a month during the school year. He equally LOVES going to the library. He definitely sits and looks at the kids as if they were the smartest in the room (and I sure that builds their reading confidence). His reward is to be petted and fawned over. And being a Golden, he lets them know how happy is to be there with a wag of the tail and that "golden smile".

Noah is a wonderful soul with his very deep thinking eyes. He greets everyone as a friend. His manner is gentle and reassuring. So glad we started this journey together and can't wait to see where it takes us.