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These lovable, hardworking dogs have been trained to change the lives of people in need
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Dogs do so many things better than people. They have keener hearing and smelling, and perhaps a sharper awareness of their environment, including the moods and behaviors of the people around them. Because of their specific superiorities, they make great companions to people with physical disabilities. When we put out feelers for a story on working dogs, it wasn’t hard to find local ones who live with and assist their humans on a daily, round-the-clock basis. We also came across Greenwich pooches who live a more traditional home life but are trained to help people outside of the home, like special-needs kids in school or hospital-bound elderly. Regardless of what they do or how they do it, there is no denying that these canines are as cute as they are admirable.
The Traveling Super Lab
When the power went out at her daughter Shelby Saer’s Greenwich home one day early this fall, Jo Gwin Shelby could have been in a precarious situation. As it turned out, it was just another opportunity for her service dog Lolly to strut her stuff.
It happened during the wee hours of the morning. Jo, who suffers from Lou Gehrig’s disease and uses a special machine to help her breathe, had been asleep in her room downstairs. When the electricity cut off, so did her machine. Although the generator for the house kicked in, the medi-
cal device failed to restart, and Jo’s condition
prevented her from turning it back on by herself.
“Go get Shelby,” Jo commanded Lolly, a honey-colored Labrador retriever. And off the dog went, up the stairs and across to the opposite end of the house, where she entered the daughter’s room, woke her up and ushered her back to Jo. The machine was switched on, and everyone went back to bed.
“She’s a very smart dog,” says Jo, who hails from New Orleans but rode out this year’s hurricane season in Greenwich (Jo and Lolly returned to Louisiana mid-October). “She learns quickly and she’s very eager to learn.”
Jo was diagnosed with her illness in 2004. A year and a half ago, she received Lolly through Canine Partners for Life, a Pennsylvania service-dog group. By then, Jo could no longer drive, but Lolly helped her keep walking. Jo would grasp the dog’s harness to steady herself. And when climbing stairs, the dog’s pull provided the extra lift that Jo needed.
“I truly will tell you that if we did not get Lolly, I don’t believe my mother would be here today,” says Shelby Saer. “Having that constant companionship and maintaining her independence have really allowed her to continue to process all that she’s going through.”
These days, Jo is in a wheelchair, but that doesn’t stop the pair from their daily trips to a park near their home in New Orleans. (In Greenwich, daughter Shelby joined them for a three-mile trek every morning.) Among other tasks, Lolly opens doors, retrieves the telephone and picks up objects as small as a coin for her companion.
When Jo was more mobile, the dog would help remove clothing, tugging on jacket sleeves, for instance, or pulling off socks. “And when I would go to the store,” says Jo, “ I could hand her the money or my credit card and she would take it in her mouth, hop up and hand it to the clerk.”
But Lolly’s working skills are just part of the story. She is also a caring, attentive creature. If Jo so much as coughs, the dog hurries over and begins licking her. “She has these eyes that speak this kind of loving sweetness,” says Shelby. “And she’s got a perfect Lab face that you want to squeeze and kiss.”
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