Mali, a Service Dog - Page 2

...and Sunsilver is right...they try to help other people too. Mine puts her paws on my chest and whines at me; well, that didn't work out very well when a person with a colostomy was afraid of her and started having an anxiety attack...one place she DIDN'T need the paws of a 90 lb GSD was right in her mid-section...

Now, am I allowed to say "I told you so!" to those of you who said Shilohs were only good as foot-warmers and couch potatoes? 

What I really love was Mali's clear-headeness when she tried to protect the child that was screaming. She was able to go from a 10 on the protection scale to a 1 or 2 within a couple of seconds.  These dogs may not be sleeve-monsters, but many of them do have the intelligence needed to protect their homes and families.

Sherri tells me they never tried to call Mali back when that incident happened. They were just too stunned. They have been working on her recall since then to make sure it doesn't happen again.

I have told Kali's story before on this board...I know for sure that Sunsilver has heard it, but she saved me when my blood sugar was too low from a new med I had been started on, kept me from passing out & drug me into the kitchen like she knew just what I needed....& she has protected me with out going off the deep end many times. She's never had to actually bite anyone, but I have seen her stand up & bark & snarl in someone's face, & then turn around & sit down next to my granddaughter, who was just a toddler at the time, to protect her, & my granddaughter threw her arms around the neck of this dog who had been a snarling menace a moment before, & Kali turned her head to her & nuzzled her gently, then when the jerk started to approach her again, Kali half stood up, growled softly & raised her hackles, stopping the man, but being so careful to not even disturb my granddaughter. We were there, by that time, & picked up my granddaughter, & then Kali was careful to stay between us & the bad guy. Whenever I am sick, she is by my side...I think she was a nurse in a previous life! LOL! jackie harris

When my youngest daughter was around 10 yrs old when we found out that she had developed a degeneritive eye disease and was going blind.  On top of that, she had always suffered from debilitaing migrains and blackouts, and we discovered 2 small tomurs on the base of her brain.  When we found out about her eyes, I purchased a dog to train as her service dog.  "Specs" (stood for Special People Entering Civilazation with Support) was the BEST GSD we have ever had the pleasure of being owned by.  Within 2 wks of getting her and her training, she had the "get dressed" (retrieving her vest on, standing, and allowing my daughter to put it on her) down.  We were simply training her as a Seeing Eye dog, but when specs was around 5 mo old, she started running around the house like a mad dog, barking, running up and down the stairs and pulling all my clean clothes that i was folding off the couch.  As I was yelling up the stairs at my daughter to come take her dog out, it dawned on me that I didn't hear my daughter up there.  I ran upstairs to find my daughter laying on the bathroom floor.  She had been taking a shower, and had a blackout!!!  Specs had never had any "alert" training.  And once when we went to her specialist in MD, and specs was with us, she again started to turn around in circles, so I asked my daughter if she felt a headache coming on or "felt funny".  She said no, and about that time, the lady next to us, hit the floor and passed out!  When my mother took them on vacation, flying from FL or Vegas, ofcourse Specs got to fly upfront with them.  People were getting off the plane, amazed that there was such a well behaved 7mo old puppy flying with them! LOL 

Unfortunately, we lost Specs in May of 05, in the line of service.  :(  She was such an amazing dog, that my daughter has not been able to bring herself to try and get another one.  It's amazing what the bonds between a human and their dog can do! :)