Youth Service Dogs

My life changed one early morning in April. I was still in shock: I had just become a father! Everything had seemed to go smoothly. Well, mostly smoothly: my wife wound up giving birth to little Penelope Philomena a few weeks early. We had been planning to visit the hospital that day for a tour...and wound up getting the full childbirth experience instead.

I was still adjusting to the idea of being a dad with a little girl, and my head was reeling from being up all night, when a young woman walked into the room and wanted to speak with us. I remember thinking, “What could be wrong? She seems so healthy.” The woman identified herself as a nurse from the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), and said she was called up by our nurses because of “concerns”. She explained that Penelope had something called “markers” for Trisomy 21 - Down Syndrome - which included almond-shaped eyes and a single palmar crease in her hand.

Thus began our journey.

We later found out that she had a congenital heart defect that would require open heart surgery by the time she was five months old. Our baby spent three weeks in the NICU until she was strong enough to finally come home.

If you are a special needs parent, you know what it is like: doctors, nurses, appointments, bills, insurance companies. Stares. For us it was also feeding tubes, CPR training, heart monitors, hearing tests, blood work, orthotics, glasses, early intervention, speech, physical and occupational therapies. And most importantly, lots of love.

I was already training dogs. I already knew that dogs could help people. I was now motivated to train dogs to help people.

One of Sharp K9's most intimate missions, is to help youth with special needs. I have been privileged to work with some great clients, including those affected with Trisomy 21, epilepsy, and autism.

If your child has a special need, and you are considering a service dog, call me today for a free consultation. I can help your child get what he or she needs, and you won’t break the bank doing it.