Alex Cracraft and Autism Assist Dog Comet By Joy Miller For eight years, Alex Cracraft of Fridley, Minnesota, and his Autism Assist Dog, Windy were an awe-inspiring team everywhere they went. With Windy’s love and support, Alex has become more confident and independent—an outcome which has thrilled his parents, Rich and Laura. Alex and Windy teamed up after the Cracraft family learned about Can Do Canines at an Autism Society Skills session. Alex was eight years old and in second grade. Now a junior in high school, Windy gratefully retired from active partnering with Alex in December of 2016. At …
Can Do Canines
This Winter Will Melt Your Heart
Jo Smith and Mobility Assist Dog Winter By Emma Hage Jo Smith of Cross Lake, Minnesota has mobility issues as a result of Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease (CMT), a heritable peripheral nerve disorder. She began to see her dexterity, balance, and ambulation decline, needing to wear braces on her legs for extra support. Getting around became a challenge. So when Jo realized that an assistance dog could be the help she needed, she reached out to Can Do Canines. Her pet dog had passed away recently, and Jo was excited about the possibility that a new dog could provide her with companionship …
Focused on Each Other
Logan and Autism Assist Dog Gypsy By Susan Byers A free-spirit. A rover. A wanderer. These are apt descriptors for a rescue dog, particularly one named Gypsy. And in some ways, it’s a fitting depiction of a young boy named Logan from Spring Lake Park, Minnesota, with a tendency to wander. This is the story of how these two kindred souls found each other. A rescue organization in northern Minnesota discovered Gypsy, a female German Shepherd mix. From the beginning, it was evident she was smart and responsive with a loving disposition—all qualities of an excellent assistance dog—so the organization …
Robyn and Ziggy Conquer the World
Robyn Block and Seizure Assist Dog Ziggy By Erin Reyes After experiencing a skiing accident in 2013, Robyn Block of Good Thunder, Minnesota, developed a seizure disorder and migraines due to a traumatic brain injury. Since then, it’s been a long road to recovery. Teaming up with Ziggy, her Seizure Assist Dog, has been a life-altering step in her journey. Partnering with Ziggy has “changed my life in a lot of ways for the better,” says Robyn. Although things are going well for the duo now, Robyn initially wasn’t sure about the prospect of having an assistance dog. Despite the …
The Help She Needed
Laurie Tschida and Mobility Assist Dog Tikki Laurie Tschida lives in a quiet neighborhood in St. Paul, Minnesota with her husband, Jim. After losing their Terrier, Lucy, things seemed even quieter. But now the house is much livelier with the addition of Tikki, Laurie’s Mobility Assist Dog. “When we were first learning brace, I really needed help getting off the kitchen floor, and when [Tikki] did it for me I just started bawling,” Laurie says. “That just was everything to me … Then I knew that this was going to be right—that she was going to be the help I …
Their Training Never Ends
Kyle Chambers and Mobility Assist Dog Rio By Sarah Schaff Imagine a child first learning to walk by following a path of items that steady their stride from Point A to Point B. They rely on a wall, person, or piece of furniture to catch them if they lose their balance. This strategy generally only lasts as long as it takes to develop the strength and stability to independently walk, but the need for help balancing never ended for Kyle Chambers of Roseville, Minnesota. Kyle has adapted to life after being born four months early and with cerebral palsy by …
A Bridge to a World Full of Sound
Bob Reynolds & Hearing Assist Dog Sophia By Patti Miller Life is full of sounds. Sounds alert us to fires, phone calls, visitors, text messages, emergency vehicles, severe weather, and so much more. Sounds of laughter, birds chirping, babies crying, dogs barking or tires screeching can be more than just sounds. If your world had limited sound, how would you cope? An accident left Bob Reynolds of Hudson, Wisconsin with a baseline skull fracture at age 25. He immediately lost all hearing in his left ear while hearing in his right ear was compromised. The doctors’ concerns that Bob would …
A Chance Meeting Changes a Life
Sheila Robeck and Mobility Assist Dog Coal By Tammy Waibel Sheila Robeck of St. Michael, Minnesota smiles with delight as she speaks about her Mobility Assist Dog, Coal. While he has only been with her since July, he has made a dramatic impact on her life and her family’s. Sheila, a C5-6 quadriplegic due to an auto accident in 2001, manages life with reduced range of motion in her shoulders and elbows, but very limited hand function. She uses a power wheelchair for mobility as well as adapted silverware, pens and a pointer for computer work but needed something more …
Love at First Woof
Bella and Mobility Assist Dog Blaine By Hanna Kantor Life is full of transitional periods where we watch our lives change. One notable example of this is starting high school. We enter a place where, suddenly, we have more freedom than we once did, but not as much as we would like, and we get thrust into a new social hierarchy that we must learn to navigate. This is the world Bella from Plymouth, Minnesota recently entered. However, Bella has Spinal Muscular Atrophy, which can make this transition more challenging. Spinal Muscular Atrophy is a disease that makes it difficult …
Improving Mobility with a Little Help from Zane
Cherish Grabau and Mobility Assist Dog Zane By Bobb Elsenpeter Like many people with multiple sclerosis, Cherish Grabau of Stewartville, Minnesota, has trouble getting her muscles to do what she tries telling them. It can be hard for her to walk, pick things up, and even get out of a chair. She has since discovered that with the help of a Mobility Assist Dog, life has gotten so much easier. She learned about the benefits of an assistance dog online, then followed up with her own personal research. “I was in one of my online MS groups and one of …