When Your Life Suddenly Changes To have the life you know taken away in an instant is an unthinkable event. In 2009, it became Dawne’s reality. Dawne sustained a traumatic brain injury (TBI) that resulted in a delayed grand-mal seizure. Months later she fell into a coma and developed further complications including seizures, episodes of a sudden chemical imbalance, migraines, overall mobility weakness, fatigue, and pain. Healing has been a long journey. She had to relearn how to talk, walk. Dawne tried everything she could to regain her independence but faced a debilitating disability. She felt like she lost who …
Mobility Assist Dog
On Her Own but Not Alone
When Debi Stave’s daughter recommended she look into applying for an assistance dog, Debi could not have imagined what a difference a canine companion could make in her life. Debi had never owned a dog before and is now living proof that it’s never too late to learn a new trick. She has been adjusting to life with Parkinson’s disease for the past eight years and didn’t initially think she needed a dog to help her. Debi remembers wondering, “Well what could he do for me?” Her initial doubt changed quickly, once Stanley moved in “I learned different, having him,” She …
Our 700th Team! Aidan and Abbot: A Perfect Balance
By Tina Mortimer 12-year-old Aidan has a big personality, which makes him naturally at ease in front of a camera—a good thing since he’s been on camera quite a lot lately. He’s appeared in educational videos for his middle school, his Boy Scout troop, Can Do Canines, and most recently, in a story for Fox News. The network featured Aidan and his Mobility Assist Dog, Abbot, for being the 700th pair brought together through Can Do Canines. This was a huge milestone, not only for Aidan and Abbot but for our 30-year-old organization. Hearing Aidan speaks, you’d never guess he …
A More Independent Life
Life Before Rex Vicki has adapted to life with Parkinson’s over the past 18 years. It makes basic tasks challenging and at times unsafe, such as getting in and out of the car, using her right hand, leaning over, or walking. She reached out to Can Do Canines in the hopes of finding a dog who could provide the mobility assistance she needed. A Good Match Can Do Canines paired Vicki with Rex, a two-and-a-half-year-old Black Labrador Retriever with the skills of an assistance dog champ. Rex performs such duties as picking up dropped items, alerting a family member if …
A Sense of Stability
The assistance dogs provided by Can Do Canines help with a number of disabling conditions, including diabetes, autism, seizure response, hearing loss and assisting those with mobility issues. One of the intangible things that the dogs add is a tendency to open the world for those who’ve just received a new dog. Such is the case of Stephanie. Even though Stephanie is by no means a shut-in, two-year-old black Labrador Retriever Sheldon has helped her get out into the world even more – something that she really wasn’t able to do before. Stephanie was born without a left hip socket …
Love Is in the Air
After an injury, Michael developed severe back pain and neuropathy, putting him at risk of falling. He was matched with Mobility Assist Dog Zelda in 2017. At the time, Michael was dating Doreen. A year-and-a-half later, the two tied the knot. Zelda played the vital role of ring bearer at their ceremony. “It was important for us to include Zelda in our marriage as we were making a commitment to her as well as each other,” explains Michael. “You might just say that we all got married,” he laughs. Zelda has been a positive influence on both Michael and Doreen. …
A Lot of Personality
Ridge and Peggy Those who come to Can Do Canines for an assistance dog have varied levels of experience with dogs. Some have never owned one. Others have owned many. But no one has trained four of their own assistance dogs—until Ridge. Since 1998, he’s trained four of his own assistance dogs. Ridge didn’t develop his disabilities until his late twenties when he contracted meningitis and encephalitis. “They gave me a 5 percent chance of living,” Ridge says. “I spent three months in the hospital where I was locked in and I couldn’t move, eat, or talk. All I could …
A Different World
Kyle and Mobility Assist Dog Igor The summer before his senior year of high school, Kyle was in an ATV accident. He was riding along the North Shore when he lost control of the vehicle. It skidded off the road and into two trees. Kyle was flung forward, hitting each of his shoulders onto a tree, causing his helmet to come loose. The result was a broken C5 and C6 vertebrae in Kyle’s neck, paralyzing him from the chest down. “That, of course, flipped my world upside down,” says Kyle. Having been the captain of the football team, his senior …
Volunteer Spotlight: Diana Adamson and Paul Oberhaus
If you attended the graduation ceremony last month, you would have seen graduate Greg Landeen and Mobility Assist Dog Nellie take center stage. And alongside them the volunteers who made Nellie possible: Puppy Raisers Diana Adamson and Paul Oberhaus. Vocalizing what a lot of us are thinking, graduate Greg says, “It’s amazing that people are doing this on a volunteer basis. I can’t imagine what it’s like to have a dog that’s this awesome and then have to say goodbye to her. Thank you, thank you, thank you!” Throughout their 17 years of service, Diana and Paul have given much …
A Couple of Worker Bees
Jennifer Torres and Mobility Assist Dog Buzz by Susan Byers Jennifer Torres and her Mobility Assist Dog Buzz have quite a lot in common. They have both spent their lives, busy as bees, working in service to others. Jennifer got her start in the service as a member of the U.S. Navy. But after 13 years, she retired due to Ménière’s disease, a disorder of the inner ear that causes dizziness, imbalance, and some mild hearing loss. Undaunted, Jennifer went on to serve as a registered nurse in the intensive care unit of a Twin Cities hospital. There, she sustained …