November 2, 2007

Today marked the beginning of great things to come for Anita, her family and Sidney the Service Dog. You see, Sidney met Anita today for the first time. The goal was to just "meet and greet," but Sidney didn't waste any time getting down to business. During their first lesson with Liz, Sidney started getting restless - she stood up quickly, looked around, started stirring. Sidney did this just moments before Anita had a seizure. (Ah, ha - Sidney was telling us something very important!)

During Anita's seizure, Liz led Sidney to her side and said, "Sidney, this is your job now." Sidney responded and immediately laid down under Anita's legs while nudging her gently. The seizure lasted for several minutes. Sidney stayed right by Anita and leaned in towards her. At one point, Anita's hand reached our for Sidney and she was right there by her side - Anita remembered reaching out to get comfort from her new guardian angel.

Anita's family showed a lot of support and hope today, and Sidney was just as thankful to get such a great new home where she can use her gift to help Anita and her family get back some freedoms in life. Sidney was especially happy to have two delightful children to dote over, and she is looking forward to helping them read through their canine safety workbooks together.

Sidney's story:
Sidney was rescued from a group of young men who were calling her back and forth across a busy road and placing money bets on her odds of getting run over by a car. Horrors!

Fortunately, help came just in time and Sidney was scooped up and taken to a local shelter. Liz was notified that she might be a candidate for the PUPT rescue program and Liz went to test Sidney. Well, she passed all the tests and now she is starting her new life as a Seizure Alert Service Dog. Now, that's a doggie "rags to riches" story! Sidney loves to have a job where she gets rewarded and is perfectly suited in her new role as a Service Dog.

Thank you to everyone involved in making this match possible.