As someone with 2 dogs and 7 horses, it is hard to pick just one animal for this contest. But in many ways, the choice was easy.
Molly the Border Collie is not just a pet. She's not just a member of the family. She's a part of my independence.
Molly is a service dog.
This picture was taken in Amsterdam Airport in the end of March on our way home from our trip to the US to visit my family. I picked this shot because I think it shows her joy in being on the job.
It's not a very good picture. It's a quick cell phone picture taken on a high speed cart ride when we had a very tight transfer, again. Molly didn't get to potty on transfers either way--held it more than 12 hours. She turns 11 in a few months, which I find terrifying. I will soon have to find a puppy and start over with training. I'd prefer to do so while I have her to help with the training.
When we got Molly, I was still in somewhat decent health and able to work. When she was a little over a year old, things changed. My pain levels increased drastically and I started falling often. Well, Molly started bringing me her toys when I lay on the floor unable to get up, so I started teaching her things to do. She learned to get my husband. We did retrieve training and she learned to pick up things I dropped, which kept me from getting into so many situations where I fell on the floor. It just grew from there and I started researching the public access laws.
They aren't very good in Denmark. I only have rights under a few laws, but dogs are often well tolerated. But she meets 100% of the US regulations as well. She was not quite 2 on our first trip to the US with her declared a fully training service dog. She handled the trip with flying colors... I was frequently in a wheelchair then and my husband was with us. We've made two trips without him since, but I've mostly been getting by with crutches.
Her SD tasks include getting help when I fall, picking up items and handing them to someone, carrying items and delivering them to someone else, emptying the washing machine, helping pull comforter covers and sheets off the bed, removing my shoes and socks, sometimes removing my pants and underwear and she's pulled sports bras off a few times when my shoulder was acting up... She has in the past used a rope on a wheeled basket to drag laundry and other items around the house or outside. Her vocabulary is immense, so she can retrieve certain items by name and be directed to particular rooms or areas.
I think you can tell from all this that Molly is something special. I'm very proud of her. We will be making another trip to the US next month, so you can expect to see some reports on our experiences. She doesn't do public access so much in DK anymore. I don't drive much so usually have my husband along, so he does what she would do otherwise and it saves us from having people try to tell us I can't bring a dog wherever. My health doesn't cope well with stress like that.
