Bandit's Story

From time to time, I post things about my dog, Bandit. He's a pretty special dog. Today, it was proven again. Bandit is now a graduate of Dog Ears and is a certified service dog. He's been in training since October, 2012. Bandit's purpose is to accompany me and be my "ears". He alerts to cars or people that I might not otherwise hear when we out. Other jobs for hearing dogs are to alert to doorbells, oven timers, fire alarms, etc. I am not totally deaf, so many of his chores are not necessary for me. He has discovered the joy of travel and expects to go in the car all the time. The great thing is, HE CAN GO! Being a service dog allows him many privileges. By law, he can go anywhere I go. He goes shopping, to restaurants, doctor appointments, hotels, wherever. Another plus, an establishment cannot charge a fee. If there is a pet deposit required, it is waived for a service dogs. He can even travel on the airlines, sit next to me, not in a kennel, all at no additional charge. Being the dog lover I am, there's nothing greater than being able to take my dog everywhere.

Last week during training, I went to the mall. I was nervous about the escalator. I kept thinking, how am I going to get this dog to go up an escalator? God knew my concerns before I did, and when we got there, the UP escalator was broken. We walked up just like stairs. Now how do we get back down? The DOWN was working. I remembered there was an elevator. Bandit had never been on an elevator, so I knew this could also turn out to be interesting. We go in, the door closes and then I notice, its a glass elevator. Bandit looked out and watched the trip down to the first floor. When the door opened, he acted like he wanted to go again. Silly dog!

On another note, Bandit was a rescue dog. Someone discarded him like he was useless trash. Another dog that graduated today, was dumped at the gun range in Oklahoma City. Luckily, a dog lover found her and brought her to Dog Ears where she fell in love with a deaf woman who's service dog had passed away. Princess is a beautiful, happy, well trained dog and will have a great life with her recipient. In all, three dogs graduated today...Bandit, Princess and Marley. What a special day!

 Princess and her new owner

 Marley...another beautiful dog 

People probably think I am totally insane, but you should have seen the dogs get their vests. Each one was called up and the vest placed on them. Of course, there was applause and the dogs were PROUD. Yes, the dogs were really pleased with themselves. You could try until the end of time to tell me that they are just dumb animals and don't understand. If you believe that, you obviously don't have pets.