Harley
Harley is Grace's mental health service dog! She is a chocolate lab with a white heart on her chest, loves baby carrots, rubber tennis balls and swimming.
What does Harley do for Grace?
Harley knows a variety of specialized tasks and jobs, including:
- Waking Grace up from nightmare
- Being a physical barrier in public situations
- Preforming a 'watch' command, which is when Harley makes eye contact with Grace to calm her
- Alert Grace's panic attacks before she has them
- Cuddling with Grace when she is upset
- Licking her face when she is upset to keep her in the 'here and now'
- Waking her up at 4 in the morning for absurd reasons, such as wanting to sniff grass (Yes Harley, that's totally my favourite activity too...)
And Harley knows many commands needed for being in public such as:
- Basic commands like 'leave it'
- Sitting or laying down when Grace stops walking
- Being used to things regular dogs might find distracting or scary, such as carts, mirrors, different flooring etc
- Not reacting to other dogs
- Not reacting to people who try to feed her, pet her or get her attention
- Not pulling (heeling), even when Grace is occupied, like when she's pushing a grocery cart
- Ignoring things like food, toys and other things that she might want to get
- Waking Grace up from nightmare
- Being a physical barrier in public situations
- Preforming a 'watch' command, which is when Harley makes eye contact with Grace to calm her
- Alert Grace's panic attacks before she has them
- Cuddling with Grace when she is upset
- Licking her face when she is upset to keep her in the 'here and now'
- Waking her up at 4 in the morning for absurd reasons, such as wanting to sniff grass (Yes Harley, that's totally my favourite activity too...)
And Harley knows many commands needed for being in public such as:
- Basic commands like 'leave it'
- Sitting or laying down when Grace stops walking
- Being used to things regular dogs might find distracting or scary, such as carts, mirrors, different flooring etc
- Not reacting to other dogs
- Not reacting to people who try to feed her, pet her or get her attention
- Not pulling (heeling), even when Grace is occupied, like when she's pushing a grocery cart
- Ignoring things like food, toys and other things that she might want to get
Does Harley ever get to be a 'normal' dog?
Yes. And no. When we aren't in public, Harley doesn't wear her service dog jacket, so she acts like a typical puppy. She will eat your socks and try to get onto the counters, she will play with other dogs, swim and sleep. But essentially, she is always working with Grace. This is why, when an organization matches a dog with a person, there has to be a strong bond between them, so the dog enjoys working, so it's not like a job, it's something they enjoy doing.