Image from CHATNews

By Teagan Rasche/CHATNews

Always on duty: Let service dogs work

May 20, 2021 | 12:22 PM

MEDICINE HAT, AB– Cute and cuddly but on the job.

For the last eight months, the Chow family has been training service dog Gracie for their three-year-old daughter Molly.

Molly would either wander away or disconnect when the family was out for walks. To improve her quality of life, the family decided to get her a service dog.

Molly was recently diagnosed with autism and having a service dog will not only benefit her, but the whole family.

“I think the bonding is going quite well between the two of them,” Molly’s dad David Chow said. “Every once in a while Molly will snuggle her and that’s one of the qualities and things we train with Molly, how to pet her, how to care for her, grooming and feeding.”

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The Chows have a busy house with five adopted special needs children. David says training Gracie is like having another kid.

The majority of the time the public is very understanding of their working family member.

“There are a few instances where people will want to pet her when she has her vest on and when we’re working with her out in public,” David said. “We try to discourage that.”

Training a service dog is no easy feat, taking at least two years.

As a puppy, Gracie is learning basic obedience and socialization skills and it’s important she continues to learn her role.

Maria Illes, the head trainer at Aspen Service Dogs says when you see a service dog working, leave them alone.

“The simple answer is ignore [the] service dog,” Illes said. “They are working and talking to them or petting them, you are distracting them. This can be very, very dangerous for their lifetime partners.”

The dogs are not just tools for people, Illes says they are partners and friends.

As for the Chows, the less the public distracts Gracie, the better she will learn to help Molly. Challenges aside, the family is proud of their newest addition.

“This has been a very rewarding experience, a lot of work, it’s not so much training her, but training us on how to raise her and how to develop her skills,” David said.

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