One of the things with multiple sclerosis is fatigue and pain.
And Fred does all of the little things for me.
He picks things up for me.
He helps with laundry.
If I fall in the other room, he will go and get help.
He does so much for me, a lot of the little things that most people take for granted that
gives me more energy to be able to do normal things.
It's just incredible, the things that he does.
He's an old soul.
Charles is phenomenal at picking the right dog for people.
His personality is so matched with mine, he's just, he's a goof.
He first came home, it was wintertime and we had the fireplace in here and his thing sticks.
And I got up and went to the restroom and came back and he had pulled a lock off of
the hearth and had the lock in the middle of the floor to it on it and he's just, and
he wasn't being bad.
It was just like, hey, look, I found a stick, you know, he just, he constantly can come
up with something to make you laugh.
He really can.
Fred, pop up.
Fred, phone.
Good phone.
One of the things that he was not trained to do, but he does very reliably, I have trouble
with the nerve in this leg and we were sitting in church and he started looking at me and
I'm kind of going, what are you doing, and the next thing I knew, he had taken his head
and he had leaned it and he was pressing up against my leg and it was just within a minute
or so that I felt the nerve start acting up.
And he had put pressure on this part and yes, some of the blood will pull there, but it's
not like it was and I don't have to get up and leave.
Before Fred, it was really hard to find that extra energy to try and fight.
And now that I have him and he's given back some of that extra energy, it's given me the
courage to start fighting again, you know, being able to put away that wheelchair that
I used in the house since February, it's just fantastic, it's parked out in the garage
and that's where I'd like it to stay, you know.
So I started PALS almost nine years ago because I saw the need in our community.
I've been training all different kinds of animals my whole life actually.
I started as a marine mammal trainer and then was an exotic animal trainer.
I always had dogs and horses, so I always did that just with my own personal animals.
But never professionally trained dogs until I went to school for service dog training
and started PALS.
But for me, it's fun getting to know every dog because I literally live with them.
It's fun and challenging.
You know, when I started this program, I didn't envision it being in my home.
The economy crashed shortly after I started PALS.
And so we decided to buckle down and do everything we could to have it here and keep the overhead
costs down.
And now we're in the process of trying to buy our first building because we have definitely
outgrown our surroundings.
So that's all the supplies from having whelped them.
They literally were born right here, which is pretty awesome.
But this is where I didn't turn on the light.
We do most of our training, opening doors for them, and we've set up like a light switch
for them to practice turning on and off lights for our clients, which is pretty cool.
So we have two, we had a letter of seven puppies and two of them are still here right now.
So this is one of them.
And this crazy one is Marjorie.
She's staying with us.
You know, I say that when I give somebody a PALS dog, they take a piece of my organs
with them.
And so we like to think about just adding them to our family rather than giving the dog away.
Because we really do stay very connected with the people that we serve.
Having everyone here makes it one big family.
So here's the gist.
I'm retired from the United States Army.
I was an airborne ranger.
It's the same, you've heard it before, but it kind of sucks when you don't bring your
kids home.
It kind of sucks when you don't bring 13 of them home.
And I wasn't looking for a dog.
I wasn't looking for an organization.
I thought I was okay.
If I didn't have her, you'd be talking about me and not with me.
She works very hard for me every day.
It's phenomenal, that's all I got to say.
And people say things about me because I have her, you got your arms and legs.
Why do you have a service dog?
What are your disabilities?
So they assume that I have the P word.
I just don't like to say what it stands for.
But once you physically and verbally say something about your perception about me, that you have
absolutely no clue of what's going on, it's not freaking cool.
I may be getting anxious or nervous and she'll break a cue and she'll come up to me and sit
on my feet or rest her chin on my leg.
It's weird the way she knows, it's just connection, that's all I can say.
And I didn't even know I was going to have her, but here she is.
It's been awesome.
It's just me and her.
She has her own bedroom, her own bathroom, it's my girl.
It's just me and her, it's just me and her, it's just me and her.
