Seizure Response Team | New Westminster, BC
Through your generous donations to Lions Foundation of Canada Dog Guides, together we’re making a difference in the lives of our fellow Canadians.
Meet Hilary and Yuba. Through donations from our 2015 Calendar you’ve helped sponsor this Lions Foundation of Canada Dog Guide team!
Hilary and Yuba, from New Westminster BC, graduated from the Seizure Response program. Yuba is specially trained to alert someone when Hilary is experiencing a seizure and to provide comfort and support during and after episodes. Yuba is also able to identify changes in Hilary’s behaviour that she may not notice, potentially helping to recognize the onset of a seizure. “If I ever have a Grand Mal, she knows she has to bark to alert someone. Then once the person has arrived and she has received her reward, she knows she has permission to lie down next to me in order to reassure me after a massive seizure. Or if I’m just not feeling great that day, then she can stay close to me and cuddle or keep an eye on me for any strange changes that I may not notice” says Hilary.
Dog Guides not only provide support and aid, they are also a partner who their owners trust their lives to. Although Yuba is always on duty, she is also a loving and playful companion to Hilary. “Playing is her favourite thing to do when she can, and she really likes rope toys and balls. And also, she just loves to cuddle,” says Hilary.
Seizure Response Dog Guides allow their partners a greater feeling of safety and independence. With the support of Yuba, Hilary feels more confident and safer while in public. She finds comfort in knowing there is always someone there if she needs help. According to Hilary “I love how I constantly have someone around me just in case something happens. It makes me feel a whole lot safer. I feel a lot more independent, and have found myself going shopping a lot more. Even at home, just having her trailing behind me puts my mind at ease, knowing that she has the ability to do something if I can’t.”
Lions Foundation of Canada’s mission is to assist Canadians with medical or physical disabilities by providing them with a Dog Guide at no cost to them. The Foundation operates Dog Guides Canada, a unique training school and charity that assists individuals nationally with disabilities through specialized Dog Guide programs. Your donations are helping to change lives of people like Hilary in communities across Canada, “Donating not only helps the Lions Foundation but the dogs and their teams as well” says Hilary.
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