A Riverside Fourth Grader’s Best Friend Comes Courtesy of Canine Companions

by Linda Arntzenius from Town Topics:

Ten-year old Rachel Bryant is a fourth grader at Riverside School. About 18 months ago, Rachel, who has Down Syndrome, showed signs of developmental leaps, all good, but at the same time, she began to be afraid of the dark. This was new for the youngster who’d been sleeping through the night since she was an infant. Her parents were “blindsided.”

Originally from Boston, Rachel’s mother Ginny Bryant is a lawyer with expertise in estate planning. Her father, Stephen Bryant, is an international business executive in the bio-tech industry, who hails from Lowestoft in East Anglia. The couple met shortly after Stephen moved into Ginny’s Boston neighborhood. Engaged within 11 weeks, they married and settled in Princeton in 2001.

With lots of relatives in England, the couple looks forward to an annual summer trip there. When Rachel was young enough to use a stroller, negotiating Heathrow’s busy terminal wasn’t a problem but as she grew the couple began to worry about traveling with their active and fast moving daughter — they’ve had three Amber alerts in the past.

“We worried about how to keep her safe,” said Ginny. “We looked into GPS tracking devices and Rachel worked with a behavior therapist but it was still a concern and then one day a friend said ‘Have you thought of getting a dog?’ We aren’t dog people, but my friend forwarded an article about one family’s success with a service dog for their 12-year-old daughter with cerebral palsy. When I read that this child who had never slept through the night until she received her service dog, that was it. I said sign me up and it has been amazing.”

Fundraiser to help local teenager buy Diabetic Alert Service Dog Thursday

by Lindsay MacLeod, KSBY News
A Nipomo High School student needs help raising money to buy a Diabetic Alert Service Dog.
Philip Vaughn, 17, has Down Syndrome and Type 1 Diabetes.
His mom says he has a hard time recognizing when his blood sugar level change, so he needs the service dog to help him out.
On Thursday, a fundraiser is being held at the Chili's in Arroyo Grande. The fundraiser runs from 11 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. 15% of the sales will go toward helping Philip get his dog.
Philip's mom says they need to raise $18,000, and so far, they've raised $7,000.
A sixth grade class at Branch Elementary School has also been raising money for Philip.

Dog helps boy rise above disabilities

by Bill Grimes from Effingham Daily News:
EFFINGHAM — When we last featured George the golden doodle in July 16, 2012, edition, he was just a little puppy getting acquainted with the Iffert family before moving on for extensive training.

George was “hired” by the Ifferts to be a service dog for young Hunter Iffert. Hunter, who was born with Down Syndrome, has multiple disabilities, and his family felt that a service dog would be helpful by the time Hunter started kindergarten this fall.

While George’s training wasn’t quite complete by the time school started in August, he finally came back home this month. And, he’s begun going to school with Hunter at Dieterich Elementary School.

George stayed with the Ifferts for 11 months before traveling to Orem, Utah, in March for service training with Molli Baker, director of training for Noelle’s Dogs Four Hope, a Colorado-based company that has trained dozens of service dogs for children with special needs.

Baker said the training she provided was critical to George’s success as a service dog.

Service dog to provide "safety net" for 5-year-old

by Bill Grimes from the Effingham Daily News:

 Hunter Iffert has a lot on his plate for a little boy who turned 5 years old this past Saturday.

    Born with Down syndrome, Hunter began having seizures shortly before his first birthday. The seizures, which mom Kiley says are related to his Down syndrome, were diagnosed as infantile spasms. Not only has the second oldest of Kiley’s four children undergone surgery, but he takes four different anti-convulsant medications on a daily basis.

    Over the years, Kiley has noticed that Hunter — who does not speak — derived great joy from snuggling with Ivan and Molly, the family dogs. On top of that, Kiley met a family through her nursing job at Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital in St. Louis that had a seizure-response dog for their child.

    “It seemed to really help that family,” Kiley said.

    Through the efforts of the Make-A-Wish Foundation, a representative from Noelle’s Dogs Four Hope delivered George to the Iffert home in Dieterich on April 9. The golden doodle puppy has since become an important part of the family.

    Kiley said golden doodles are particularly suited for service work because people are less likely to develop allergies to that particular breed.

    “Golden doodles are more hypoallergenic,” she said.

    Soon after George became part of the Iffert family, Make-A-Wish flew the whole family to Orlando, Fla., for field training.

    “He has 10 lessons,” Kiley said. “We do all the puppy training, but he will go back to Noelle’s in January for six months of more intensive training.

    Make-A-Wish spokeswoman Laura Cannavo Huerta said some of the things George will learn at Noelle’s training facility include fetching medicine or a pillow and blanket, hitting a 911 button, alerting another person in the home, bracing Hunter from a fall and lying with him during and after a seizure.

    “More than just a faithful companion, Hunter’s new dog has already become his best friend and a source of renewed strength to deal with his condition,” Huerta said.

    “Once he is fully trained, he will pretty much go everywhere Hunter goes,” he said. “Right now, I can’t leave Hunter in a room by himself.

    “But my hope is by having George, Hunter will have a little more independence,” she said. “He’s kind of like a safety net for Hunter, basically.”

    The other Iffert children, Kaden, Hugo and Violet, have all accepted George as part of the family.

    “Kaden likes to feed him and take him out to potty, while Violet brings him toys,” Kiley said. “They will also tell people they can’t pet him.

    “If you pet him, it could be a distraction to what he is supposed to be doing.”

    Kiley said she is looking forward to George’s return from Colorado next year.

    “Hopefully, after he comes back from Colorado, Hunter and I will have more independence,” she said. “I’ll be able to go downstairs and do the laundry without having to take Hunter with me.”