Thanks to her dog, Sam, there’s no mischief that 11-year old Joy Cahill can get away with.
You see, Sam, a 3-year-old Labrador/spaniel, is not only Joy’s canine playmate he is also her service dog.
Joy, born with Down syndrome, also suffers from respiratory distress and epilepsy. She has supplemental oxygen and a feeding tube. A seizure affected Joy’s ability to walk and she required physical therapy.
“He’s gotten to know her norm,” said Denise Cahill, Joy’s mother. “So when something is not normal, he reacts. He also doesn’t let Joy do anything she’s not supposed to be doing. We call him ‘our built-in little tattler.’ ”
It was a few months ago that Denise learned that Joy can be as mischievous
as any child. Joy, who’s not highly verbal and sleeps with oxygen and a machine that measures her heart rate, learned how to switch off her machines when everyone was sleeping and also discovered the fun of leaving the house when other family members are occupied .
That was when Denise began researching service dogs and found Sam, a rescue dog through Midwest Assistance Dogs Inc.
Sam, who now goes everywhere with Joy, not only senses when she is about to have a seizure, but also, mysteriously, when her oxygen levels are low. And along with constantly monitoring her health, Sam does not put up with Joy’s shenanigans.
“The first week we were home, he came out of her room at 3 a.m. and nudged me,” Denise said. “She had shut off her machines.”
Currently it appears that along with being her service dog, Sam has benefited Joy in other unexpected ways. Having to give Sam commands, Joy’s verbal and social skills have improved. And since she is responsible for Sam’s basic care such as brushing his coat and feeding him, Joy has also progressed in physical therapy and grown in her ability to assume responsibility,
Denise acknowledges how hard Sam works and how much she wants to give him a break, “but when (Joy) comes home, it’s like they haven’t seen each other for three days.”