Teacher’s Pet
The adorable labradoodle dog helping her disabled owner
Introduction
This is a heartwarming story I simply had to share with you about a special dog that made a huge difference to the life of a family.
Music teacher
A music teacher called, Diana, came to London from Ukraine 22 years ago. She married and had two children. Nothing special in that.
Besides teaching music, she also worked as a special needs teaching assistant at a primary school in south-east London.
FND and its consequences
But Diana suffers from a rare medical condition called functional neurological disorder (FND). It’s a brain and nervous system disorder.
As a consequence, she had a stroke in 2013 and had to give up work for several months. But eventually she could walk again.
Then there was a family tragedy. Her husband had a fatal heart attack at age 50. To help Diana’s young daughter cope with the loss, Diana bought an adorable labradoodle puppy called Teddy.
Then, would you believe it, Diana suffered yet another stroke two years later in 2015. She thinks it could be due to the stress of losing her husband so suddenly.
Diana has now been left needing to use a wheelchair, because she can’t walk anymore.
However, after intense physiotherapy and speech therapy, she has eventually been able to go back to work part-time with fewer responsibilities than before.
Trained
This is where Teddy comes into the story in a different capacity.
Diana began to consider having Teddy trained as an assistance dog. So he was trained by a national charity called Support Dogs, to help her in her work as a teacher. She says:
He comes to work with me and presses the button to release the door or pushes lift buttons.
Besides that he opens and closes doors, which are too heavy for her. He even helps her get dressed for work!
One of the funniest things we saw him do was to pull a box of balls over to her or carry a bundle of multicoloured tubes. You just have to see the video from the BBC! He really is the cutest assistance dog you ever saw.
And the kids understand not to stroke him, because he’s a working dog. But they love him!
Lightening the load
Surely one of the worst circumstances in life is to become disabled for whatever reason. Yet, even a suitable pet can be trained to lighten the load a little. Furthermore, a trained pet dog can be both a practical and emotional support, as Teddy is for Diana. She says about him:
Teddy is a lovely dog and the light of my life. I’m so grateful to Support Dogs for training him to meet my needs.
She says that after school, if she has a bad day, Teddy can sense when something isn’t right, if he’s near her. He provides emotional support too not just support for physical tasks.
Finally…
Support Dogs in the UK are based in Sheffield. If you don’t live in the UK and would like to find a centre for training assistance dogs in your area, I’m sure you can look up an organisation near to where you live.
I found this story so inspiring and delightful, despite the heartache and disability that underscores it. There’s something about a cute dog that warms the cockles of your heart and can make all the difference. It clearly did for Diana.
We wish her all the best for the future with adorable Teddy.
If you liked this, please clap, highlight, comment on it and/or share it with others to read. This really helps and encourages me as a writer.
Or you could give me a tip: https://ko-fi.com/ellaread
Or buy me a coffee: