Hi.  Kizzy & I are doing great! It has taken a lot of hard work and determination.  Soon I will be heading off to college, starting a life of my own.  Kizzy, my new Service Dog, will be able to assist me in many ways.  She’ll open doors, pick up objects and carry different things, as well as being able to get help if necessary.

     Thanks to the generous support of the Community Foundation for Greater Buffalo, our three week training period was fully paid for.  So, my family and I planned a benefit to help co-sponsor my dog.  Thanks to the generosity of many, many people, we were able to raise over $6700!  The benefit was a great success, and I’ll never be able to repay all those who helped me read my goal.  Thank you!

Update….    

      Life throws us a curve every now and then.  When Jess came to train with Kizzy, she was having new leg braces made, so she had to do all of her training from her wheelchair.  Unfortunately, by the time she got her new leg braces three or four weeks later, Jess had lost a lot of her stamina and muscles for walking.

      Training with a new Service Dog takes a lot of time, patience, practice and hard work in order to become a successful team.  Trying to regain her strength while training with Kizzy proved to be too physically and emotionally draining for Jess.  Since Kizzy is a sensitive dog, she started to show signs of being affected by the overwhelming situation too.  Jess had to make a painfully hard decision to return Kizzy to Canine Helpers.  We agree that Jess made the right decision.  Right now she needs to give 100% to rebuilding her stamina to walk again. 

     Once Jess conquers this temporary set back, she will get another Service Dog from Canine Helpers.  All the funding that came in for her will be applied towards her next Service Dog. Thank you to all who helped! 

      We wish Jess the best of luck with her new challenges and look forward to working with her again in the near future.