Let's give Andrew Smith a Multi-Purpose Service Dog
My name is Andrew Smith, and I'm almost your typical nine-year-old-boy. My life revolves around football and baseball, and I tend to get stuck on one thing for months at a time. I love the Bengals and the Reds: I am, after all, from Cincinnati! I play on a football team and a baseball team, but it's hard for me when I miss the ball or the tackle, I just can't seem to deal with it. I've been mean to the coaches even, but they usually cut me a break. I get upset when my school work doesn't show 100% perfect and even more upset when my mom asks me to stop playing and do something, even come and eat!
I sleep in my mom's bedroom most of the time because I hate to be alone, even out of her sight. I don't think I've ever played alone in my room unless I'm on the play station playing Madden 08. After all, football is my life right now!
Why am I like this? My mom says I have an emotional handicap. I don't really know what Bipolar means, or ADHD, ODD, or Separation Anxiety Disorder are, but mom says that's what makes me unique. I struggle in school so much I'm in my 3rd school, a therapy school, because I can't hold it together in regular school. My moods go on a roller coaster ride, up and down so fast, and I can't control them.
I promise I don't mean to scream and yell and sometimes hit, kick, and throw things. I just can't help it. My mom usually tries to get me calm before I get to that point, but at times it just makes me madder. I'd love to sleep in my own bed and be able to shower alone in the bathroom, but I just can't do it. I don't feel comfortable alone, out of sight of anyone.
My mom found this place called "4 Paws for Ability" that has service dogs for kids like me. If I had a service dog, I would have a friend that could sleep in my room (or bed) with me at night, and sit in the bathroom with me while I shower, and help keep me calm in school and in places where there's lots of people and I get so anxious and upset we just have to leave!
A "Multi-Purpose Service Dog" that would love me when I'm happy and sad and be there for me all the time would be so great. Maybe I could even go back to public school sooner! Won't you please help my mommy make my dream come true and make a donation to 4 Paws in Honor of me, Andrew Smith? Thanks for reading!
Note from Judy: 4 Paws for Ability is an amazing nonprofit organization located in Xenia, Ohio. It provides highly trained service dogs in many areas, but does require that approved families raise funds to train the dog. Please consider this child whose life will change significantly upon receiving an assistance dog. Read the testimonials. Reading them could change your life. It changed mine.