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Charley ! First Hand Report ...... I use a dog for mobility ....... My Dog, George is a Lab and we trained him ourselves (more on that later) George is a very laid back lab with a wonderful desire to help in any way that he can. He assists me in getting up or sitting down. He helps me up and down stairs one step at a time, and when walking on the rough terain of our ranch, he gives me needed stablity and balance. He has almost straightened out my gait, but best of all he can detect freezing episodes and break them. I have trained him to pick up anything that I drop and "hand " it to me (including a credit card, keys, plates, change, or even a hammer or other tools that I drop). He will also bring me objects that I place a laser pointer light on including full 2 liter bottles of pop (soda for you easterners). He goes everwhere that I do including commercial airliners, VA hospital, etc. etc. ( no one can deny him access to any place that I go). George responds to hand signals, verbal comands, and he neck reins like a roping horse for the days when I have trouble telling him to halt, back-up, etc. Most of the time he carries small back packs with my meds, inhalers, and a hand held 2 way FM radio etc. but he can also manage quite a load of groceries (with the handles of the plastic sacks tied together he parades proudly out to the parking lot like a pack horse). At the big Walmart he can take me to where we have parked the truck. We are still working on the H/C door opener buttons and helping me to pull jacket sleeves and pants off. George is only 3 and has been working in public since he was a year old. We breed large labs that are laid-back and have the correct temperment for this type of work and even do some pre training. George uses a support harness that came from http://www.trainerschoice.com (aprox $60) Training is relatively easy using the guidlines in 2 books from Top Dog (total cost of about $32) they train people with disabilities to train their own service animals www.topdog.org included is a crash course on dog psychology, snd senarios for most situations including those who are wheelchair bound so that they can train their own dog. You cannot use them to pull a wheel chair until after age 2 as their backs are not fully developed and solidified yet. I hope that this has been the info that you need, but I would be happy to provide more info on the dogs, training, etc. off list if you would like. Rob ----- Original Message ----- From: Charles Countryman <[log in to unmask]> To: <[log in to unmask]> Sent: Tuesday, December 31, 2002 8:11 AM Subject: Re: Mobility Aid > I have found a cane very helpful during "on and off" periods with balance problems. > > Is anyone using a mobility assistance dog? Since I expect that my mobility problems will get worse, I have asked a dog trainer to help me locate a suitable dog. What we plan to do is train the dog for my own needs, primarily encouraging me to exercise at this time. Later as my PD progresses, we expect the dog to be of more direct assistance to me. > > Charley > 51, diagnosed w/PD 1993 > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] > In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn