A dog donated, a higher
calling: [STATE Edition]
LOGAN D. MABE. St. Petersburg Times. St. Petersburg, Fla.: Mar 21, 2003. pg. 7
Copyright Times Publishing Co. Mar 21, 2003
Marla Johnson sits just inside the screen door wiping dog drool off a freshly chewed tennis ball. Hat Trick, Johnson's 5-year-old German shepherd-greyhound mix, sits attentively, waiting to bolt after the next toss.
Playing fetch with the ball is Hat Trick's reward for a morning of drills fetching more important things for Johnson. Hat Trick is Johnson's service dog: her eyes and ears and hands when an epileptic seizure robs her of the use of her own.
For instance, when Johnson says, "Hat Trick, help!" the dog is instantly at her left side where Johnson can steady herself with the dog's harness. When she says, "Hat Trick, get the bag!" he bounds off to the bedroom to retrieve the satchel containing Johnson's medications.
Standing at the kitchen sink, Johnson says, "Hat Trick, brace!" and he wedges his sturdy frame against the back of her legs, giving her support if she becomes dizzy.
Most remarkably, said professional dog trainer Angela Bubley, Hat Trick has learned to sense when Johnson is likely to have a seizure and warns her when one is coming on.
As her seizures worsened over the past year, Johnson looked into getting a service dog through one of several national organizations that provides them to the disabled. In addition to finding long waiting lists, Johnson also learned that such dogs are expensive.
"They were just astronomical," Johnson said. For instance, one such program called Paws With a Cause sets the cost to raise, train and place an assistance dog in excess of $18,000.
That's when Johnson turned to Bubley, a Northdale woman who runs B-Paws-itive Pet Dog Training. Johnson had met Bubley years before during a dog obedience class. When Bubley learned of Johnson's disability and need for a service dog, she volunteered Hat Trick, the Bubley's family pet for the past five years. (Bubley gives all her dogs hockey-related names. A hat trick is when a hockey player scores three goals in a game.)
For Bubley, parting with Hat Trick was difficult and bittersweet. But she saw in Johnson an opportunity for the dog to fulfill his potential.
"He's an exceptional dog and he's talented," Bubley said. "And his energy level is so great that I knew he needed a job and that he needed to work. It's better for him to be the only focus in Marla's life, because she's able to use all of his talents."
Hat Trick was a "rescue dog" who came from a litter of 10 puppies carrying the life-threatening Parvo virus. Bubley was able to save him, and Hat Trick eventually became the poster dog for B-Paws- itive - a "demo dog" of Bubley's training abilities.
"I knew I needed to find a special job for this dog," Bubley said. "It's sad for him to sit here and play fetch with us two or three times a day when he's capable of so much more. The kids were sad, I'm sad, and even my husband is sad, but when you see what he can do for her, he's given her a new lease on life."
Bubley found the experience so enriching that she has branched out from her obedience training and created a nonprofit program called By Your Side, in which she plans to raise and train more service dogs.
Her next promising student is Shiner, a 12-week-old golden retriever that Bubley will train for the next 18 to 24 months. If that goes well, Bubley said, she hopes to train and place as many service dogs as she can.
Bubley said she expects all future By Your Side dogs to be as sharp as Hat Trick. "Hattie's a genius," she said. "But every dog will have to be as good as Hat Trick or they won't go into service."
Johnson, whose disability forced her to leave a career as an administrator at John Knox Village retirement community, said her life has improved since Hat Trick came into it. She no longer needs to use a cane, and she isn't afraid to go out anymore. Most of all, she said, Hat Trick has given her some welcome peace of mind.
For more information about By Your Side, call 963-3776 .
- Logan D. Mabe can be reached at 269-5304 or at mabe@sptimes.com.
[Illustration]
Caption: Marla Johnson plays fetch Monday with her 5-year-old service dog Hat Trick.; Angela Bubley, owner of B. Paws-itive Pet Dog Training, works Monday with 12-week-old golden retreiver Shiner.; Photo: PHOTO, MIKE PEASE; PHOTO
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction or distribution is prohibited without permission.
People: Johnson, Marla, Bubley, Angela
Dateline: UNIVERSITY NORTH
Section: NORTH OF TAMPA
Text Word Count 744
