Meet Sienna. She’s the Great Dane working with her partner to get her down the steps. Sienna’s being very careful to do as she was taught, to stay one step behind her partner so she can balance.
One of the hardest things for a puppy to remember is to stay a step behind on the stairs and NOT to jump down or leap up the last two steps. It’s a perfectly normal thing for a dog to do, but if they did, they would throw their partner off and they might fall. Sienna seems to know that as she steps along.
Another thing people do not realize is that a person with a balance problem often has trouble getting out of a parking lot that is surrounded by a 6 inch curb where there is usually no hand rail. As a certified service dog, Sienna provides that “portable handrail” .
– Carlene White, founder of Service Dog Project in Ipswich, MA. The organization trains and places Great Danes with people who live with Multiple Sclerosis, Friedreich’s ataxia, and veterans with disabilities.
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