How My Service Danes Changed My Life

By Jodi Lee Ryan

I had one of the only two Great Dane assistance dogs in the U.S. according to the research of the Associated Press in 1998, when they did an article on Sky, my first assistance dog. Sky and I were everywhere; in newspapers, magazines, television, and training videos for Southwest Airlines.

When I bought Sky and trained her to do things; helping me get dressed and undressed, getting food and drinks for me from the refrigerator, keeping me from falling, telling me when I needed medicine, blocking me from getting up if she thought I would fall or when I was walking she would take me to a chair or lean me against a wall when I didn’t notice how wobbly I was becoming. She also did laundry. I lost count of all the things she could do after we reached 100 tasks. Sky worked for me for almost ten years. When she retired, she stayed home on a pillow while Cinder, her successor, did most of the heavy work.

As I started to train Cinder, I was amazed at how the two dogs communicated. Even though I couldn’t hear them talking, I was sure Sky was telling Cinder what to do. She would nip at Cinder if she walked too fast for me or did other things wrong. She would lick Cinder’s ears when she approved of the way Cinder did a job for me.

Cinder was mischievous. She didn’t know how to open doors yet. Sky would never open the front door unless she was told to do so. In my mind, I could hear Cinder saying, “Hey Sky, let’s go out front and have an adventure.”

When I came into the living room and saw the front door wide open and both dogs were gone I started crying. I had no idea where they were how long they were gone or how to find them. I panicked and started yelling for Sky. In what seemed like an hour but was probably only a few minutes, Sky came running with the small puppy, Cinder following.

There were a lot of things that happened with this pair of Danes. Things Sky had never done without being told to do it. I suspect Cinder the clown talked Sky into using her training to access the things Cinder wanted and couldn’t get, like a jar of peanut butter.

I didn’t observe all of this, but I suspect this is how it went: Sky opened the cupboard door when Cinder asked her. Cinder grabbed her favorite snack, peanut butter, and bit through the plastic jar in dozens of places trying to get as much peanut butter as she could. She squeezed the jar and peanut butter was all over, even on the ceiling. Sky heard me coming and decided this action was bad; so she quickly and carefully took the jar from Cinder, placed it in the exact location in the cupboard where it belonged and shut the cupboard door. As I walked into the kitchen, seeing all this brown goo, I smelled it, just in case it was something I didn’t want to touch. It looked like poop. While I was investigating, both dogs sat next to each other looking up at the ceiling as if nothing was wrong. Then I noticed brown goo coming from the bottom of the cupboard door. Making a puddle on the floor. The dogs still acted as if nothing was wrong, just like my children used to do. Cinder had peanut butter all over her mouth, face and paws. Sky had just a drop or two on her whiskers.

It was so very sad for me when Sky passed away. Although I loved Cinder, Sky was the one I always relied on and trusted. She was that once-in-a-lifetime dog who steals your heart and soul. I still feel the grief of losing her, and try to think of all the fun we had together. She probably had more frequent flyer miles than most executives. We volunteered at Southwest Airlines as many times as they would let us. We showed flight attendants how to handle an assistance dog on the airplane. Sky’s photos and posters are still on the walls at their headquarters.

Cinder was a giant clown. I didn’t think she would ever learn to be as good as Sky. She proved me wrong. She became an amazing helper for me, doing all the things I needed. I realize now, it is a lot like having children; they are all different but you love each one of them the same. I have had the luxury of having three once-in-a-lifetime dogs.

Meeting Carlene White from Service Dog Project was wonderful. At that time, I didn’t realize how much I would need her help in the future.

Carlene was at an assistance–dog conference with two other people. She kept trying to talk to me, but I avoided her because my experience with the most of the other people at those conferences was upsetting. I sat alone at dinner tables set for eight people. I heard people talking loudly about how Great Danes were awful assistance dogs. People at the conference didn’t like Sky because she was a Great Dane. In my mind, their reasons for their opinions were absurd. The two most common were; they didn’t live long and they were too big. I was shy about saying anything but Carlene was very open with her views and was not afraid to tell people what she thought. When she came and gained respect, it was great for me. I finally didn’t have to sit alone all the time.

Cinder is ten now and retired, doing only the things she wants to do to help me. Stormy has taken over the job as Cinder’s successor.

It really was fate that brought Carlene and me together long ago. She taught me things I couldn’t have ever learned from a book. When Cinder had a bad accident and was afraid of noises, doors and almost everything she encountered, Carlene invited me to the farm to help Cinder. She worked with her for a few hours. It was a miracle, the old reliable Cinder was back. Most of the time I spent with Carlene then was actually teaching me when I was afraid, it made Cinder scared. When my confidence was gone, Cinder didn’t have a leader to make her feel confident.

As Cinder grew older, I knew I would need to start training another dog. Carlene gave me Stormy at eight weeks old. She tried to talk me into leaving Stormy with her at Service Dog Project for training. I was stubborn. I trained two dogs, I could train this one. What I didn’t take into consideration was my age and the progression of multiple sclerosis in the past few years. I should have listened to Carlene. The process of training Stormy was hard on me. I had several MS attacks during the time she was a puppy. She would learn something, then I would be in bed for a few weeks or months. Her training wasn’t consistent. She still needs to learn things she should know by now.

Luckily, I have Carlene’s advice and I return to the Service Dog Project at least once a year.

Miracles do occur. The first one was Sky. I just went out and bought her. I had no idea how to train a dog. She was blind in one eye, but that didn’t matter. She took care of me. The second was Cinder. When an article appeared in the newspaper about Sky retiring, a wonderful couple had some Great Dane puppies they were selling. They called me and offered me a female Harlequin Great Dane, the only Harlequin in the litter of twelve. The third was meeting Carlene when she was just starting Service Dog Project. She paved the way for me and my Great Danes to be accepted. The fourth was Stormy. Carlene picked her out just for me and my needs. Stormy may be a hurricane, hence the name Stormy, but she learns more and more every day.

My life has changed drastically in the past sixteen years because of the wonderful dogs who have taken care of me, kept me safe, and helped people understand there are more uses for dogs than for the blind. Dogs can help people in so many ways.

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