When I flew to Louisville, Kentucky to pick up my second Ocherese puppy, I had a layover in the airport for four hours.

I must start this story out saying that I had purchased the cutest “JUICY” dog carrier for my new puppy. (nothing but the best for my new puppy)

As the breeders walked in the airport with her, I was amazed as to how much hair this puppy had; well, she looked like a small panda bear cub with a full winter coat. First thought, how is she going to fit into this designer carrier to go home on the plane! Next thought, who cares, I just want to hold her and get to know her. We met, it was love at first sight for both of us. The carrier? Well not a problem, she was just a lot of hair, but only weighed 4lbs. She fit just fine when the time came to put her in, last minute of course.

While waiting for my flight I started talking with a young man about 19yrs. old and he loved my puppy too.  He asked me “what her name was” and I had to tell him that “I wasn’t sure yet”. After talking awhile, he stated that” Dan Rather, the t.v. anchor man, was just behind us”. I thought I would love to meet him since I practically know him, after all he was in our living room every night for alot of years when growing up and even after I got married we watched him.  I told the young man that “I was going to go talk to Dan”, and he quickly asked “if I knew him?” I said, “I feel like I do, but no, I hadn’t met him”. He said,” he couldn’t believe I would just go up to a celebrity and introduce myself”. I said “well, I am talking to you and I didn’t know you before, and hey, I have a puppy, everyone loves a cute puppy”.  He then nodded his head and saw the light – I think. I got up and boldly walked over to Mr. Dan Rather.

I have to add this important part of the story, I had an extreme allergic reaction to the airport air and had been sneezing basically the whole time there. (no it wasn’t the new puppy, she’s a non-allergenic dog, it was mold spores in the air). Needless to say my blue eyes weren’t very blue after all that sneezing and watery eye thing.

O.k., so I walked up to Dan Rather anyway and he immediately stood up in his tailored trench coat and with great stature. He held himself up tall and with a gentle look on his face.  I immediately stated that” he didn’t have to stand up” and as soon as the words came out of my mouth, he retorted, “I always stand for a lady”. WOW!  That was so kind of him and the friendly grin on his face was so warm and kind that I knew I could have a conversation with this nice man.  He asked me my name and we chatted a bit, I thanked him  for all his years of  great journalism and the contribution he had made to the American news broadcasting system. He most graciously thanked me for the compliment. He then noticed that I was holding a cute fluffy black & white puppy, and inquired about her. Well, I explained that” I had just picked her up from the breeders, here at the airport and was heading to Arizona with her”. He gently reached out his hand and petted her on the head, she in turn licked him as to say thank you.

Mr. Dan Rather asked “what her name was” and I said “I wasn’t  sure yet”. Without hesitation, I followed it up by asking him if “he could help me name her; being a man that had traveled the world and seen so many things and met so many people, I knew he could help  me out with this”. He said “well, a name is a really important thing, it lasts their whole life, I don’t know about that”. I told him “I was very aware of that and would take the risk.”  I tell ya the truth, he stood there for about 3 minutes pondering this little puppy, asking if it was a girl or boy, and finally looked at me and suggested, Katrina – meaning Katherine in french. I was thinking about his suggestion and of course the hurricane Katrina popped into my head so I had a little hesitance in naming my new puppy after a hurricane. He sensed the hesitation and stated “you have something in your head don’t you? I said “it was interesting that he picked a french name, since I had been thinking of  Bijoux meaning” – and he spoke right up – “jewel; oh yes that would fit her perfectly”. I then had to say that “I had some reservations about naming her Bijoux, due to the fact that my husband was a construction guy and I was, well, to be honest, concerned that he would say it incorrectly and not be so politically correct”. Mr. Rather chuckled and then said to me “with those big beautiful blue eyes, I’m sure you can talk him into anything”. Another WOW, I need to remind you that they were more red than blue at the time due my allergic attack, but I did have to ask him “Can I use that line?” He said “sure, it was the truth”.

I said “thank you to him for his help and for taking the time to talk with me and that my new cute little puppy would be named “Bijoux” meaning jewell.

Now you know the story of how my precious Bijoux got her name. She is such a special dog to me, one like I’ve never had before. She is not only extremely cute with her black & white markings, and playful personality, but she is very smart. You see, she has become my Service Dog and is a life saver. Bijoux is one of the small service dogs that  performs her helpful task while I’m sleeping. When my breathing changes (due to severe asthma) she awakes me and I then can attend to it. Cute thing is, she knows she’s special and expects to be with me all the time. Really, she is offended if I leave her and in her cute little dog voice, kind of chews me out so to speak when I come home. A true blessing in the form of a little dog.

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Have you ever wondered what a true “Service Dog” is? Maybe you own a dog that could become a “Service Dog” either for yourself or someone else. Dogs are so smart that they can do tasks such as helping a blind person walk, carry things for their owner if the owner is handicapped, lift a person if they have fallen due to their disability, have multiple schlerosis, or any other disease that keeps them from living a normal life. Service dogs can detect blood sugar issues ie too low or too high; help people with seizures, high blood pressure, heart problems, asthma and numerous other physical disabilities. Children with physical or learning disabilities benefit extremely from service dogs. Did you know there is a program for children who have difficulty with reading, they can learn to read quicker if they read to a dog instead of a person.
Service Dogs come in all sizes from as big as the largest dog to the smallest small dog. If a service dog is a non-shedding dog they provide a whole other type of service for those who have allergies to dog fur and can only have a dog with hair – truly a definite plus for easy care for a service dog.

Below is some important information on Assistance/Service Dogs, that might be of some help to those aspiring to educate themselves about these special animals that help people.

This information is taken from the website of the

International Association of
Assistance Dog Partners

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IAADP
International Association of
Assistance Dog Partners

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The World of Assistance Dogs

At the founding of IAADP in St. Louis in 1993, the term assistance dog was incorporated into the organization’s name because it was envisaged as a cross-disability consumer advocacy organization. It was assumed that the common factor of partnership with a canine assistant would be the cement holding the group together. Dog-related concerns such as training, public behavior and health care remain central issues to members. Common public experiences such as denials of access and negative public attitudes continue to plague members.

As our membership has grown and the assistance dog movement has matured, an increasing awareness of the expanding role of assistance dogs in their disable partners life has emerged. From its origin, IAADP members partnered with assistance dogs have fit into one of three categories:

1. Blind and visually impaired partners rely on their guide dogs to safely negotiate the unseen environment.

2. Deaf and hard-of-hearing partners rely on their hearing dogs to alert them to unheard sounds in the environment.

3. People with disabilities other than blindness and deafness rely on their service dogs to mitigate the disabling condition in a variety of ways. Service dogs are trained to perform many physical tasks including but not limited to pulling a wheelchair, lending balance support, picking up dropped or requested objects or providing assistance in a medical crisis.

The common experience of those choosing partnership with assistance dogs is that they increase independence, safety and improve the quality of life of their disabled partners.

The Basis of Access Rights

The Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) is a federal civil rights bill passed in 1990. Although the term used in the regulatory language developed by the Department of Justice (DOJ) is service animal, IAADP only accepts as partner members those disabled people working with assistance dogs, and therefore uses that term exclusively.

Under the ADA, disabled Americans have the right to be accompanied by their assistance dogs in all places of public accommodation. Three elements define this right:

1. The disabling condition must be severe enough to substantially limit one or more major life activities, such as the ability to see or hear, speak, breathe, learn, work, think or take care of oneself.

2. The dog must be individually trained to do work or perform tasks which serve to mitigate the disabling condition. (Seventh Circuit decision, Federal Court of Appeals in Bronk v Iniechen)

3. The dog must be well behaved and under control. Business owners and other representatives of places of public accommodation have the legal right to exclude any dog who displays aggressive behavior or is out of control. They may also exclude any dog whose behavior disrupts the provision of goods or services, such as a dog barking in a movie theater.

The Expanding World of Service Dogs

IAADP supports the responsible development of new tasks for service dogs. These include alerting people with seizure disorders to the onset of an episode, making contact with a person immobilized as a result of Parkinson’s disease, obtaining help in a medical emergency and a variety of tasks for individuals with psychiatric disabilities.

In all these cases, it is the performance of disability related tasks which enable assistance dogs to empower their disabled partners by increasing their safety, mobility and independence. It is how IAADP differentiates an assistance dog from a pet or therapy dog.

IAADP respects the benefits of pet based mental health and physical health facilitation. However, we are not an organization for pet owners or therapy dog handlers. We are assistance dog partners by choice and we take pride in what can be accomplished through teamwork with a trained guide, hearing or service dog. IAADP also recognizes that federal and state laws provide legal rights only to disabled people partnered with assistance dogs.

In keeping with IAADP’s mission to educate the public, health care providers, and future consumers about assistance dog issues, IAADP has posted a report to its web site identifying approximately 30 physical tasks that a service dog for a person with a psychiatric disability could be trained to do. A number of these tasks were suggested by early pioneers of the psychiatric service dog concept. The list is not exhaustive and should be viewed as a springboard for further discussion, research and development.

In addition, a report on traditional kinds of assistance dog work has been prepared for the website. This panoramic view of the the mutually beneficial ways dogs and disabled people work together may be periodically updated as new tasks are brought to our attention. We envision the development of disability specific tasks for an ever widening circle of mental and physical impairments in the years to come. We shall be sharing this good news through our quarterly publication, “Partners Forum,” the annual conference, our website, and future projects.

Cordially,
IAADP Board of Directors

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Check out this very talented service dog performing his tasks extremely well. Amazing!

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