SFSD Fall Newsletter 2025

Elizabeth and Sally (cont. from pg. 3)

So! From that happy backdrop, I submitted my application (thank you, Mom, for being my scribe!!), character reference (thank you, Lucy!!), and doctor notes to Saint Francis Service Dogs. And early this year, they called Yener and me in for a screening interview. Then, they visited our home to make sure we were set up to happily house a dog. At that point, they accepted us into the pool of candidates, hoping they would match us with a dog within a year. But then, they fast tracked our application because there was a certain dog they wanted us to meet who they believed had the skills and temperament to complement my needs. Namely, she was a mild-mannered people lover who could respond to commands from humans AND a speech app on a phone. Eagerly we went back for another interview, and midway through, Sally’s trainer brought her into the conference room to interact with us. My first impression: Sally was big, silky soft, quiet, and wiggly. And she hung on her trainer’s every word, eyes locked in, ready for her next task. That day, her next task was to come say hi to us, get pets, play with some toys, and follow some simple commands from Yener and me. Then we went home and waited for a call. Sally was meeting other potential partners, so we had to play it cool. At the end of that week they called and said to get that fence built ASAP! Sally was our match, and would we like to move forward with our training so we could take her home? On the call Yener was my interpreter. I had started to silently weep and nod. That meant yes! (That’s also how I said yes to our wedding vows, weeping and nodding!) Prior to the training week, we completed homework online, a crash course for all things service dog. Our week of training in April was serious stuff. We stayed in a hotel near the facility, and each day we learned new skills

(which Sally already knew) and bonded with her. She stayed in the hotel with us, too. If she was (or we were) confused and nervous at first, by the end of the week, we were a tail-wagging team! Yener is her boss on leash, because my hands are too weak to safely hold the leash. When her leash is on, she’s only paying attention to the human holding the other end. When the leash is off, she wants to be wherever I am. She knows more than forty commands! The most helpful ones for me are “get it,” where she’ll pick something up for me; “lap,” where she puts the object in my lap; and “tug,” where she’ll pull on a rope to open or close a door. She’s big fan of “eat,” where she has permission to eat what’s in front of her, and “find it,” where she sniffs around the house to find the toy that was hidden while she waited patiently. And she will chase tennis balls (no command needed) in the yard until you get tired. She is a retriever, after all. We are loving the addition to the family (and the cats are warming up to her). She adores everyone who walks through the door, especially my weekly team of helpers. In another three months we’ll sign the official paperwork of ownership. We’ll go back to the training center once a year to maintain her excellent working dog skills. And this October, around my second diagnos-iversary, Sally and her Class of 2025 training mates will have their graduation ceremony. It’s hard to articulate my gratitude to Saint Francis Service Dogs for their generous gift of this special beast. Or to Yener for making these two big wishes come to life. The magnitude of love and meaning knocks me over every day. I’m a lucky somebody.

Thank you, Elizabeth, for sharing your Saint Francis Service Dogs journey!

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