A Man’s Best Friend

Even with the many technological advances in assisted living products, there is no device that can take the place of a loyal caregiver.

Scott Schamblen, a quadriplegic, found such a devoted helper in T-Rex, a 5-year-old golden retriever who has lived by his side since 2001. The service dog can do all kinds of things that Schamblen’s wheelchair can’t do — turn on lights, open and close doors, carry grocery bags, retrieve dropped items and provide companionship. “He’s brilliant,” Schamblen says.

T-Rex became part of the Schamblen family more than three years ago with the help of Canine Assistants, a nonprofit organization that trains and provides service dogs for adults and children with physical disabilities or other special needs.

Schamblen, who was paralyzed after a Motocross accident in 1996, learned about Canine Assistants after seeing another patient in the hospital with a service dog. He signed up for the program several years later. “It makes all the difference in the world if there’s no one to help,” he says.

Canine Assistants was founded in 1991 by Jennifer Arnold, who spent time in a wheelchair as a teenager after being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. Although Arnold’s symptoms went into remission and she is now walking, she never forgot how it felt to be dependent. Today, her organization places 60 to 70 dogs each year, with recipients in 45 states.

Like T-Rex, the majority of the dogs in the program are retrievers, either golden, laborador or a mix of the two. The organization relies heavily on the help of volunteers and donations from individuals and corporations to train the dogs and place them in homes at no cost to the recipients.

For the first year-and-a-half to two years of their lives, the dogs are put through extensive training at the organization’s facility in Alpharetta, Ga., where they learn 90 commands. Besides mastering basic commands such as “sit” and “stay,” the dogs also learn how to summon help, pull wheelchairs and put money on a store counter, among other things.

The organization also trains seizure response dogs, which remain next to a person during a seizure, summon help or retrieve a phone. Some dogs can even predict a seizure.

“It’s hard to beat a dog that’s already trained like him,” says Schamblen, who notes that the most useful thing T-Rex does is pick up and retrieve. “[Since] I don’t have use of my hands, I’m dropping things all of the time. He can pick things up and drop them in my lap.”

Every day T-Rex goes to work with Schamblen, who is manager of a taxi company, and follows him everywhere he goes — except to the barbershop. Because the dog always stays under his chair, there is too much hair falling on him there, Schamblen explains.

“He stays right with me, indoors or outdoors, wherever I go. If I go into the bedroom he comes in and lies there. That’s a loyal dog.

“He is perfect with anybody,” Schamblen continues. “My son likes to play ball with him and my daughter loves to groom him.”

One of the best things about having T-Rex is that the dog is a good icebreaker, Schamblen says. Before, when he was out in public, Schamblen says people often gave him strange looks or tried to avoid eye contact. “Now, the first thing people do is look at [T-Rex]. He hides my wheelchair and my disability,” Schamblen explains. “You can really interact with people through him.”

Having T-Rex gives Scott’s wife, Kathy, peace of mind. “He’s changed all of our lives,” she says. “The best thing for me is since Scott has had him, I don’t have to worry about being home when he is home. If Scott needs something, T-Rex can get it for him.

“He is the most awesome dog. He doesn’t even think he’s a dog,” she says. “He’s like another person. He’s another part of the family.”

For more information on Canine Assistants, visit www.canineassistants.org or call 800/771-7221.