Support dog more than a pet for disabled girl
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By Rob Amen
VALLEY NEWS DISPATCH
Monday, June 13, 2005
It's fitting that the dog was named Daytona after what is generally regarded as the most famous racetrack on the stock-car circuit. And that the dog's owner is downright infatuated with NASCAR and Dale Earnhardt Jr. to the point that she wanted to name the canine Budweiser after Earnhardt's main sponsor. Mostly, it's fitting because of the speed with which Daytona, a 1-year-old female German Shepherd, learned the necessary tools to become owner Jillian Rankin's support dog for the foreseeable future.
This is a story of unequivocal affection between Rankin, a 17-year-old Ross Township resident and rising senior at North Hills High School, and her dog. It's a story underscored by their unwavering determination to overcome incredible odds, first on Rankin's part, then Daytona's.
Rankin, then living in DuBois, lost feeling from her waist down two weeks before her sixth birthday. The car in which she was riding while en route to school was struck by a drunk driver. The impact and resulting wreckage severed her spinal cord. In the immediate aftermath, she had use of only one finger on her right hand. She should have died.
"It's more than just a little miracle (that she didn't)," her mother, Felicia Rankin, said.
Though through countless rehabilitation and ensuing surgeries she slowly regained use of her upper body, Jillian would require the use of a wheelchair and the assistance of a support dog.
Support dogs, sometimes referred to as service dogs, aid those who are disabled in some way, whether by an unfortunate accident like Jillian or by the simple passage of time and the onset of obstacles like arthritis. The dogs usually are selected shortly after birth and require a certain temperament to perform tasks ranging from opening doors for their owners to picking up their dropped car keys.
Not every dog is suited to serve as a support dog. Daytona was not.
Jillian's previous support dog died in October. The Rankins bought Daytona in November, mostly because Jillian always wanted a German Shepherd. They did not realize that Daytona's unassuming, unsocialized disposition might prove to be a problem.
Jillian, however, refused to accept that Daytona could not serve as her support dog.
They enlisted the help of Joe Orsino, who operates K-9 Training and Mr. O's K-9 Companions along Leechburg Road in Lower Burrell.
Orsino practically adopted Daytona. They lived together. They trained together. They spent hours on end at Hillcrest Shopping Center, trying to perfect the skills Daytona had to master before becoming an adequate support dog.
"When I started testing her," Orsino said, "it really looked very questionable if she was going to be able to do any type of the training at all."
Teaching a support dog usually exhausts six to eight months. Orsino completed Daytona's training in just eight weeks.
Had Daytona not passed and the Rankins been forced to recruit a new support dog, Daytona might have been chased from the home, Orsino said.
It is possible that Daytona could have interfered with another support dog's duties, Orsino said, leaving little option but for the Rankins to find another home for Daytona.
That was not necessary.
On Saturday, for the first time since she left home to train with Orsino, Daytona and Jillian were reunited, coincidentally, at the shopping plaza. They walked through real-life scenarios that Jillian undoubtedly, eventually, will encounter.
"I'm tickled," Jillian said, smiling. "She (knew) just the basics before I sent her. She can do everything now.
"I don't know what I would do without her."
Jillian, who drives and remains as active -- perhaps more active -- than many 17-year-olds, starts school in the fall, then plans to attend college to pursue a career in the veterinary field.
Daytona will attend classes with Jillian, having already passed her most difficult test.
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Support dog more than a pet for disabled girl
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keporter
, Jun 13 2005 10:35 PM
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