Amazing Dog for Handicapped Woman

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Amazing Dog for Handicapped Woman

This Dog Is a Woman's Best Friend, Housekeeper and Personal Shopper

Jan 13, 2011

Moye Contributor

The phrase "working like a dog" has never been more literal than in the English town of Coventry where a 4-year-old dog named Sandie is a regular "growl Friday" for her disabled owner, Sue Line.Sandie, a crossbreed between a Sheltie-collie mom and a Staffordshire bull terrier dad, has been doing practically everything for Line since the pooch was a tender 3 months old, including the shopping, the washing and even paying for groceries.It's a match that seems to be doggie destiny as Sandie's mom belonged to Line's next-door neighbor."I've known Sandie since she was 2 weeks old," said Line, 61, a retired National Health Service health trust manager who was paralyzed from the waist down 40 years ago after she was thrown from a car in a New Year's Eve crash."Our friend has her mother. The next door neighbor's dog dug under the fence."

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Sandie the dog helps owner Sue Line get dressed.Before Sandie came into the picture, Line had to rely on a helping hand to reach for some items and depend on other people for more complicated tasks."Mostly, I had to call my sister, who is my caregiver, to pick up things," Line told AOL News. "There was also a lot more for her to do."The most frustrating thing before Sandie was trying not to keep asking for things I had dropped -- which is quite often -- and not to feel too frustrated that I was not able to do things. I still get that to some extent, but Sandie makes it less. Sandie now allows my sister to have her 'me' time because she knows I have help. Sandie comes to meetings as well."

Line says she and her sister did the lion's share of dog training with the help of a local dog training club and Dog AID, a British dog charity that picked up on the assistance dog concept after seeing it done in America."We did a six-week basic clicker training class, which I would recommend to any dog owner," she said. "It helps you and your dog get to know each other and work together."According to the Daily Mail, Sandie helps out on trips to the supermarket -- putting all of her shopping in a bag, which she then carries around in her mouth. Then, at the checkout, she can even take money from her owner's purse and hand it over to the shop assistant.

Sandie also loads the washing machine, separating Line's dirty clothes into dark and light loads and locking the machine door before the cycle begins.

She has also mastered how to unlock the kitchen door to let herself out to the toilet -- and always remembers to close it behind her on her way back.

"The most remarkable thing is to see her working things out," Line said. "For example, we taught her to close the outside door by pulling a rope. After a Dog AID workshop weekend, we decided to give her a challenge, something she had not done before.

"My sister fixed a rope toy to the same door and tried opening it with the rope. Sandie sat and watch it being tried a few times. We were about to start the process of showing her how to carry out the task when she does it herself!"But Line also believes that it's important not to work Sandie like a, well, dog."Assistance dogs also have to have some free time," she said. "The work is quite tiring for them, even if they look as if they are not doing anything. Sandi may look asleep, but if I drop something she is there."They are wonderful companions, but we try not to ask too much of her. Commands you use need to be clear and not sentences. So finding words they take as a command and remembering them is sometimes quite a task. Training is a repetitive process and can take a long time with lots of frustrations, but the end product is brilliant. But the training never stops and is a commitment not to be taken lightly."