SEATTLE — Sometimes we can all use a little help.
"Pick up things," Luca Keogh said. "Pull my laundry basket."
When the 13-year-old needs a hand, his friend, Atticus, a two-year-old Labrador Retriever, offers four paws and a generous heart.
"He's not having to ask me to do things because he's got Atticus to do them for him," said Lucas' mom, Sarah.
It's all possible thanks to Canine Companions, a national organization with a new field office and training center in Seattle's SoDo neighborhood. The facility is furnished with comfortable IKEA couches and chairs, a refrigerator and even a bedroom.
"The idea is that we're mimicking a home environment," said trainer Colleen Reilly.
Trainers work with dogs for six to nine months, teaching them the basic skills needed to assist people with a wide range of disabilities.
"Tug open doors, drawers, the laundry basket, anything that they might need brought to them," Reilly said.
Eventually, the dogs are paired with their future life partners for an intense two-week bonding and training program.
"Personalize it to what that person needs," said Reilly. "And then they get to go home with their new friends."
"You're not just getting a dog," said Sarah. "You're getting this whole community."
The result is a partnership between human and animal, bound by duty and love.
"It's the potential for the future," said Sarah. "They're changing lives."
Canine Companions is supported by volunteers and donors. Their next major fundraiser, "Sit, Stay, Sparkle," is coming to the Museum of Flight on November 1. You can find more information and tickets at this link.
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