Twist has been Amelia's service dog for 6 1/2 years and he is 8 1/2 years old. He absolutely loves to work and will hopefully be able to do so for a couple more years but there is about a 2 year wait for another dog after we meet the fundraising fee .  That means Twist will be at least 10 AFTER she is able to get her next service dog.  Twist helps Amelia daily with many tasks and has saved her life. Some of the health conditions she has that he helps with are Complex Regional Pain Syndrome, Ehlers Danlos Syndrome, Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome, Mast Cell Activation Syndrome, Bilateral Sensorineural hearing loss, Craniocervical Instability, Anxiety, Medical PTSD, and OCD. Some of the many tasks he does are picking up dropped items (phone, wallet, water, leash), retrieving items ( emergency med bag, water, phone, etc), barking to alert if she falls or passes out and laying over her to provide deep pressure therapy, turning on/off lights, opening/closing doors, barking if she says help, behavior disruption/psychiatric response, hitting accessible door buttons, counter balance,and hearing alert.  Before she got Twist, she was afraid to go anywhere without her mom. Having a service dog has given her independence once again. Can you help us meet our fee so she is able to get her next service dog when Twist is ready to retire?  

Training a service dog to meet our child’s requirements can be very costly. On average it costs between $40,000-60,000 to raise, train, and place a service dog at 4 Paws for Ability. While 4 Paws for Ability fundraises to help cover a significant portion of this cost, families are tasked with raising $20,000 of that amount or $23,000 if receiving a poodle, doodle or papillon. We hope that we can receive assistance from our beloved family and friends to help make our service dog dream a reality.