Zodiac has been Bellas Service dog for almost 7 years and he is 8 years old. Zodiac loves working for his girl and will hopefully be able to work for a few more years. The waitlist is 6 months to a year AFTER we fundraise the fee for a new Service Dog. By then Zodiac will be around 9 years old. Zodiac helps Bella everyday with her different disabilities. Bella has Lennox-Gastaut Syndrome (LGS), a rare and aggressive form of epilepsy, autism, multiple heart conditions, OCD, hearing loss, dementia, vision loss, EDS, anxiety. Every day is a fight for her. The only warning we have that Bella is going to have a seizure is from Zodiac he Pre-alerts at least 6 hours if not sooner, they are so severe that they stop her breathing. He will then Alert us that she is seizing so we can get to her.

Zodiac is trained to help Bella in the following tasks:

• Seizure Pre-alert (Zo's average is 6hrs before)
•  Active Seizure Alert
• Behavior Disruption
•  Mobility Assistance
•  Item Retrieval
• Deep Pressure Therapy 

Service dogs work for an average of 8 years and then retire around that time. Once we have completed fundraising the waitlist is 6 MONTHS to a YEAR. When we receive the next service dog from 4 Paws Zodiac will help show him/her the ropes on all things Bella. We want to show Zodiac the same respect that he has shown us throughout the years. 

Would you help us to make sure Bella will always have a protector? Will you help mom, Tanya Menard, and myself, Cassidy Menard, be able to sleep easy knowing there is a set of eyes, ears, and nose on Bella? 

We've done it once and our village grew, and we couldn't be more blessed and loved the first time. Everyone really does love Bella and by helping her with fundraising your helping her have a semi normal life. So thank you to anyone who donates for her next service dog. 

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.