My Constant Companion!

When my Doctor recommended that I get a Service Dog, my first thought was “wonderful, a new tool for my tool bag,” but what I have found since Charcoal and I were paired, is a whole new way of life and thinking for me.

Charcoal is not a pet, he is an extension of ME that I have to tend to and be tended by each day. I feed, water, walk, train, and play with him; he is my constant companion night and day. Charcoal helps distract me when my pain gets really bad and also warns me when my Gulf War illness or PTSD have been triggered before it has gotten out of control, so I can take steps to minimize it.

It is also just a comfort to have him lying at my feet when I sit. Not because he has too, but because he wants to just be with me and help take care of me; the kind of devoted Love that dogs are so good at.

In just the short time we have been together, he has become a major part of my life and my best friend.

Thank you to everyone at Brigadoon.