Help Axiel regain independence with a Service Dog
Donation protected
Help me fund my service dog, so I can regain my independence and return to work.
I am Axiel, a research physicist passionate since I was four years old. I was developing new energy solutions before my life came to a violent and unpredictable stop in August 2019 when I developed severe medical conditions.
After being wholly dependent on my husband for a year, I slowly started regaining some limited health and independence, thanks to my now retired service dog. Three years later, I returned to school to study cybersecurity and convert my career to this new and exciting field. I want to reintegrate into the workforce, but as a now disabled woman, I need significant help. Help that a service dog can mostly cover.
I cannot go to the supermarket, take the bus, walk in a shopping mall, or be outside my home without symptoms, even with human help. I regularly pass out, have panic attacks, episodes of mutism and sensory overload, have flashbacks, and am hypervigilant.
I am on the waiting list for a service dog from Ability Dog Canada, which costs 10'000 CAD. An additional 10'000 CAD is due during the first year of work. The cost breakdown is below.
Financial Breakdown
The total of 20'000 CAD is to cover the breeding, raising, caring, and training of the dog's first two years.
- Purchase of the dog from a reputable Canadian Kennel Club breeder
- Vaccinations
- Food
- Flea & tick prevention
- Spay or neuter of the dog at 18 months
- Trainer fees
- Equipment fees (jackets, crates, toys, grooming supplies, training supplies, dog beds, crate mats, dog seatbelts, dental care supplies, etc.)
- Fees for special training (bus fare, restaurant fees, cinema fees, train fare, etc.)
- Travel fees for foster families and dog trainers
Why a service dog?
A dog’s help is unique and hard to replace with other accessibility aids or medications.
- Depending on a dog is a form of independence: not relying on people's help for daily tasks
- Dogs can intelligently disobey to help and protect me
- My cane can help me walk but cannot guide me to safety before I pass out
- My emergency medication shortens some medical episodes, but a dog acts quicker and without side effects that leave me vulnerable in public
- A service dog can alert before symptoms occur
- A service dog can bring me back to consciousness faster and keep me safe in the meantime
A service dog is one part of multiple therapies, including pharmaceutical, physical, and psychological.
Lists of tasks
- Alerting to an upcoming episode
- Deep Pressure Therapy (alleviates pain)
- Grounding (shortens syncope or dissociation)
- Guiding to exits, husband, home, car (when dizzy or dissociative)
- Crowd control (avoids hypervigilance and panic)
- Forward momentum (help walking)
- Pick up dropped items (avoids syncope)
- Counterbalance (when dizzy or dissociative)
- Fetch husband for help
- Fetch water & medication
Timeline
Getting placed with a dog takes one to three years (2023-2025). I need to pay 20'000 CAD in total broken down in two parts. The first 10'000 CAD are due by the day my service dog and I are matched. The second 10'000 CAD needs to be paid during the first year of the dog's work.
Ability Dogs Canada
ADC has their own breeding program for English line Labrador Retreivers. When the puppies are born, they receive a lot of stimulation and exposures to various sights, sounds, textures and the like. Once weened, they are placed with Foster families that are specifically trained by ADC, to continue their puppyhood. At 8 months old, the dogs start training to become service dogs. Once they are ready, between 16 to 24 months, depending on the dog, they are matched with a handler. We are then in a trial period to see if we work well as a team. If so, we graduate from the program as an ADC Certified Service Dog Team.
More info on the ADC webiste .
Organizer
Axiel Yael Birenbaum-Haligua
Organizer
Ottawa, ON