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This is a story about my first Wheelchair Service Dog, JoJo. She was very special, not only because she was my first, but because she wasn't originally predestined to be a Service Dog. Then again, I never thought I was predestined to be a crip, so I guess it all worked out. We got JoJo in 1992. I had just started having unexplainable symptoms in my legs and for some reason I thought "I want a dog". I had always said I didn't want a dog because they tie you down... well, it's a great thing that I changed my mind. But I had to then convince Rick that he wanted a dog too. I almost tricked him into going to the place where I knew there were puppies thinking he couldn't say no to those little faces. But I thought better of it and so we discussed... and discussed... and discussed! Rick was not an easy sell. That is until a friend from work brought in her new schnauzer puppy for him to see... and she wasn't even a co-conspirator. As I thought, seeing a puppy fac...

Since JoJo was my first dog as an adult (I had dogs when I was a kid, the hubby didn't), we had no clue on anything. Housebreaking, training, chewing, it was all a big unknown for us. So we bought this GREAT FANTASTIC book called " Super Puppy ". I recommend it to all new dog owners out there. It's concise, with 1-3 pages for each topic. I can't tell you how many of these books I've given away just so there would be more super puppies out there. Anyway, one of the areas we were most freaked about was housebreaking. We knew (from the book) to let her out often, after eating, after playing, after napping... But we were still freaked about accidents. It's funny, now accidents are nothing to us when we get a new puppy. Must be that "first child" syndrome. So, we decided one way to combat accidents was to keep JoJo with one of us at all times. If I was in the living room and she started leaving down the hallway, I'd call her back. If I ...

JoJo: female black lab mix (part golden , part blk lab , looked like a Curly-Coated Retriever ). At the time we got JoJo as a puppy, my symptoms were just starting in my legs. I had always said that I never wanted a dog because dogs were like having kids: tie you down, responsibilities, time-consuming... (of course, you don't have to save for college and don't have to worry about them getting thrown in jail at 16!). But for some reason, all of a sudden, I wanted a dog. It probably had something to do with my illness, especially because I was having to take more sick days and was sitting home alone and lonely. The timing of finding JoJo was very interesting. I had gone to see my first neurologist (a very scary proposition at the time, meant that things were serious) and the receptionist told the folks in the waiting room that her dog just had puppies and did anyone want one. I got very excited. But, alas, Rick did not want a dog. He still had the above mindset of not wanting to ...