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Service dog’s presence improves family’s life

A golden retriever helps 6-year-old  girl, who is  mentally disabled.

Video: Video: Bayleigh meets Delaney

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By Doug Page, Staff Writer Updated 8:25 PM Sunday, June 14, 2009

ENGLEWOOD — A measure of freedom and normalcy came to the Eckert family three months ago in the form of a golden retriever.

“It’s such a relief. It’s like a weight has been lifted from my shoulders,” Ashley Eckert said, as Delaney lay panting in the shade of an oak tree while 6-year-old Bayleigh and 2-year-old Bryce ran in their fenced backyard. The pup was off-duty, acting just as any dog would after a romp in the summer sun.

On-duty, Delaney is Bayleigh’s service dog. Her job is to assist, comfort and protect Bayleigh.

Delaney was trained by 4 Paws for Ability, a Xenia nonprofit group that has trained about 400 service dogs in nearly two decades. The dogs have had 400 to 600 hours of training, depending on the level of service needed. Ashley and her husband, Cory, raised $13,000 to pay for Delaney’s training.

“Her willingness to please, her ability to handle a loud meltdown is why Delaney was matched with Bayleigh,” said Jeremy Dulebohn, 4 Paws training director.

It’s not easy  being Bayleigh

Bayleigh was diagnosed with brain damage when she was 15 months old. The left and right sides of her brain do not communicate. This makes it difficult for her to communicate with the world, to absorb and process all the stimuli, her mother said.

“She can’t just go outside and play,” Ashley said. “We have to watch her every minute.”

“These kids are real good at escaping,” said Karen Shirk, founder of 4 Paws. And while Bayleigh may be adept at hiding from mom or dad, she is no match for a trained tracking dog, one of Delaney’s specialties, Shirk said.

Unable to understand, startled by loud noises and strange voices, frustrated by the constraining hands of parents, Bayleigh reacts with epic meltdowns.

Which, perhaps, is why Bayleigh’s face changes when she sees the harness.

“She knows she’ll have 66-pounds dragging her around,” Ashley said as she stroked the golden retriever’s ear.

Once Delaney has her service dog harness on, Bayleigh puts on her pink canvas fishing vest. Bayleigh is then attached to Delaney by a 4-foot lead.

Bayleigh no longer needs to be in her mother’s or father’s grasp. She’s attached to Delaney, who follows the lead of the parents.

Grocery shopping is no longer an ordeal of trying to calm a screaming Bayleigh and withstanding the glares of other shoppers. Instead, Bayleigh walks the aisles with her family. If Ashley stops, then Delaney lays down. Bayleigh isn’t wandering any farther than 4 feet from her canine anchor.

That doesn’t seem to bother Bayleigh.

“Parents have an agenda. The dog doesn’t have an agenda,” Shirk explained. The child sees the dog more as a friend, playmate and ally.

But it’s vigilant work for the dog.

“She’s worn out after a trip to the store,” Ashley said.

She and her husband, Cory, make sure Delaney has plenty of down time. When Bayleigh is in school, Delaney lies on the floor at home sleeping, sometimes putting up with the attentions of Bryce.

“Bayleigh hasn’t had a meltdown in public since we’ve had Delaney,” Ashley said in a quiet voice. “I took my children for a walk the other day. That’s the first time I’ve ever done that by myself.”

And people don’t look at the Eckerts anymore as if they were bad parents because their daughter was in the midst of a meltdown in the grocery store.

Now they see a calm, smiling 6-year-old in a pink vest harnessed to Delaney delighting in the world.

“I don’t feel like a prisoner any more, and Bayleigh is becoming more independent,” Ashley said.

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