We regret to announce that Preston has passed away from Lymphoma, but Alex and his Mom had some sentiments to share about their time with him.
“Alex’s socialization as a youngster was so dramatically enhanced with Preston at his side, that there is insufficient page length to detail all the ways that Preston’s supported and shaped Alex’s sense of self. Preston’s service, as an ambassador to everyday life activities empowered Alex to try new things and persevere through many challenging situations, ultimately giving Alex an amazing level of acceptance into our social and verbal society, for which he clearly would have been a constant outsider without ‘his dog’. Through our experiences traveling and living with a NEADS ‘Social Dog’, we have learned how a well trained service dog (selected for his temperament and ability to complete his job) is like no other tool, medical equipment, technology, companion or handicapped pass…
“Over the past 10 years, many people have asked us many questions about service dogs.
By far we have had the most practice answering this one: “What service does a ‘Social Dog’ provide?”
In the beginning it was hard to put into a few words but ultimately I have come to this conclusion: for us ‘Social Dogs’ are
ambassadors into the events of everyday life that people with disabilities would otherwise miss out on, or be ignored in awkward silences, because of difficult communication. ‘Social Dogs’ empower their people to try new things and persevere through challenging situations. Ultimately ‘Social Dogs’ are responsible for giving or giving back an amazing level of societal or social acceptance for someone who has lost or never had the ability to communicate their personal needs or desires clearly (irregardless of the underlying cause of that disability).”
