Best Friends
As Sayde and Dusty travel down this wonderful road to be the best working team they can, we will document
their journey. We will always be thankful to Carol for giving Dusty to us. Dusty not only alerts us to
Sayde's seizure before they happen, but also gives Sayde the feeling of being safe. I could never ever
begin to understand what a scary feeling it would be to have a seizure and when you came out of it every
thing and one around had changed. This went on for almost five years before we learned that she had a
seizure disorder.
This is Sayde's Story
My name is Connie, and this is my daughter's story. We hope that by sharing our Journey it will help
and/or comfort other parents from feeling alone. If so, than everything we have been though will not have
been in vain. If one other child can benefit from getting their own seizure alert/response dog, then
sharing Sayde's struggle with taking Dusty, her seizure alert/ response dog to school or anywhere normal
children would go was a good idea. Sayde's confidence level since she got Dusty has grown by leaps.
We started our journey before Sayde was born. A routine ultrasound on me showed that Sayde had only one
Kidney. On June 2, 93 Sayde was born in Vegreville, AB. So days after she was born she went to her first
doctor appointment. They found out that one of her Kidney did not develop, they were going to operate
to remove her nonfunctioning kidney, but tests showed that it would not harm her to leave it alone. Sayde
is six years old and she has had a tough time of it. Years later Sayde has been in hospitals for most of
her life. It would not be unusual for Sayde to be in the hospital 4 or 5 times during the winter season.
In February of 1999 Sayde was starting to get sick again and was running a fever, we gave her some Tylenol
shortly after that she started convulsions. My husband ran downstairs with her, she had two more
seizures while in my arms. My husband rushed to the hospital as I waited at home with our other two
children. This was the most frightening thing that we have ever had happened. I felt so helpless. The
next morning the doctors told me that it was nothing and just walked away. This had happened before when
we had asked question. My sister in-law had san appointment with her doctor about what had happened and
had asked him if he would see Sayde, which he agreed, So we took her out of the hospital and brought her
to Edmonton. The Dr sent us to see two other doctors, with the hope of get to the bottom of every thing.
Over the next few months Sayde saw more doctors than most five (5) year old should have to see. We found out
that she had epilepsy, a heart murmur, and a chronic sinus condition all of which were previously
undiagnosed. This tore my heart out! I blamed myself and my husband blamed himself for the longest time.
Now that we have Sayde on medication to help her with her seizures, the key is to found the right drugs
or combination of drug that work best for her. We are still working with her doctors on getting the best
ones for her, so that Sayde can have a more normal life (What ever that may be). Sayde's aunt Debbie has
a service/assistance dog named Smokey, who was our biggest aid in alerting to the seizure before they
happened. Sayde has tried for quite a while to get her Aunt to let her have Smokey. When ever she was
feeling afraid and lonely, she needed to go to spend time with her aunt and Smokey. Sayde's aunt Debbie
always said she would love to give Sayde her own Smokey. In the fall of 1999, Sayde's aunt was offered
Dusty and she took her with the hope that Dusty would be able to alert to Sayde's seizure before they
happened just like Smokey The first meeting of Sayde and Dusty was so very funny. Sayde looked from Dusty
to Smokey and back again a few times and very proudly said My seizure dog. There was no changing her mind.
Dusty seamed to know that Sayde needed her because the bond between them started from the first
time they saw each other. Dusty was her dog and She told everyone that was her dog. Sayde was
having a hard time with her seizures and medication, so she was always wanting to be with Dusty,
she would come over even if was just to take a nap. Dusty was still at her aunt's so she could be
trained. Sayde got sick with tonsillitis and spiked a fever, so she went spend the night with
Dusty. We had at that time seen signs of Dusty detecting the seizures before they happened. We
had already decided to start letting Dusty go home with Sayde at first just for over night. We had
told Sayde that it was not time for Dusty to stay and she would have to come back to auntie's.
Sayde took Dusty home for there first weekend The first day Sayde slept most of the day and Dusty
was right with her. That night Sayde spiked a fever and had a seizure Dusty went and licked Sayde's
dads face until he woke up and then took him to Sayde. That for us was the biggest factor for not
breaking them up, because now we knew that Dusty can and did alert to seizures. Sayde was hard to
convince that Dusty could stay. The only way Sayde would believe that Dusty was her That was what
was needed and I have never seen Sayde so happy. She now had the one thing she wanted the most,
her own seizure dog. We have noticed that since Sayde got Dusty she has her confidence back. I can
never tell you how much comfort and relief Dusty has given us. the first time in almost two years,
my husband and I can actually sleep at night knowing that if Sayde has a seizure Dusty will
alert us. Dusty barks to let us know, we go check on Sayde and praise Dusty.
The Bill of Sale
I, Debbie, of Smokey's Assistance Dogs Foundation, in the City of Edmonton Province of Alberta, in
consideration of Always Loving and care for One Service dog, One Penny to be paid by Sayde
Jamie the receipt of which is hereby acknowledged, do hereby Have access and the use of the following:
One Canine Service Dog
Breed: Norwegian Elkhound
SEX: female/Spay
Name: Dusty
And I hereby covenant with the grantee that I am the lawful owner of said goods That they are free from
all encumbrance And that I will warrant and defend the same against the lawful claims and
demands of all persons. In witness, where of, I ____, here unto set my hand, this 23 day of November
1999.Sayde Debbie
I must say that Smokey's Assistance Dogs Foundation does not sell our dogs but we will all ways retain
full ownership of every dog that we train. This was done so that we could make Sayde
believe that we would not take her dog away from her she was very afraid that this would happen, Smokey's
Assistance Dogs Foundation also does not charge our clients for services, but we do charge
an admiration fee. Carol has passed on Dusty's home page so everyone can see pictures of Dusty's as a
puppy and all her friends Sayde when to the Edmonton Kennel Club Dog Show and Obedience Trail and after
watching the Obedience Trail, Sayde wants her and Dusty to do that. So now they are working on their
Obedience skills, Service Dog skills, and most important one Dusty will be trained to Stop
Sayde from Bolting out on the road and if she has a seizure (Sayde has Intractable Left Lobe Epilepsy)
and she can get an idea in her head she would just take off
Sayde and Dusty Page Two
Tribute to Dusty Back to the Story Index Page
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If you know of someone who would benefit from a dog like Dusty please feel free to email me
for more information at:
Copyright 2000
Smokey's Assistance Dogs Foundation
All Rights Reserved
Revised: June 26, 2005
