Success Stories
Devia and Lily

I remember when I first heard of New Life Mobility Assistance Dogs Organization. Immediately I wondered if an assistance dog would be something for me. The spinal cord injury that I sustained left me with an incomplete C5-6 break (in the neck area). Since I can't grasp items very tightly, they quite often get dropped. I knew a dog could help retrieve items I drop during the day without having to rely on stopping a stranger and asking for help.

The first time I saw Lily I fell in love with her. It took about one minute to decide that she was the dog that I would want to be my Assistance Dog. I only hoped that Karen Brown (Founder of NLMAD) thought that we would make a suitable match. Within a couple of days from my visit to the training center I received a phone call from Karen stating she thought Lily and I would make a good match. I was filled with excitement and joy. Lily and I have only been working together for about three and a half weeks, but within that short amount of time, we have gone from simple sit, retrieve, and heeling exercises to complicated outings in public buildings. Lily used to want to play with cats, but she is getting better about ignoring them and paying attention to me. Every week her obedience gets better.

Lily wants to do things for me all the time. On several occasions she has picked items off the floor or the couch and brought them to me with no prompting. She did it because she wants and likes to do things for me. When I am working on my computer she often checks on me and then will go back and lay down in her favorite spot. It is always such a thrill for me to find something she can do that we have never worked on or she picks up on immediately. She knows that she has done something new and is proud of herself for accomplishing the task.

The first time Jackie (my sister) and I took her shopping Lily behaved far better than either of us expected. She walked right beside me and had no interest to do anything but be there to help me. She performed several tasks and then we went home. I was so proud of Lily that day. I look forward to the many times when Lily and I can go someplace and experience new things together. The training that Lily received at NLMAD must have been fantastic, because I had to do very little work with Lily to get her to follow my commands.

A huge "Thank you" is overdue to everyone that was/is involved in the training of Lily, my Assistance Dog, and also to First Baptist Church, Methodist Church, Lions Club, VFW, and High Country First in Families who helped me raise enough money through their donations to purchase Lily. I should call and "Thank everyone" every day, because Lily provides an immeasurable amount of help, assistance, and love to me.

I want to thank everyone involved with the NLMAD Organization and to you the generous contributors who donated to me. If there were no donations, I certainly would have not been able to receive an Assistance dog.

Warm Regards,
Devia Eller