ATREJ + I

Atrej and I became a team in May 2019. He is my right-hand man, my mobility service dog and my best friend. This is the story of how Atrej entered my life.

In 2017 I began my journey toward having a four-legged friend that would be able to help me with some of the simple tasks that Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA) had caused me to lose the ability to do. Tasks like picking up my phone when I dropped it and helping me open and close doors (an attempt to stop destroying the paint on every door as I opened and closed doors with my metal footrest at the time). I applied to non-profit service dog schools as I knew purchasing a fully trained service dog was not in my budget. After a year of not moving any closer to the top of the list signalling my turn, I began to research purchasing a service dog.

My friend Justine’s best friend Adri happened to know of a new school opening in Edmonton called Aspen Service Dogs that would be training service dogs. Adri put me in contact with the head trainer for the school, Maria, a woman with over 20 years of experience training service dogs and my process of applying for one of their dogs began. I told Maria I wanted a standard poodle so it wouldn’t shed while also asking for a girl if possible. The first time we met, Maria showed up with a beautiful yellow English Labrador named Atrej. The second he entered the dorm I was living in and was taken off leash, he went straight to my bedroom. On the floor, he found the lip chap I had dropped that morning and hadn’t had a way to pick it up as my caregiver wouldn’t be back for another ten hours. Atrej proudly strutted over to me and gently placed the lip chap on my lap. I was in love with him from that moment on. Maria knew we were meant for each other after reviewing my personality traits, lifestyle and needs, but even she couldn’t believe the instant bond Atrej had with me.

Atrej had six months of training left when I met him and thus became the longest wait of my life!