The Amazing Work of Service Dogs – Meet Wendy Morrell
As you’ve been hearing, I’m working on a new project about therapy dogs. Therapy dogs provide an amazing service to people in need by providing cheer and companionship. Service dogs fill a different role — while they clearly provide emotional support, they have been diligently trained to provide specific skills for disabled people — helping them shop, picking up things for them, opening doors, etc. And service dogs open more doors than just those to the front of the house or the laundry machine — they help people regain independence by making daily tasks easier to accomplish. Wendy Morrell is an amazing lady who also opens doors for the disabled — working tirelessly to make certain that disabled individuals with service dogs are permitted access to places everyone else goes.
Wendy Morrell has had a colorful life – teacher, archer, and pilot. You might be surprised to learn that this accomplished lady suffered a sports injury in 1989 while trying out for the British archery team that resulted in her being confined to a wheelchair. Her own recovery was aided by Caesar, a Golden Retriever registered assistance (service) dog. Together, they are a well known advocate team for the disabled and the important role of registered dogs for people with disabilities. This team works tirelessly to help Wendy fulfill her role as European Vice President for the International Association of Assistance Dog Partners.
Caesar was trained through Dogs for the Disabled. The Dogs for the Disabled website states that they train dogs to help disabled people “achieve greater independence.” Wendy and Caesar have become important role models showing the world that barriers to the disabled are made to be broken. Together, Wendy and Caesar have dined in the House of Commons and on Capitol Hill. They broke ground by helping to open transportation on Eurostar through the Chunnel to people accompanied by assistance dogs. Caesar was also the first dog to attend Wimbledon. More recently, they carried the 2008 Olympic torch across London Bridge on its trip to the Beijing Olympics.
2 Responses to “The Amazing Work of Service Dogs – Meet Wendy Morrell”
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Thank you so much Dawn for this post and the link at the end! Everyone should check the interview out and will definitely be, like you said, blown away!
The work Wendy does IS truly amazing. She always strikes me as so humble, that I’m not sure she knows how many lives she touches so deeply. She’s an inspiration to us all and I’m blessed to be able to include and share a bit of her amazing journey!