Paws for a cause

Deepa Bharath

Dusty Brandom’s eyes light up when he talks about “the dog.”

For more than two years, it’s been the 11-year-old boy’s dream to

have a service dog.

Now, after three years on a waiting list, Dusty will be getting a

dog in January.

“He can be with me all the time,” said the Lincoln Elementary

School sixth-grader, who was diagnosed with Duchenne muscular

dystrophy when he was 6.

The disease gradually weakens the skeletal or voluntary muscles --

those in the arms, legs and trunk. By the early teens, or even

earlier, it also begins to affect the heart and respiratory muscles,

which is why it can be fatal.

Dusty looks at the dog as a companion to help make life a little

bit smoother for him.

“He could be my friend,” he said.

But Dusty and his family know that the dog, donated by Ralphs

supermarkets and trained by Canine Assistants in Georgia, is going to

be more than a friend.

The dog, which Dusty will bring home after two weeks of training

in Alpharetta, Ga., will do everything from opening doors and picking

up stuff off the floor to getting help in emergency situations.

The dog will even pick up the phone and turn light switches on or

off.

Dusty became dependent upon his wheelchair last year. That has not

deterred him or broken his spirit, his aide Shawn Greenfield said.

“He became so popular because kids love to see something

different,” he said. “They’d want to ride his wheelchair, but of

course, we can’t let them do that.”

Dusty seemed fine through early childhood, his mother Catherine

Brandom said.

“But we started to notice that he wasn’t walking right,” she said.

“In spite of that he has always been and continues to be a happy

kid.”

By age 10, Dusty stopped walking altogether. But his parents had

applied for the service dog even when he was 8, because they knew

that sooner or later, their son wouldn’t be able to walk.

“We kept following up with Canine Assistants every six months,”

his mother said. “And suddenly one day we got this thing in the mail

that Dusty will be getting the dog.”

Ralphs Grocery Co. and Milk-Bone, a trademark of Kraft Foods, will

pay for the dog as well as its lifelong veterinary care, she said.

Canine Assistant dogs are usually rescued puppies or young adult

dogs raised at the organization’s training facility in Georgia,

according to a company news release.

Training for each dog takes about 18 months and costs close to

$10,000.

More than 500 people are on a waiting list to receive one of these

dogs.

As for Dusty, he can’t wait until January.

The boy with blond hair and a permanent smile is not lacking

friends, his teacher Claire Ratfield said.

“But this dog, knowing what a heart this child has, is going to

magnify his sensitivity,” she said. “It’s going to expand his

universe.”

Dusty is already popular among his peers for his songwriting

abilities and the way he can play his electric guitar.

His 9-year-old brother, Lucas, says he is relieved his brother is

getting the dog, because he won’t have to pick up things or run up

the stairs to fetch something for him anymore.

“Well, right now ... ,” Lucas paused and then continued with a

smile: “I’m like the dog.”