- Service dogs do what is required of them like picking up objects, guiding steps, and opening doors among others.
- Donna does all these tasks but is the only one who feeds her human with a modified spoon.
- Donna is not just a service dog but a best friend and painting partner of Brascha Fischel.
Brascha Fischel has quadriplegia which limits her hand functions. But it does not stop her from creating beautiful paintings that belies her hands’ inability. And for that, she has a partner who serves as her assistant not just for her art, but in her life.
Meet her service dog, Donna.
Donna is an all-around best friend, partner, assistant, companion, and most of all, caregiver.
The cute canine assists her in picking up objects, opening doors, handing Fischel her painting materials or whatever she is asked to do in order for Fishel to finish her works of art.
Donna hilft mir beim Essen
Posted by Bracha Fischel on Monday, 21 September 2020
Fischel said, “Donna brings brushes into my mouth, as well as pencils, felt-tip pens. Everything I need to paint.”
But there is one thing that Donna does that distinguishes her from all the other service dogs— she makes meals easier and enjoyable for Fischel.
Donna helps Fischel to eat by feeding her using a modified spoon!
Fischel said, “She is apparently the first dog to learn to do this.”
Donna does this with genuine joy and that is how their friendship is: loving and caring. And even if she does these deeds as expected of her as a service dog, to Donna it is for a friend and so it is not work.
Behind the scenes of every painting that Fischel completes, there’s a beautiful partnership which collaborated. It is a result of the love and dedication for a service dog to her human and the deep appreciation and gratitude of a human to her friend.
They may have been together for less than a year but Fischel said, “We are a good team. I couldn’t do it without her.”
Source: The Dodo