Lucas, Service Dog

 

 Earlier this year, my friend and artist of my own book, 'The Littlest Cock', Stephanie Webb published her very own novel. 'Lucas, Service Dog' is a true story about how she adopted and trained a Border Collie pup to become her companion, therapist, and friend. The book was written and illustrated by Stephanie herself, and highlights their lives together and how service dogs can help so many people in their day to day struggles with PSTD, mental illness, and other health related issues. 

She got Lucas from a breeder in Illinois, and it was apparent from the start that he was very special. She started training him to be her service dog immediately, and he learned so fast that had it not been for Covid, he would have been certified by the time he was six months old. Stephanie used a combination of positive reinforcement and Pavlov's training techniques to teach Lucas basic commands and behaviors to help her manage her PSTD and Fibromyalgia. Lucas goes with her everywhere and keeps her calm when she has anxiety or panic issues, and when she has a lot of pain from the Fibro, he will retrieve things for her and keep her relaxed. 

This story highlights all the many ways Lucas helps Stephanie, and helps to teach a younger audience the importance of service animals and why they need to be respected for the jobs they do. It also teaches kids how to interact with service dogs, such as knowing when it is and isn't okay to pet them. Lucas gets rewarded for a job well done with playtime with kids when Stephanie gives him the okay, and boy does he love it!

I recommend this book for the message and story, as well as the beautiful heartfelt artwork Stephanie put into it to show the world how much Lucas means to her. It's available on Amazon.

Stay weird everyone, and Happy New Year!