Paws-in-Service

A reporter once said "For his first 36 years Rick Frame led a wonderfully ordinary life"

And for the most part that was true. Rick graduated high school and then college, had a successful career and a house in the suburbs, everything was... wonderfully ordinary. Until one fateful day when everything would change.

It was a beautiful sunny Sunday morning in November of 1999, Rick and a friend had arranged to meet for breakfast and then a leisurely Sunday ride. That morning he kissed Diann good bye and told her he would be back in a few hours. He put on his jacket, grabbed his helmet and headed out the door not knowing 20 minutes later he would be in an ambulance being rushed to a level one trauma hospital. He had been hit by a car on the highway and knocked over the side of a bridge. He would spend the next two months in ICU, the next year in the hospital and the rest of his life in a wheelchair.

Rick left home that one fateful morning and didn't return home for a year. When he did return home he knew that a service dog would not only be a benefit but a necessity and he began applying for a service dog. It wasn't long until he learned that the major service dog training schools considered him "too disable" and were more concerned with their legal liability than his well-being. He started looking into smaller schools and was lucky to find one locally that was not only willing to but capable of training a dog for his unique needs.

The drawback to using a smaller school was they don't have the financial support the larger ones do. This means he would be responsible for the cost of the dog and the training. These costs would total $15,000. All of this would have to be raised through donations.

After two years of training Baxter went to work as Rick's service dog in 2003. He turned out to be a fantastic service dog and accompanied Rick everywhere he went, to the mall, restaurants, the zoo, doctors offices and even the hospital. The bulk of Baxter's training and his main job was to make sure Rick was able to breathe. Because of Rick's high level of paralysis he needs help to cough to clear his throat and if someone's not around to help him then it was up to Baxter. If Rick can't clear his throat it can become very difficult for him to breathe and when this happened Baxter would push on his chest to help clear his throat.

In May of 2010 Baxter was diagnosed with cancer and in June he passed away. Rick was devastated and has had to have 24-hour care since. To regain the independence that Baxter gave him Rick has had to start the process of finding a new service dog again. The cost of course is going to be substantial but you can help by making a donation to help cover the cost of a new service dog. Click To Donate

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