Brook King, a former Warsaw resident and Cerebral Palsy sufferer, has launched a GoFundMe campaign to pay for the training of her new service dog, Harper.
A former Warsaw resident is looking to her old hometown for help.
“I was born three and a half months premature. I’ve been disabled since birth,” says Brooke King, a Warsaw Community High School alumni who suffers from Quadriplegic Cerebral Palsy. “I’m considered quadriplegic because me C.P. effects all my limbs. I need help with pretty much all activities.”
King relies on a service dog to assist her with day to day activities. She had a dog named Andrew who helped her during her senior year at WCHS and also in college.
“I attended Ball State University with my first dog, Andrew, and lived in the dorms,” King, who now resides in Dalton, Ga., says. “It can be challenging, but I think that I have a pretty full life.”
Now King is in need of another service animal. In some cases, people in King’s situation have access to service animals which are already trained. But the American’s with Disabilities Act grants those with disabilities the choice to train their own animals.
King has had dogs trained by programs, and she trained Andrew herself. And she likes being a part of the training. “I like doing it. It makes me feel like I have a purpose,” says King.
Harper, a six-month-old golden retriever mix, is the animal King has chosen to train. “I’ve had her for about three weeks, and we’re working on the basics,” King says.
She’d like to start training Harper as soon as possible. Training, however, takes time and money.
To help raise money for the training, King has started a GoFundMe campaign – which can be found at www.gofundme.com/helpharperhelpme. She has already raised $445 towards her $2,500 goal. “I was kind of surprised that I’ve even gotten that much this quickly,” she says.
In exchange for a donation, King makes Crazy Loom bracelets for those who help her out. “I made them for fun, but when I started this, I thought I could use these to donate,” says King.
“I’d like to start training as soon as possible. Training a service dog takes anywhere from 18 months to two years,” King says. “When you’re training service dogs: slow is fast.”
King says she’s in contact with several trainers in her area, and she’s eager to start teaching Harper more advanced obedience and task training. On her GoFundMe page, she recently announced that she’d purchased a PetSafe Spray Commander pet training collar.
“We have had it since Monday. Ms. Harper is a quick learner,” she wrote. “We will be using it to teach ‘stay’ and ‘ignore’ as well.”
The entire training process is expected to cost King around $2,000. “Any help you can give would be greatly appreciated,” she wrote.