Cohen and Pressley's Story

Placement | June 2015

Cohen and Pressley have passed their public access test and are officially a Service Dog Team!

Update from Cohen | April 2021

Pressley has been with me since her placement in June 2015. We have been by each other's side every since. Pressley has provided me with a "friend" to listen to all my conversations of interest - I love professional and college football, mostly the New Orleans Saints and LSU - starred in my YouTube videos, cheered me on at dance recitals, and traveled with me as I try to go to all 50 states at some point (so far we have gone to 11 together)! Pressley is my best friend. Pressley is almost 10 years old and her working abilities have become limited and we are beginning to transition her into retirement.

Pressley provided a sleep buddy to help me sleep at night and avoid roaming when "my brain would not shut off" and allow me to sleep. Pressley also provided me the opportunity to speak to people in public about a subject I was an expert on...my dog Press! This eventually led to having conversations about subjects other than Pressley which is huge for me.

As I have grown and gotten older, my needs for a service dog have transformed into being more active and having a companion to play with me, lay on me and hug me, and provide additional interactions when I have trouble controlling my feelings. I have been training with more dogs at Retrieving Freedom and feel really good about transitioning.

Check out Cohen's new service dog here: https://www.retrievingfreedom.org/blog/post/cohen-and-boo

Cohen's Story | 2014

Cohen is a kind and loving 6-year-old girl who has been recently diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder and also suffers from Verbal Apraxia, this means that she has trouble existing in routine social settings and has difficulty pronouncing her words to communicate to others.  Cohen was also born with moderate hearing loss resulting in the need for bilateral hearing aids and suffers from Growth Hormone Deficiency which results in her being much smaller than other children her age.

Because of her special needs, Cohen often feels uncomfortable in social settings and/or around groups of people other than her normal, small network of family and friends. She is happiest in routine and familiar surroundings. Cohen has an amazing ability to recall specific dates and enjoys calendars. Cohen communicates in very concrete, direct statements and we are unable to truly understand how she feels. She very often isolates herself when even a small group of people are present. At home, she often spends her time in her walk-in closet, which we refer to as her safe haven. We feel a “companion” that is “hers” would increase Cohen’s overall happiness in life. We also feel the calming effect of this wonderful companion would help her in social settings and even promote conversations and interaction between Cohen and other kids and adults. Cohen has attended Magnolia Speech since age 1 and during that time the school has obtained a “companion” dog to help with all the children who attend. Once we saw the positive effect “Obie” had on Cohen, we began searching for information on getting Cohen her very own companion at home and to travel with her to help with everyday tasks that can be very uncomfortable for her.

We have watched Cohen work very hard for how far she has come. We have seen outbursts of anger and frustration, heard contagious laughs when everything is going well, and everything in between. As a parent, it is difficult to watch your child struggle but it is devastating to not understand how they are feeling and what is going through their minds when they can not tell you. We hope that a Service Dog would help provide that certainty that Cohen felt safe, loved, and comfortable.