My mom raises puppies for Canine Companions and is on her third puppy now. Back when I was still nearby my mom, I would often take the dog out for walks or take it to the store with me, and upon seeing the puppy wearing its tiny little service dog cape, people would always ask how we could bear to give them up, and with our first puppy, A Black Lab puppy named Raven, we weren't really sure.
Fast-forward to 18 months later and the dreaded day finally came to give her back. She had become a part of our family and dropping her off hurt. Fast-forward months and months later and we were at her graduation, where we got to see her one more time, since we knew the family that was taking her actually lived across the country in New Jersey which initially bummed us all out a bit.
Once the ceremony started, they started playing little clips of the matchmaking and training process that she had been going through over that last month, and we all lost it. I forgot what the particular disease the boy had, but it had severely limited his mobility/motor skills, and, to an extent, his mental development. But the look of love in his and our Ray-Ray's (my nickname for her) eyes was the most touching thing I have ever witnessed in my entire life. Watching them go through there training/bonding exercises was like they had been best friends forever, and it was hard thinking that this was the dog who once had an affinity for running toilet paper through the house whenever the opportunity arose.
It was then when we realized that she had a much higher purpose than just being our pet. She was this boys new life companion and best friend. That is when it stopped hurting so much when thinking we may never see her again, and why today I'm still proud to say I was part of that. There really is something amazing about dogs that give them the capacity for compassion that I think is unmatched in the rest of the animal kingdom, and I think your video really shows that. You can tell, the dog in the video isn't looking for a treat, or really even a scratch behind the ear, its love and understanding for the child, and is the reason the entire time I've been writing this I've been holding back tears.
I didn't get as much of a chance to spend time with their second puppy Glenna and have been in out here in Texas since they got their third Fergie, but heres a pic of me and our TP bandit, Ray-Ray:
