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Three-year-old Alida Knobloch has a rare disease that requires her to be constantly connected to a 6-pound oxygen tank. This could severely curtail a child’s mobility, but thankfully, Alida has Mr. Gibbs. A golden doodle trained to carry Alida’s oxygen bottle, he has enriched her life immeasurably.
But this was not as simple as it may sound. Most service dogs do not do well with kids under the age of five:
“This hasn’t been done with a child this young. He does really well with Debbie and I, but it’s tough for him to listen to a 3-year-old.”Little Alida gets her share of training, too.
“She actually gets frustrated when he doesn’t listen,” Aaron said. “That’s what we’re working on right now – helping him understand that that is the command. And she doesn’t always speak real clearly, so it’s been tough for him.”
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