Service dog sidekicks…or are they the heroes? (Plus a giveaway!)
As a veterinarian I’ve had the privilege of tending many exceptional medical alert and seeing-eye dogs over the years. These dogs change lives by enabling their person to thrive. Each is fascinating in his or her specialties such as one of my patients, a Labrador named Raven, who can sniff out a dangerous drop in his seven year-old person’s blood sugar, a gift that saved this boy from countless seizures. And the Golden Retriever, Chip, who senses when his mom is about to have a seizure.
These are super powers. They’re real, not fictional.
Beyond their super power and years of intense training, each dog develops a profound dedication to their person. Years ago, I spent many office visits helping a college student treat her seeing-eye dog’s skin allergies. She was one of the most conscientious pet owners I’ve ever helped, taking meticulous notes on her braille recorder at each visit to provide the best care for her little Labrador mix. Bella was her lifeline. Without Bella she couldn’t attend classes or live her life. One day, a few days after a visit when we felt we were finally winning with Bella’s allergies, she and Bella were at a bus stop waiting for her ride to school. A drunk driver swerved. Bella jumped in front of the car, pushing her mom out of the way to safety. Bella gave her life to save her mom’s. Beyond how much my heart hurts whenever I think about this beautiful dog, no words can express how humbled I am by her. Tears always cloud my eyes when I reflect on Bella’s love for her mom.
Now we are finally seeing these under-the-radar superheroes appear in books. I paid homage to a seizure alert dog, Gump, in my newest contemporary romance, Ask Me To Game. Of course, he’s not only a life-saving working dog, but also he makes an exceptional wingman to our hero, Michael in charming Emma. So Gump might be a bit of a bed hog. And he might like to sit on the toes of the people he likes. He’s an adorable doofus who makes me just want to give him a giant squeeze.
When we read these characters with their soulful brown eyes and mysterious, almost magical, abilities to make their person’s life livable, we can’t help but allow that furry creature to steal the show just a little bit… okay, maybe a lot.
Service dogs are amazing. They do such important work.
Patricia Potter has a relatively new series where (rescue-) dogs play a major role (Covenant Falls series). They are Harlequin Superromances.
I love stories that have animals in pro-active roles. They can provide affection, comic relief, support, guidance, safety, and protection among other things. I am especially drawn to military and police K-9 stories, but ones that truly explain the training and the bonding process dog and handler experience are few and far between. That training and bonding must be ongoing, and that is often overlooked in novels about K-9s too. However, Donna Ball has written some good books about rescue dogs, and Margaret Mizushima has a wonderful series about a K-9 officer and her dog that is set in Colorado.
I recently did a binge read of Mary Balogh’s Survivor’s Club series, which was wonderful. The 2nd story is about a young Viscount Hunt who was blinded in the Napoleonic wars. When he meets Sophia Fry he offers her a marriage of convenience after he inadvertently gets her thrown out of her relative’s home where she worked as a servant. She helps Vincent expand his world and challenges him to do things he never thought he could do. She helps him train a dog to be what we call today a service dog. I think this is the only historical romance I have read that features a service dog. I would love to know if there are others.
My mom has advanced dementia and one of the few times she responds is when the therapy dogs visit her facility. Dogs are the best!
Thank you so much for the post! This is something I didn’t know I wanted/needed to read in romances until now. But now it’s lit a spark in me to read books with this theme, so thank you very much! I think it will help me get over the book slump I’m currently in. Thank you to all the other commenters for their book suggestions as well! There are already several books I want to read. I’m excited to try something new instead of sticking with just my tried-and-true authors.
I’m in awe of how much animals can do to make human life better. I have three beloved dogs, two spoiled cats, and two adored horses and cannot imagine life without them. I’ve never worked with service dogs, but my older horse is a therapy horse that works with people with PTSD. He was even featured a few years ago in a CNN story, as he worked with a young amputee struggling to get her confidence back after a terrible injury. It literally brings tears to my eyes when I see the impact one animal can have on a person’s emotional and physical well-being. I wish animals were incorporated even more into our world than they are today.
Wow! Thanks for sharing your amazing animal stories.
“I wish animals were incorporated even more into our world than they are today.” I don’t know if this would be of interest to you, but there is an upcoming science fiction anthology called “Multispecies Cities,” which was funded by the Research Institute for Humanity and Nature in Kyoto, Japan. The call for submissions earlier this year encouraged science fiction writers to create futuristic stories where plants and animals are integrated into daily life rather than stories where people exercise dominion over them. The complete expired call is here if you are interested in reading about the project: https://www.worldweaverpress.com/submit-anthologies.html. World Weaver Press, a small indie SF publisher in Albuquerque, NM will publish it, although they haven’t given a date yet. Their other anthologies, particularly their optimistic Solarpunk ones, are worth reading as well.
I have cats, and love reading about pets, dogs and cats, in novels. I loved Lucy Gilmore’s first two books in her series with service dogs.
As a proud mom of 2 rescue pups, I really enjoy romances that include dogs. Catch of the Day by Kristan Higgins, a romance with a senior dog made me cry. Just loved that book.
I recently read Orion by Raeah Wilding which features a wonderful retired military service dog. Excellent book. Barbara Metzger often had wonderfully eccentric servants and hilarious pet dogs in her stories.
Sounds like you have a winner here, Zoe. Thank you for posting and best of luck to you as an author. People who train service dogs are amazing, and I envy them the emotional rewards that come with the job because . . . . dogs! (I’m a cat person whose is friends with a dog trainer. :-)
Lucy Gilmore’s Forever Home series (about three sisters who run a service dog training faculty) is the best. Beautifully done and researched.
While I haven’t read any romances (that I immediately recall) with a service dog as a sidekick, I did enjoy Katie Ruggles series of books about K-9 units that began with “Run To Ground”. I also dearly love Lisa Kleypas’s novel “Love In The Afternoon” with Albert the adorable canine companion of Christopher and fellow “soldier” who is finally recognized with a medal.
I am also glad to see more and more service dogs everywhere I go from stores to theme parks and that they have become a welcomed part of everyday life and business.
I don’t have a service dog tag but I do have:
Dogs: https://allaboutromance.com/review-tag/dogs/
Disability: https://allaboutromance.com/review-tag/disability
Blind
https://allaboutromance.com/review-tag/blind