Service Dog Is Honored With Yearbook Photo

[Hum]

Texas middle school student Rachel Benke was lucky enough this year to have her seventh-grade yearbook photo appear right next to that of her best friend ? a Labrador-golden retriever mix named Taxi. An epilepsy service dog who can predict the onset of seizures, Taxi has been by Rachel?s side for four years, and her mom thought it only right that he be allowed to remain there in the yearbook, too.

?Last year when their yearbooks came out, I said, ?Hey, where's Taxi?s picture?' But I was kind of joking," Rachel?s mom, Teresa Benke, tells Yahoo Shine. This year, Teresa ? who attends picture day every year with her daughter, because Rachel?s condition makes it difficult for her to make eye contact and smile for the camera ? really made it happen. ?After Rachel?s picture, I said, ?OK, Taxi?s turn,?? she says. And lo and behold, the photographer went for it, taking a quick snap of the handsome dog.

 

Because of her early seizures, 14-year-old Rachel is developmentally more of a 6- or 7-year-old, her mom explains. And while she can sometimes go months without a seizure, she can also suffer up to several in one week. It?s why Taxi ? who flunked out of Seeing Eye training because of a ?cat-distraction problem,? Teresa says, only to be retrained as an epilepsy service dog ? has been such a godsend.

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[DocM]

Awwww.... (sucker for dog stories)

And Taxi deserves to be there.

[FiB3R]

lol @ ?cat-distraction problem?

 

I have a similar issue, shall we say, a ##### predisposition :whistle: :rofl: