Angel watches over Seth, a boy whose life is now much better
Published: April 20, 2006
If ever there was a dog that lived up to her name, Angel is it.
Last May, the 3-year-old golden retriever came to live with the Prieto family of Ahwatukee Foothills to work as an assistance dog for Seth. The 5-year-old middle child was born with a rare syndrome called Trisomy 22 and needed extra care.
Lisa Prieto said the condition has left her son with several severe physical challenges, including cortical visual impairment and a heart defect that has required three open-heart surgeries.
Although Lisa, 27, and her husband, Mark, 27, tried to give Seth all of the attention they could, she admits there were times when they were busy with their other sons - Emmett, 3, and Bradley, 7 - that Seth would need to be alone for brief periods.
“The biggest thing for me and my husband is that we felt bad that Seth had to entertain himself sometimes,” Lisa said. “We wanted someone who had nothing else to do but keep him company. That’s our biggest thing.”
While attending a parent group for children with heart defects, Mark and Lisa picked up literature on the Make-A-Wish Foundation. The couple contacted the organization, requested an assistance dog for Seth, and their request was approved.
Through the help of Power Paws Assistance Dogs, a Scottsdale-based organization, Angel joined the Prieto family.
Lisa said Angel and Seth are virtually inseparable now.
“She does a very good job,” she said. “She snuggles against him and he leans up against her and likes to rub his feet against her.”
Angel has already helped to make a marked difference in Seth’s physical abilities. Lisa said her son can now sit up on his own, and he shows a keen interest in trying to get to Angel.
“He reaches out for her now - he never reached out before,” she said. “For a child like Seth it’s the little things that are really huge.”
Angel also accompanies Seth when he goes to preschool at the Foundation for Blind Children in Chandler, where the teachers use the dog to help Seth do his physical therapy.
“They’ll say, ‘Reach for Angel’ and he will stand and hold onto her cape,” Lisa said.
Because Seth cannot speak, Angel has had to learn to respond to commands from other people, which Lisa said is very unusual for an assistance dog.
“Seth is the person that she serves but he doesn’t give her any commands,” she said.
With the help of Seth’s teachers at the Foundation, Angel is even learning to respond to tape-recorded commands. Lisa said his teachers have recorded simple requests such as “Angel, sit” on a special recording device called a switch.
mands by himself.
Watching her son lean contentedly against Angel, Lisa said she could not be happier with the newest addition to their family.
“I love her, I really do. I think she has so much potential for the future, just like I think he does.”
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