Friday John Ku – AKA – TGIF – Fri-Yay/Good News.

Today’s good news story comes from The Dodo on MSN. Here it is in its entirety.

Katie Graham and her service dog, Bailey, have been together for around four years now, and without him, her life would be vastly different.

Story by Caitlin Jill Anders

Camera Captures Incredible Moment Service Dog Goes Above And Beyond
© Katie Graham

“I suffer from an array of medical conditions, one of them being postual orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS),” Graham told The Dodo. “Bailey alerts to my rising heart rate prior to a fainting episode. This allows me enough time to sit and get in a safe position in case I do lose consciousness. Bailey will do what is called deep pressure therapy to help lower my heart rate and encourage blood flow. This helps keep me awake. He is able to retrieve medications, water, my phone, blanket, snacks, really anything you ask him to get. He seems to just know.”

Camera Captures Incredible Moment Service Dog Goes Above And Beyond

© Katie Graham

Bailey loves helping his mom and makes sure he’s right by her side whenever she needs him. When she needs help, he does everything he’s trained to do depending on the situation — and sometimes even things he isn’t trained to do.

Camera Captures Incredible Moment Service Dog Goes Above And Beyond

© Katie Graham

Recently, Graham was doing the dishes when Bailey sensed that her heart rate was rising and she might be in danger of fainting. He quickly encouraged her to sit down and grabbed her phone from the counter in case she needed to call for help. He then returned to the counter to grab her medicine, but it was too far back, and he couldn’t reach it.

That’s when Bailey did something unexpected and truly amazing. He jumped up onto the counter.

“I was surprised when he jumped on the counter, but I know in my heart he will do anything to ensure I get what I need to be okay,” Graham said. “He is very determined and does not give up. Jumping on the counter is not allowed in my house to prevent counter-surfing puppies. What Bailey did was intelligent disobedience. This means that he knows he is not allowed to jump on the counter, but he knew he absolutely had to in order to keep me safe and healthy.”

Bailey isn’t supposed to jump on the counter, but in that moment, he knew his mom needed her medicine, and that was more important than anything else. He did what he had to do in order to reach it and quickly brought it to her. Then, he opened up the fridge and got her a bottle of water to take it with.

95 thoughts on “Friday John Ku – AKA – TGIF – Fri-Yay/Good News.”

  1. This is truly amazing. What Bailey can do is amazing, of course, but think of the person(s) who trained him to be capable of such things. The best phrase in the article? “Intelligent disobedience.” Sometimes that is called for, even among humans.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. I liked that phrase too, Linda. If you think about it most advances in the human condition have been as a result of “intelligent disobedience.” We celebrate one example of that concept every July 4th. Loved your comment. 😊 Thanks.

      Liked by 1 person

  2. This is a wonderful story, John. The current series I’m writing centers around brothers who train service dogs. The work these animals perform to changes people’s lives is amazing. Thanks for sharing!

    Liked by 1 person

  3. Great story, John—they make the best of friends. I thought of your John Ku stories when I learned about No One Should Eat Alone Day (today.)

    Liked by 1 person

  4. How wonderful. I think I’m in love with Bailey.
    Dogs are special. Their love is unconditional.
    Your DogKu….. erm …… JohnKu is lovely. Thank you for this Good News, John!
    OX🐕‍🦺 OX🐕‍🦺 OX🐕‍🦺 OX🐕‍🦺
    Beautiful! There’s actually a service dog emoji.

    Liked by 1 person

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