INNISFAIL –Jeslyn Ramsay’s best friend for the past two years has been four-year-old Stanley.
The nineteen-year-old Innisfail High School graduate depends on Stanley for many needs just for daily living.
Ramsay has been living since birth with muscular dystrophy; defined as a group of diseases that cause progressive weakness and loss of muscle mass.
Stanley is a registered task-trained service dog that assists Ramsay with many necessary functions in and out of home, such as fetching items off the ground for her or tugging doors open or coat sleeves.
The canine companion is also trained to press buttons on automatic doors and will bark when necessary to get attention from other people, or if there's an emergency.
“He provides me with a lot of independence. I feel comfortable going out,” said Ramsay, who is entering her first year of university studies. “I always used to be worried about people coming up to ask me questions, and now that the attention is more on him.”
“I'm super happy to answer questions about him.”
On Aug. 15 at the Innisfail Library/Learning Centre Ramsay gave her first public presentation about the miraculous changes in her life with Stanley.
She was one of a trio of educational animal presenters for the public library’s First Annual Summer Program Wrap Up Party.
The full-day event also included Staff Sgt. Steve Pike of the region’s RCMP Police Dog Service Training Centre, and Ley-Anne Mountain of Naturally Nurtured who presented with a pair of therapy bunnies.
“The theme this year for our summer program was Tales and Tails. The kids read lots of stories about different animals, different habitats, and they had adventures outside. They were zookeepers,” said library manager Amy Ramsay, adding the summer sessions had high registration every Tuesday and Thursday.
“I didn't know what to expect being in the summertime. A lot of people could still be away on holidays,” added Amy. “But I'm really happy with the outcome, and I know there's people who learnt a lot from each of the presentations today.”
And she took special note of daughter Jeslyn, who gave her first public presentation with Stanley.
“I am very proud of her,” said Amy.
The all-day event, which included a food truck and children’s activities, began with a morning presentation from Mountain, who brought two Flemish Giant therapy bunnies. The breed is recognized as the world’s largest domestic rabbit.
Her organization’s therapy bunny program has been a popular attraction for Innisfail and area schools for the past 14 years.
On Aug. 15 they were once again a big hit for young attendees at the Summer Program Wrap Up Party.
“They teach us life lessons. They're animal teachers. It is a holistic wellness approach ,” Mountain told the Albertan. “They're the magic, the ones who teach us how to be accountable for our ourselves, like our actions.
“Because of how we are around them, they respond to that, and when we are calm and authentic, animals respond to that because they feel safe,” she added. “That way they will be calm and brave and interactive because they feel safe with us.”
Pike is the program manager at the RCMP’s dog training centre.
The 24-year RCMP veteran’s presentation did not feature any live working dogs from the internationally recognized institution but Pike offered a highly detailed and informative talk on its storied history and the immense value canine members currently have for the region and all of Canada.
Following his presentation he said the institution's RCMP members try to be a part of the community as much as possible, noting many training operations are on people's lawns in Innisfail, Olds, Bowden and Sundre.
“Anytime someone in the public sees a success for an RCMP service dog the kudos go back to Central Alberta and a thank you to them for allowing us to train and do what we do,” said Pike. “We apologize for any disruption of the normal day, but we're so thankful that the people in this area are so opening.”
