CANINES HELP DISABLED WITH EVERYDAY TASKS.

Byline: Brian Bergstein Associated Press

Forced by multiple sclerosis to use a wheelchair, Lane Phalen struggled for four years to open and close doors, pick up things that fell on the floor or go shopping.

Now she has become one of thousands of disabled Americans getting a physical and emotional lift from dogs trained to do some of the things their masters can't. A new study says such dogs can provide a measure of independence and save their masters money.

For decades, blind people have used dogs as guides. But in recent years, dogs taken from shelters have helped disabled people get in and out of bathtubs or pull their clothes on or off.

Phalen's golden retriever, named Beau, was trained by a Michigan-based organization and given to her by her husband nearly two years ago. Beau can pull her wheelchair, open and close doors with straps attached, get cans of soda out of the refrigerator and bring her a phone if there's trouble. Now Phalen believes the dog will motivate her to leave the wheelchair permanently.

``As a disabled person, I was accustomed to everybody taking care of me and the focus of activity being on me,'' said Phalen, a 40-year-old writer in suburban Hoffman Estates. ``It's very easy to slide into, `OK, just take care of me.' But since I am totally responsible for his welfare, I feel needed again.''

A two-year study in Wednesday's Journal of the American Medical Association found that service dogs improved the psychological, social and economic well-being of 48 disabled people who had asked for canine help.

With help from their dogs, people unable to walk because of MS, muscular dystrophy or brain or spinal cord injuries were able work more, deal more with other people and use public transportation more. In a few cases, the emotional lift the dogs provided even helped troubled marriages.

The study, conducted by Karen Allen of the State University of New York at Buffalo and Jim Blascovich of the University of California at Santa Barbara, found that disabled people who had a service dog for a year spent 68 percent less on hired assistants than they did before.

Allen and Blascovich said a service dog could save a disabled person more than $16,000 a year.

The disabled people in the study also needed far less help from family and friends once they began using service dogs, which are available for free from organizations supported by donations.

``That the number of unpaid assistance hours can decrease suggests that the strain on relationships between people with severe ambulatory disabilities and their loved ones will go down,'' Blascovich said.

Michael Sapp, chief operating officer of Paws With A Cause, the Byron Center, Mich., organization that trained Beau, said he hoped the study would encourage insurance companies to pay for service dogs. Sapp's organization last year trained and gave to disabled people in 38 states 177 dogs, mostly golden retrievers and Labradors from shelters.

Before getting Beau, Phalen felt vulnerable and alone in public and often grew tired from wheeling herself around. She credits the dog with allowing her to travel and visit bookstores.

``I want everybody who's disabled to have a dog,'' Phalen said. ``I don't know if it's psychological, because I expected things to be better, or what, but I needed to be more active. God, he's changed my life.''

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Photo: Lane Phalen gives her service dog Beau a scratch onhis belly in her Illinois home.

Associated Press