Angela Plasteras

What Started With a Dropped Pencil Became a Lifetime With Dog Guides

My name is Angela, and Lions Foundation of Canada Dog Guides has been part of my life since I got my first Service Dog Guide in 2001.

At the age of 13, I had no idea how much of an impact a Dog Guide would make on my life.  I just thought it would be amazing not to have to ask kids in my class to pick up my pencil.

Boy was I wrong ...

My first Dog Guide was Yogi, a beautiful Chocolate Lab.  With him by my side, I was the “kid with the dog” in school.  Kids would come up to me and talk, rather than stare.

“I like your dog,” they’d say.

Four little words.  Who knew they could be so powerful?

I used to think the biggest thing a Dog Guide would do was help me with a dropped pencil.

But one dropped pencil became so much more than that.

It became Yogi walking beside me in the hallways.

It became kids coming up to me to talk, rather than stare.

It became me being known as “the kid with the dog.”

It became the beginning of a life with Dog Guides.

In 2010, I was matched with a Black Lab named Digby.  I still remember the day he came bounding into my room at the Oakville training facility and nearly knocked me over with kisses and affection.  That day, that moment, sparks flew.  Magic happened, and there was something between us that, to this day, I can’t put into words.

It was a bond, yes, but also something deeper — an unspoken love that did not need spoken language to understand.  It was just between us.  He often knew what I needed before I did.

Most recently, in December of 2019, I was matched with a Black Lab named Ella.  She is clever, mischievous, and an overachiever when it comes to helping me and anticipating what I might need next.  She is extremely attentive and is always “monitoring” me, often picking up on things like anxiety and sickness before I even know there’s a problem.

She is my “forever puppy” and a constant source of comic relief.

Each of my Dog Guides represents a different time in my life, and each has brought something unique — something purely and distinctly “them” — to my life.

I have had a Dog Guide faithfully beside me for longer than I have not.  If asked what my life was like before, honestly, I have very little memory of “life before Dog Guides.”

But what I do remember is that life was a daily struggle — just to do the simplest of tasks, like picking up a pencil.  Something so small and insignificant for most people.

I was afraid to ask people for help because I didn’t want to be a bother or a burden.  I didn’t want to “stick out” more than I felt I already was.

Yogi was the key to changing that.

To me feeling more “able” instead of “dis”-abled.

To me being just the “kid with the dog” instead of “the kid in the wheelchair.”

What started with a dropped pencil became a life with Dog Guides. It led me from Yogi, to Digby, to Ella.  And now, all these years later, I am walking so someone else can experience what a Dog Guide can make possible.

I will be forever grateful to Lions Foundation of Canada Dog Guides.  I am moved to tears most times — not an exaggeration — thinking about the scale at which they have transformed my life for the better.

This year, I am participating in the Pet Valu Walk for Dog Guides to support the organization that changed my life through Yogi, Digby, and Ella.  They urgently need support to continue their life-changing work, and every donation helps protect the future of Dog Guide partnerships for people who need them.

Yogi, Digby, Ella, and I would be so very grateful for your support. ❤️