Hi! My name is Paige Azarakhsh, and I would love your support to bring home my next service dog.

For the last 4 years, my service dog Nelson, has assisted me in navigating life with multiple rare health conditions and allowed me to remain independent. His help and our hard work together have helped me to accomplish things I would never have been able to do without his assistance. While Nelson is still working at 5 years old, he is gradually transitioning into retirement due to his emotional and physical health. Because of the training required to help a service dog reach their full potential, it takes an average of 2 years and $20,000+ to train one fully, so it’s important that I start this process as soon as I can. I was lucky enough to successfully adopt Nelson from a shelter and work with professionals to have him trained, but I plan to change things up a bit this time. I will be getting my next service dog as a puppy from a reputable breeder to increase our chance of successfully completing all of the training. The puppy's first two years will be primarily spent with our trainer in San Diego, fully immersed in exposure and building up the skills required to become a multi-purpose service dog to meet my specific needs. Any support you can provide makes a huge difference!

Background:

Service dogs are defined by the ADA as “dogs that are individually trained to do work or perform tasks for people with disabilities… The work or task a dog has been trained to provide must be directly related to the person’s disability.” Some of the tasks that Nelson currently helps me with include medical alerts, item retrieval (medication, dropped items, water, phone, etc), behavior interruptions, finding places or people, deep pressure therapy, and more. If you know me, you know that I’m much more likely to leave the house with the support of my dogs. Not only do they help keep me physically safe, but they support my emotional and psychiatric health as well.

In 2018, I was diagnosed with a form of Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (EDS), a genetic disorder that causes joint hypermobility and instability, fragile skin that breaks and bruises easily, chronic pain and fatigue, and brain fog. Like many people with EDS, I have numerous co-occurring disorders and complications including postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS), mast cell activation syndrome, gastrointestinal dysmotility and malabsorption, migraine, and several mental health conditions, such as severe anxiety and depression.

I am so lucky to have access to amazing medical providers who have been able to provide accurate diagnoses and have continually worked to create plans that allow me to remain as independent as possible. With the right combination of medications, IV hydration, my wheelchair, and therapies, along with a lot of support from friends and family, adjusting my expectations, and Nelson’s consistent presence, I have been able to build an amazing life for myself. I have spent the last 6 years working in health insurance operations, focused on making health care accessible and affordable for populations that receive little to no support when it comes to accessing health insurance. Outside of my full-time job, I provide part-time childcare for an incredible kiddo with support needs and his superhero mom. In my free time, I love to surround myself with my friends and family, have nights in, travel to Colorado, and watch my favorite artists perform. Having a service dog is a key piece of what allows me to remain independent and continue to pursue the life I want.

Because of their extensive training, service dogs are very expensive. The average cost of a service dog from a program is $20,000 or more, and unfortunately, insurance does not cover any costs associated with obtaining or maintaining a service dog. Because of the specific combination of tasks that I need, and the type of dog that will best fit my needs, a traditional program dog is not a good fit for me at this point, which is why I have made the decision to work with a trainer to assist me in puppy raising and task training. While this route can be a more cost-effective option compared to a program dog, I am still anticipating it will cost roughly $15,000 in the first two years alone. I am hoping for the support of my beautiful community to make this happen and help me sustain the wonderful life I’ve built for myself.

Curious about how and why a service dog's first two years are so expensive? These are just a few of the costs associated, which your donations would be supporting:

Any support that you are able to provide to help me meet my goal makes a HUGE difference in my ability to bring home my next service dog and continue an independent life.

Thank you so much for taking the time to read this and for all of your love and support!

Love,

Paige and Nelson Green