Hi everyone!! After 5 very long and difficult years of waiting, I have finally been matched with a medical alert service dog named Colton from Canine Partners for Life! Colton is an almost 2 year old black lab who will bring so much independence to my life! I will head to Pennsylvania for team training starting March 13th to complete three weeks of training with him before we come home as a team.

Colton will help with various tasks related to my invisible disabilities! Narcolepsy Type 1 causes symptoms such as excessive daytime sleepiness (imagine being awake for 48-72 hours), headaches, brain fog, fatigue, sleep paralysis, cataplexy (muscle weakness brought on by strong emotion), etc.
POTS (postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome) causes symptoms such as lightheadedness, fainting, rapid heart rate, low blood pressure, headaches, fatigue, shakiness, nausea, etc. Colton will help me by alerting me prior to oncoming symptoms such as dizzy spells, headaches, sleep attacks, etc. and waking me up to alarms.



Additionally, he will help conserve my energy by pulling me along with his harness, retrieving items, pulling a laundry basket, providing support and stability while walking and going up stairs, and so much more.Currently, I rely heavily on family and friends support, but with Colton by my side, my life will improve vastly, and I can live a more independent life!

Canine Partners for Life has been preparing him to be matched with a person, like me, who lives with a disability and strives for independence with the help of one of these incredible dogs. It costs over $30,000 to train these amazing dogs. My goal is to raise a total of $6,000 to help cover expenses for Colton (e.g., health insurance, vet bills, food, flea & heartworm meds, equipment, supplies, etc.), team training (e.g., gas money, transportation, food, lodging, field trips, etc.) and to give a donation to Canine Partners for Life for their amazing work.

Here are some ways you can help!

• Please share with friends and family and on social media
  
• Prayers for a great partnership and safe travels
• Donating below on this site or by Venmo @mackenziehw
  
• Getting something from Colton’s Amazon registry:  https://www.amazon.com/registries/custom/3G5145GZ99P5/guest-view 
  
• If you’d like to make a tax deductible donation to Canine Partners for Life in my name, message me!
  
• Check out Canine Partners for Life website:  https://k94life.org 
  
• Follow me on social media for updates - @mack_wehunt
  

I will be continuing to post about me and Colton’s journey together and the team training process on this GoFundMe link as well as my social media! Thank you all so much for your support and encouragement!

Here are some pictures of Colton!