Support Alyssa's Journey to a New Service Dog

TLDR: Last spring Alyssa was in an accident that cost her left leg and almost her life. Shortly thereafter, her dog Junie B. died after 14 years of loyal service. Junie's skills helped Alyssa navigate life's ups and downs. She really needs a new companion, but the costs are high and Alyssa has been unable to work for several years. Can you help us?  

Junie was trained to mitigate and alleviate some of the everyday difficulties Alyssa faces, along with some that she encounters less often. Most of these challenges stem from the severe, prolonged, yet hidden abuse in her childhood and affect both her mental and physical health- doctors use the term "Complex Trauma" when describing this phenomena. Complex Trauma is a form of PTSD. Seemingly innocent environmental factors trigger intense memories and flashbacks which keep the brain in a near-constant flight/flight state. For Alyssa, this most often means returning to what kept her safe in childhood and "freeze"ing. This can range from a functional freeze/dissociation that involves shutting down and numbing while still going about life on autopilot, to a very obvious and severe dissociation where she becomes statue-like and unresponsive. Junie was trained to recognize and disrupt these dissociative episodes, remind her to take her medications at certain times of day, provide deep pressure to alleviate anxiety as needed, remove Alyssa from/alert her to growing anxiety/triggers, along with several other random tasks...not to mention just being her companion and happy little self. We miss Junie B.

Alyssa is at the point now, that she is ready to have another buddy...but finding a potential service dog is no easy task! It takes a very special dog to be trained in a service/therapy capacity-only about 50% of the puppies that start service training actually have what it takes and become service dogs. A psychiatric service dog has to have a very VERY unique temperament; they must be highly trainable/intelligent, confident, loyal, calm, patient, and intuitive. The most reliable way to find a dog who possesses all of these traits is to purchase a puppy from a reputable breeder who specializes in breeding dogs for service and/or therapy work. These dogs come from long lines of dogs with service temperaments and excellent health. The breeders expose these puppies to countless stimuli and experiences from a very young age to give them the best possible chance to grow up to become someone's lifeline. 

 Alyssa experienced a rapid decline in her mental health a few years back and has been unable to work since, making funds scarce. We are seeing a marked improvement lately and think that having a puppy to care for and train could be just what the doctor ordered! This is where we need some help. These dogs are expensive. The initial ($3,500) puppy cost is only half the battle- we are looking at lots of future specialized training and testing expenses that easily exceed $5000, as well as all the costs normally associated with having a dog. Any help would be greatly appreciated!