{"id":7159,"date":"2023-09-11T13:17:54","date_gmt":"2023-09-11T13:17:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk\/imo\/?p=7159"},"modified":"2023-09-11T13:28:36","modified_gmt":"2023-09-11T13:28:36","slug":"my-life-saving-dog-mei-and-koda","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk\/imo\/positive-outcomes\/my-life-saving-dog-mei-and-koda\/","title":{"rendered":"My life saving dog \u2013 Mei and Koda\u00a0\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-style-small-padding is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>This blog post showcases care leaver Mei\u2019s journey with her assistance dog Koda. Their story was documented on BBC1, \u2018<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/iplayer\/episode\/m001nx54\/our-lives-series-7-my-lifesaving-dog\">Our Lives: My Life Saving Dog<\/a>\u2019, it highlights how assistance dogs can transform people\u2019s lives and support with mental wellbeing.<\/strong>\u00a0<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<h5 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>How the documentary came about<\/strong>&nbsp;<\/h5>\n\n\n\n<p>The documentary first came about last December when I met Eye Film (the company who created the documentary) whilst at Break, where I used to live in supported living and also worked as a Co-Production Apprentice. Eye Film were originally there to make a film for the Department for Education about the Staying Close Staying Connected initiative. I worked with them to support creating that content and didn\u2019t think much more of it. After that my health started declining and I couldn\u2019t work, I realised I had to call it a day and focus on what was going on with my health and what was really stopping me from working.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>All of a sudden, one evening mid-December, the week before I left my job, I got a phone call from the Managing Director of Eye Film saying that they had the chance to pitch a story for a BBC slot and that they wanted to propose my story with Koda. I was really intrigued, it had already been an amazing journey with Koda and I wanted to help increase awareness about assistance dogs.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There was a quick turnaround time to send the proposal in and we originally got down to the last two pitches but didn\u2019t quite get the slot. Amazingly, two weeks later I got a call to say the other idea had fallen through so the BBC had said yes to our idea!&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It was very much a back and forth journey \u2013 I originally met the film company 2 years ago, when Koda was just 6 months old.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/assets.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk\/wpuploads\/sites\/3\/2023\/09\/Mei-and-Koda-1024x634.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-7161\" width=\"960\" height=\"594\" srcset=\"https:\/\/assets.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk\/wpuploads\/sites\/3\/2023\/09\/Mei-and-Koda-1024x634.png 1024w, https:\/\/assets.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk\/wpuploads\/sites\/3\/2023\/09\/Mei-and-Koda-300x186.png 300w, https:\/\/assets.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk\/wpuploads\/sites\/3\/2023\/09\/Mei-and-Koda-768x475.png 768w, https:\/\/assets.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk\/wpuploads\/sites\/3\/2023\/09\/Mei-and-Koda.png 1243w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 960px) 100vw, 960px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Picture &#8211; Mei and Koda in the forest<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h5 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>More about Koda<\/strong>&nbsp;<\/h5>\n\n\n\n<p>I got Koda back in June 2021 at 11 weeks old. She didn\u2019t have any sort of training and came from a breeder who just bred their pet. She is the first assistance dog in her family line!&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>How we ended up together is really touching. I\u2019d starting looking at puppies but thought I probably wouldn\u2019t actually get one, but, her advert kept popping up. It was between her and a boy from the same family and my heart was telling me I wanted a girl. By the time I made the decision the boy had already been taken and it just felt like fate. When I first went to see her, my plan was just to meet her and then go back another time, but the first thing she did was flop onto my lap, and I couldn\u2019t not take her home that day.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>My journey getting Koda wasn\u2019t planned, I wasn\u2019t on a waiting list for assistance dogs like many other people, and at the start I was her sole trainer.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Koda is now 2 years and 3 months old and has turned out to be completely and utterly amazing.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-embed-handler wp-block-embed-embed-handler wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Follow Mei as she trains Koda to be an assistance dog. \ud83e\uddae Our Lives: My Life-Saving Dog on\u00a0#iPlayer\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/ZhY7I2yXSqM?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h5 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Our training journey<\/strong>&nbsp;<\/h5>\n\n\n\n<p>I started off our training journey on my own. I did basic obedience and assistance dog training, doing loads of research along the way and going with my gut. There was a lot of learning as I went, and it wasn\u2019t a straightforward process but was really rewarding when it worked. I was definitely finding my feet as a first-time dog owner, the basics of how to look after and care for Koda along with training her. After a year and a half of sole training I then met Ruby, a trainer, who has worked incredibly with us since then.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Koda has now passed her Pets As Therapy Temperament Assessment test, but it\u2019s still an ongoing process, we\u2019re still working through things and she\u2019s constantly learning new things and ways to support me.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h5 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>How does Koda help?<\/strong>&nbsp;<\/h5>\n\n\n\n<p>Predominantly at first, she was there to help with my mental health and there are so many additional ways she has grown in supporting me since she first came home with me.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>She does Deep Pressure Therapy which helps ground me and calm me down, in particular when I\u2019m having an anxiety attack. She disarms self-harming behaviours such as pinching and hitting &#8211; she really is a safety net for those behaviours. Also just having a dog around is good for my mental health.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As my health has got worse, she has supported my mobility massively. She works with me, doing very light guiding. For example, she finds people she knows or has seen before if I ask her to, she can find exits, and she knows how to find home or my car e.g. in rain. If we\u2019re near where we live, and I tell her to go home, she will take me, and if we\u2019re in a big car park, she can find my car and either sit and point to it or lead me there. When I get exhausted, tired and fatigued, it can take more brain power to do those things and in those times Koda is essential. I couldn\u2019t go out without her.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The other things she does for me include picking up things when I drop them and giving them to me, orbiting to create space around me or blocking spaces behind, in front or around me so that people don\u2019t get so close.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>She really does a multitude of things, and it\u2019s an ever-growing list. Dependent on my health she learns to do different things, but ultimately, she gives me the confidence to go out and live my life and makes me feel safe.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h5 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>What does programme show?<\/strong>&nbsp;<\/h5>\n\n\n\n<p>The programme is important as it shows how assistance dogs aren\u2019t just born assistance dogs, there is so much training that goes into it. It also highlights that assistance dogs aren\u2019t perfect from the get-go, and you must nurture together. There is so much training, which never ends, and it can be gruelling at times. It\u2019s not an easy process and takes a lot of mental stamina.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>However, it also showcases that these dogs do so much for us. They allow us to live our lives. It highlights that having people distract our assistance dogs can be incredibly detrimental to owner\u2019s health and lives.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Having Koda for me means I get to be a 21-year-old, I get to have fun and I get to live my life to the greatest level possible.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h5 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Meeting to the Children\u2019s Commissione<strong>r<\/strong>&nbsp;<\/h5>\n\n\n\n<p>Having Koda has given me the amazing opportunity to meet the Children\u2019s Commissioner, for both the documentary and as part of her Care Experienced Advisory Board \u2013 without Koda I wouldn\u2019t have been able to take part in these opportunities. In some sense, when training assistance dogs, we don\u2019t think we\u2019ll ever do something as big as that. So, the training we\u2019d done before had really helped us do that and to build up to that moment.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I can\u2019t over-emphasise just how much Koda has helped me, and allowed me do what I\u2019m passionate about \u2013 advocate for young people in care. I want to ensure that all young care experienced people\u2019s needs are met, that mental health is prioritised, that there is support for and awareness of disabilities and invisible disabilities, that children\u2019s cultural backgrounds are taken into account, and that the stigma around children in care is lifted.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h6 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Here is the link to the BBC documentary &#8211; \u2018<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/iplayer\/episode\/m001nx54\/our-lives-series-7-my-lifesaving-dog\">Our Lives: My Life Saving Dog<\/a>\u2019<\/strong>.<\/h6>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This blog post showcases care leaver Mei\u2019s journey with her assistance dog Koda. Their story was documented on BBC1, \u2018Our Lives: My Life Saving Dog\u2019, it highlights how assistance dogs can transform people\u2019s lives and support with mental wellbeing.\u00a0 How the documentary came about&nbsp; The documentary first came about last December when I met Eye [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":68,"featured_media":7163,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[64,104,25],"tags":[11,138,21,38,69,139,140,19,22,137,23,6],"class_list":["post-7159","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-positive-outcomes","category-your-projects","category-your-stories","tag-advice","tag-assistance-dogs","tag-being-in-care","tag-care-leaver","tag-cep","tag-disability","tag-disability-support","tag-foster-care","tag-leaving-care","tag-my-life-saving-dog","tag-real-life-stories","tag-wellbeing"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<title>My life saving dog \u2013 Mei and Koda\u00a0\u00a0 - IMO<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"This blog post showcases care leaver Mei\u2019s journey with her assistant dog Koda. 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