Michelle LaGrave spoke to us about NEADS, World Class Service Dogs. Michelle is a minister who does interim ministry here in Austin. Because of mobility issues, she was able to get a service dog through the NEADS program. Her dog was named Bella and passed away last year. Michelle told us the story of Bella so that we could see how service dogs are trained and what kinds of help they provide. As a puppy, Bella went through a prison program to be trained during the week. She also had a weekend puppy raiser, who took her to public places to socialize her in different settings that might come up once she was placed with an owner. Once she was matched with Michele, she was trained to meet Michelle’s specific needs. Michelle had to be interviewed and accepted into the program and also raise some of the funds for the cost of training Bella. Once Bella was placed with Michelle, although she was there to help her, she also was able to have a life as just a dog. Bella loved the outdoors and people, especially children. She got to dress up for Halloween and traveled around the country with Michelle. Michelle showed us a couple of videos of tasks Bella had to accomplish to become a service dog. She also passed around a book that she put together showing Bella’s life in pictures. Michelle is currently waiting for a new service dog to replace to Bella. For more information about the NEADS program go to www.neads.org.