Shauna Darcy and her American Staffordshire Terrier, Ruby, bonded as soon as they met. Darcy trusted Ruby very much, so she soon decided that she wanted to train Ruby to be a service dog to help with her anxiety, depression, and agoraphobia. As soon as Ruby started her training, she proved to be an incredible service dog in more ways than expected. However, little did Darcy know, Ruby would actually end up saving her life.
As soon as Ruby began to work as a service dog, she quickly picked up on changes in Darcy’s heart rate. When she noticed abnormalities, she would paw her mom, trying to get her attention. Darcy could not believe how quickly her sweet dog was able to learn these new skills. However, Ruby seemed to be noticing something beyond what she was trained to observe.
Darcy decided to visit the doctor after seeing Ruby paw at her often. At the doctor, Darcy learned that she actually had serious health issues that she didn’t even know about.
The doctor informed Darcy that she had a rare heart condition called vascular Ehlers-Danlos syndrome. Ruby had picked up on this even before Darcy suspected that anything was wrong.
After that moment, Darcy began training Ruby to mainly focus on cardiac issues. So, Ruby is able to help her mom monitor her heart rate and blood pressure. If Darcy passes out, Ruby will apply all her pressure on her and lick her until she wakes back up.
During panic attacks, she is able to help her by bringing Darcy some emergency medications. She even helps her with daily things such as carrying groceries. Ruby loves her mom and she will do anything to make her life as great as possible.
Every single day, Ruby helps Darcy as much as she can. In fact, she often knows how to help before her mom even knows there’s an issue.
One day, Ruby alerted Darcy that something was wrong, but Darcy felt completely fine. However, she trusted Ruby very much, so she called an ambulance just to be safe.
As it turned out, Ruby was right to be concerned. The doctors later found out that Darcy’s heart was going into atrial fibrillation. She ended up feeling immense pain, and by the time the paramedics came, she was barely conscious. If Ruby hadn’t warned her, she wouldn’t have known there was an issue until it was too late.
While Darcy was at the hospital, Ruby refused to leave her side. Even when Darcy was unconscious, her loyal friend still rested right beside her. Ruby wanted to make sure that her mom felt as safe as possible.
“I wouldn’t be alive without her,” Darcy said.
Thanks to Ruby, Darcy’s life was saved that day. Her smart service dog always knows best, so as long as Darcy trusts Ruby, she knows that everything will be okay.
