11-Year-Old Billy Ma Gets to Know His New Service Dog (Part 2) - A Paw Nation Special Series
Billy Ma and Polar, David C. Scott for Canine Assistants
MILTON, GA. - It's the second day of camp. A dozen dogs are lined up in cages in the Canine Assistants classroom, waiting to get matched with the children they'll go home with at the end of two weeks. If all goes well, the dogs will love and protect these children for the rest of their lives.
Ever since the dogs were 3-day-old puppies being carried around in baby slings to get exposed to new sights and sounds, these specially bred retriever mixes have been prepped and trained for service. Now, at 18 months old, they're ready for their biggest test.
After two years of waiting, Billy Ma, 11, has traveled with his family from Ohio to the service-dog headquarters north of Atlanta. Some children wait five years or longer for an assistance dog. Billy has been placed on a priority list because he suffers from Duchenne muscular dystrophy, a muscle-wasting disease that affects mostly boys.
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