Daphne Sashin

In this three-article series, Paw Nation shadows Billy Ma as he attends the Canine Assistants Training Camp, meets his new service dog and learns how the dog can help him by turning on lights, pulling his wheelchair and, becomes his best friend.

(Part one is about the first days at the training camp, part two is about when Billy and Polar find each other and part three, here, is about their early days at home.)

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On a Friday morning in late July, Polar heads to his new home.

The sandy retriever leaves the comfort of the Canine Assistants service dog training facility outside Atlanta, where he has lived all his life, and flys to Columbus, Ohio, where he's needed by 11-year-old Billy Ma.

Billy has Duchenne muscular dystrophy, a genetic disease that confines thousands of boys to wheelchairs by their early teens, then attacks their hearts and lungs. Billy has been waiting two years for a dog to help him pick things up from the ground and be his companion.

Polar was born to help. Bred by Canine Assistants to be a service dog, he has been trained with love and affection to open doors, turn on lights, push a button to call 911 -- whatever his human companion asks of him. At the two-week training camp where recipients meet their canine companions, Polar is the biggest dog, and Billy is one of the smallest children, but they quickly gravitate toward each other.

But when he arrives at his new home, Polar is lost.

The first week is tough on the whole family. Previously loyal to their commands, Polar often refuses to move. He won't go into different rooms of the house, and Billy's parents have to push and pull him out the door to get him to go for a walk.

"We try to give him treats, and no matter how good or how tasty, he will not eat them, because he knows we want him to go out," says Billy's dad, Steve Ma, recalling the early days.

In this special series, Paw Nation shadows Billy Ma as he attends the Canine Assistants Training Camp, meets his new service dog and learns how the dog can help him by turning on lights, pulling his wheelchair and, hopefully, becoming his best friend. To read part one click here.

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.

In this and upcoming articles, Paw Nation shadows Billy Ma as he attends the Canine Assistants Training Camp to meet his new service dog and learn how the dog can help him by turning on lights, pulling his wheelchair and, hopefully, becoming his best friend.

MILTON, GA. - On a sweltering morning in July, the service dogs are pacing in their cages while the lucky dozen children who have made it off the assistance dog waiting list make their way to the first day of training camp. Some with wheelchairs or walkers, others leaning on their parents, the kids have traveled from as far as California to the Canine Assistants headquarters north of Atlanta.

One of the younger recipients is 11-year-old Billy Ma, a smiling boy with glasses from Columbus, Ohio. He was born with Duchenne muscular dystrophy, a devastating genetic disease that causes progressive muscle deterioration. Doctors say he will stop walking in a couple of years, and the disease will eventually attack his heart and lungs so a service dog will become increasingly helpful -- and necessary -- in his life.

How the Dogs Can Help
From the time they are newborns to about 18 months old, the golden and Labrador retriever mixes at Canine Assistants are prepared to be service dogs. They can open doors, turn on lights, tug off a child's socks or push a button to call 911. A lot of them can sense a seizure before it happens, and go get help. Many of the dogs can even push dirty clothes into a washing machine and take clean clothes out of the dryer with their paws.

"Dogs have basically one purpose in life, and that is to make us happy. They're very easy to teach," says Canine Assistants founder Jennifer Arnold, author of the new book "Through a Dog's Eyes" and the subject of a PBS documentary by the same name. The documentary will have its second airing Sept. 8 at 8 p.m. EDT on PBS.

While the tasks are impressive, Arnold and others tell Paw Nation that the truly magical thing about assistance dogs is what they do for a child's spirit. Just by being there, the creatures are able to make a child's feelings of fear, isolation and loneliness disappear.

Many of us love to bring our dogs along for the ride whether we're road tripping or just running errands. But that adorable pooch next to you may seriously endanger your safety if you don't get smart about how you travel with your pet.

According to a survey of the habits of 1,000 dog owners, released Wednesday by AAA and Kurgo, a maker of pet travel products, two out of three dog owners had driven while distracted by their dog. More than half the drivers admitted to petting their dog while driving. One out of five drove with a dog on their lap and just 17 percent of owners in the study used any kind of pet restraint system.

"Even looking away from the roadway for two seconds can increase your risk of a crash," AAA National Traffic Safety Programs Manager Jennifer Huebner-Davidson told Paw Nation.

In addition to creating distractions, dogs can become hazardous to themselves or others during an accident, Huebner-Davidson said. In a 30-miles-per-hour accident, a 50-pound dog flying through the air will hit the windshield or another passenger with the force of a 2,400 pound object. Unrestrained dogs are also at risk of running away or attacking emergency responders out of fear, she said.

Animal harnesses or travel crates that hook into the backseat can greatly limit those risks, she said. Bark Buckle Up, a pet travel safety group, offers a list of safe-travel products. Pet-safety advocates also recommend keeping dogs in the back seat because passenger-side airbags can be deadly to a dog during a crash, even if the animal is buckled in.

What animal lover hasn't daydreamed about ditching their desk job and applying for a job at the zoo? Or at a doggy daycare? Or tracking gorillas in Africa? We sure have, but since most of us may never actually get to work with the animals we love, we thought we'd introduce you to a few people who do.

Name: Jean Marie Cooper
Age: 39
Job Title: Manager and Rehabilitation Coordinator at Water4Dogs, New York City's only pool for dogs.

How did you get into aquatic therapy for dogs?
I thought that because I wasn't a vet, I couldn't have a career with animals. Then I heard of animal massage and enrolled in massage school for humans to learn more. When the first canine pool in New York opened in 1998 -- Bonnie's K-9 Swim -- I went right over and applied for a job. It was there I leaned what a valuable tool water is when treating dogs. It makes exercise easier, more effective, and safer for the dogs. Bonnie's later closed, and the owner opened Water4Dogs two years ago.

Do all dogs know how to swim?
They all have the instinct to paddle, but if a dog hasn't been in a pool before, they may not be very coordinated with that. They may kind of thrash around. Labs, golden retrievers, Portuguese water dogs, poodles, German shepherds and pit bulls are very good swimmers. Rottweilers are great in the water. Jack Russells either love it or hate it. Dachshunds kind of have the big dog personality; they have a lot of confidence so once they get used to the water they're swimming around like nobody's business.

Dogs that are very muscularly dense like bulldogs and pugs, they have short little legs, they can paddle but they don't make a lot of progress, so they need assistance.