Meet Olivia and Quinn

Quinn does a lot of amazing things to help Olivia. But one of his greatest accomplishments is being her partner is clever costumes. Check them out! they have won contests: 

Aside from crushing it at costumes. Olivia, with Quinn at her side, won the county wide Quiz bowl without any teammates!
Olivia is unstoppable! She has done some pretty amazing things. However, before having Quinn, it was really difficult for her to interact with other people. Because of her invisible disabilities, she was on reduced hours at school and avoided crowds and other people. Now she is back to almost a full day in school and winning competitions!
Lets talk about Quinn's tasks:
Migraine Alert: Some dogs have the naturally ability to detect when a person is about to have a migraine, Quinn is one of those dogs! He can give Olivia a warning before a migraine so she can prepare as needed. Most dogs alert this by licking their handlers hand or arm. 
DPT: also known as Deep Pressure Therapy, is when a dog lays on, or applies pressure to their handler's body. This is used for a variety of health problems, but for Olivia it is to help her body calm down before, after, and during an anxiety attack. Quinn may sense Olivia's high anxiety and apply DPT on his own, or Olivia can ask for DPT when she feels a panic attack coming on. 
Blocking: For people with high social anxiety, like Olivia, having a barrier between them and strangers can make all the difference. Quinn provides this for Olivia by stepping in between her and other people if they are making her nervous. This is another task Quinn can do on his own if he senses that Olivia needs it. 
Nut detection: Olivia is allergic to nuts, so Quinn is trained to smell them out and warn her if there are any near by. Allergy detection can be done one of two ways. In Quinn's case, he is trained to smell for the allergen--nuts. Other dogs, who's handler has many allergies, are trained to smell for the release of histamine from their handler's body. This can be especially helpful for people with conditions like Mast cell activation syndrome.
Interruption: When Olivia get anxious, she may start picking at or itching her skin. Quinn is trained to stop these behaviors by nudging her hand. 
Believe it or not, there are many other things Quinn does for Olivia. He really is her hero. You can read more about what amazing dogs to for people with invisible disabilities here. 
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​There is no question that Olivia and Quinn are better together. Quinn gives Olivia the freedom to go out and be a part of her family and community without having to worry about her medical conditions. 

I hope you all enjoyed getting to know Olivia and Quinn as much as I did. I am excited to see what amazing things these two do next!

Here is a sneak peek of Olivia and Quinn in my book "Our Service Dogs" available now on Amazon.