When Olivia was born, she rarely slept. After years of sleep studies, they diagnosed her with abdominal migraines. Her doctors and parents had things under control, when she lived through a series of three major hurricanes within one summer in Florida. That, coupled with the chronic pain she has experienced since birth, was traumatic, and her doctors diagnosed her with PTSD. She experiences heightened anxiety, noticing many triggers daily. She has panic attacks at least once a week, which lead to sweating, hyperventilating, and an inability to communicate what’s wrong, or her needs. Olivia believes a Service Dog will help her gain independence as she enters adulthood.
Olivia met DAKOTA in October 2020. DAKOTA will be there every day to help Olivia successfully get through each day. He will help by interrupting negative behaviors, providing deep pressure therapy to help navigate panic attacks, and anchoring to Olivia’s anxiety while in public and at Doctor’s appointments. We are excited to see the things these two will do together as a team!
DAKOTA was named by Loudoun Country Day School.
