Maxwell dependent to receive canine assistant

Ten-year-old Alexis Butler greets a “K-9 assistant” Friday at the Maxwell Commissary. The Golden Retriever is similar to the one she will receive this summer to help her cope with cerebral palsy. Alexis is flanked by her parents, Maj. Todd Butler of the Air Command and Staff College faculty and Maj. Sara Butler, commander of the reserve 908th Military Support Flight.(Air Force Photo by Bennett Rock)

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Maxwell dependent to receive canine assistant

Published Jan. 25, 2010
By Carl Bergquist
Air University Public Affairs

MAXWELL AIR FORCE BASE, Ala. -- The 10-year-old daughter of a Maxwell-Gunter military couple is looking forward to the coming summer when she receives her very own canine assistant.

In a ceremony Friday at the Maxwell Commissary, it was announced that Alexis Butler, diagnosed with cerebral palsy, has been selected to receive an assistance dog through a partnership of the Defense Commissary Agency, the Milk Bone Company and Canine Assistants, a charitable organization that provides dogs to people with disabilities.

This summer, Alexis and her parents will venture to Alpharetta, Ga., for a two-week training camp where she will meet and learn to work with a dog matched to her needs.

Alexis said she was "looking forward" to getting her own dog, her first pet, and she would like to have a big dog. Her mother Maj. Sara Butler, 908th Mission Support Flight commander, said a large dog would be good because it would help Alexis with stability when walking. She said her daughter is not able to do much for herself, and her new canine friend will give her a sense of independence from her families' assistance.

"What exemplifies this event is what Alexis said when we were getting into the car to come here," said her father, Maj. Todd Butler, an Air Command and Staff College instructor. "She said she didn't get much sleep last night because she was so excited about today."

Maj. Sara Butler said there is also a social aspect of Alexis having the dog who will act as a companion, and her father said it will be nice to have the dog as an additional layer of protection for his daughter when he is not there.

Also on hand for the event was Jacob Jeeter, a Montgomery college student, and his dog Phoenix. Mr. Jeeter received Phoenix, a two-year-old Golden Retriever, about three weeks ago from the canine assistance program and was enjoying the help his dog provided.

"The biggest help Phoenix gives me is picking up things I drop," he said. "He goes everywhere with me and is a great companion. People are sometimes hesitant to strike up a conversation with a person in a wheelchair, but when there is a dog with me, that all changes."