Jordyn Miller is getting a puppy.
The seventh grader won’t be getting just your regular pooch, however, but rather a specially trained psychiatric service dog, thanks to more than $26,000 in donations to the family’s GoFundMe page.
Jackie Miller told BarrieToday while she and her daughter were hopeful when initially creating the online campaign, until recently they were still a long way from raising the nearly $30,000 required for the purchase — and subsequent training — of the psychiatric service dog from K-9 Country Inn Working Service Dogs, a Meaford-based service dog training and accreditation program.
That’s no longer the case, said the relieved Barrie mother, who has officially put down a deposit with the organization.
“It’s definitely moving forward," Jackie says.
The dog would be for Jackie's 12-year-old daughter, Jordyn, who has been struggling with mental-health issues for several years — including anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), as well as having recently been diagnosed with dissociative identity disorder (DID). She also has a history of self-harm and has attempted suicide in the past year.
“I think we are only about $5,000 shy of our goal,” Jackie says, adding one donation that came in was for $18,500, an amount that left her stunned.
The donor, she learned through mutual online friends, has possibly struggled with some of his own mental health issues and just wanted to help.
“When I sent him a thank-you, he was really humble and said he hoped would give us some peace and to please take care of her,” she says.
“We are so close to reaching our goal and I'm so excited for what's to come in the future,” says Jordyn.
While the wheels are officially in motion, Jackie says getting the dog is still a long way off, noting the puppy won’t be born until the spring, and then the training process takes approximately 18 months.
“She is excited and thrilled, but I know she wishes it was right now. It’s hard at her age and I think she was doubting it would happen,” says Jackie, adding the night the big donation came in, Jordyn had been having a “not so great day” — but then got dressed up and insisted they go out and celebrate.
The dog will help bring her some peace of mind that her daughter is safe, Jackie says.
“That’s not to say just having the service dog is the end all and be all, but it’s safety and protection — and a little less worry even for me. That, combined with treatment and therapy, I feel like it’s really going to give her a chance,” she says.
“I am over the moon. … It was a long shot, but now it’s actually going to happen.”
