I am writing this on behalf of my husband, Rob, who has CMT. I have known Rob for almost two years now. We got engaged last Christmas and wed this past August 1st in my hometown of Oak Lake, Manitoba, on my mom's farm. We are now residing in Edmonton, Alberta.

We have a wonderful three-year-old Labrador cross service dog named Daisy. Rob cam home with Daisy in April 1991 after having to go to Santa Rosa, CA for five weeks to train for and with his chosen service dog.

Rob was diagnosed with CMT when he was eight years old in Halifax, Nova Scotia. His mom later took him to the Mayo Clinic for a second opinion. It was there that the doctors confirmed that Rob had, indeed, CMT.

After returning to Halifax, where Rob grew up, he underwent an unaccountable number of operations on his legs. A few years later, with still no real information on CMT, except the fact that the doctors had actually told him, as a 10-year-old child, he would be no more than a quadriplegic by the time he was 16, he and his mom left Halifax to regroup and for his mom to pursue her career in Yellowknife, N.W.T.

Rob feels that the medical care he received in Halifax was inadequate and the many experimental operations that were performed are still not fully understood, and in his eyes, unnecessary. Rob, to this day, feels like a guinea pig.

Rob suffers from what he calls "classic CMT" - the glove and stocking muscular atrophication, the wine glass thighs and a minor speech impediment. He retains about 70% use of his hands.

The major operations done on Rob in Halifax were bone reconstructing and fusing of the ankle joints as well as both of his big toes to try and prevent dropping, and shortening of the tendons in both knees, Achilles tendons and big toes. There are many others he cannot remember due to a severe head injury Rob obtained in 1988 (not related to CMT).

However, being that Rob is an extremely positive person and the most emotionally strong person I know, he has come a long way from the ignorance of the doctors who treated him so many years ago to being a very independent, well-adjusted human being, and one that I love greatly, I might add.

Rob used leg braces for a short while in 1988 before turning to a wheelchair almost full time to pursue athletic activities in high school in Victoria, British Columbia where he went to live with his grandmother for a time.

He became very involved in B.C. Wheelchair Sports, competing in basketball, volleyball, swimming and racquetball, and tennis finally surfaced as his forte. Although he was successful in all events, tennis built Rob's self-esteem as well as his biceps and allowed him great freedom from being disabled. It has taken him as far as Hawaii where he and a good friend (his best man) competed in an international tournament in 1986.

Rob is 6'3" and a very athletic 200 pounds and, thank goodness, still has the ability to stand and walk up stairs with the support of a banister, and believe me, we have together gone where no wheelchair man has gone before: shall we say horseback riding, waterskiing, downhill skiing, etc.

I hope this gives you a little bit of a better idea of who Rob is, and we, in turn, would like to continue learning all we can about CMT.

The major things that Daisy does for Rob on a daily basis include pulling him. Wearing a backpack or harness, Daisy pulls Rob anywhere, and understands left, right, slow, etc. This proves to be a great relief for Rob's shoulders.

She retrieves things. To avoid stress on his back, he gets Daisy to pick up anything he has dropped or needs that is out of reach. She'll pick up things as small as a dime off the floor and is also very gentle.

She'll hold things in her mouth like a bag of groceries, papers, etc. and will carry these for Rob.

She'll push elevator buttons, flip light switches and open and close the fridge. These are things Rob keeps Daisy good at doing although he does not use her for these every day.

So, every one of our dog owners speaks very highly of their dogs. Every one has an added advantage because they have their dogs and I don't hear any of them saying the dogs are going back. It ‘s mutual admiration for all concerned, it seems, and everyone is better off.