TULSA, Okla. — There is a hefty price tag for a trained service dog. They range from $7-50,000. That colossal undertaking is what the Kinsey family thought they had to face in the journey to a seizure alert companion for 7-year-old Braxton.
Braxton Kinsey was diagnosed with epilepsy at the start of the year. The episodes of seizures arrive every two months.
“Usually he goes to sleep and a lot of the times, he wakes up and doesn’t even know what happened," said Mari Kinsey, Braxton's mom. "That’s what kind of warranted the dog — him sleeping in his own room, us not knowing; or being in the shower outside with the animals and not being with him."
After doing some research, Mari found Zen Dog Training. The owner, Lola Carter offered to shave thousands of dollars off cost by training one of her own puppies named Roxy for Braxton. Carter is charging the Kinsey's $4,600, which they are raising money for.
“She’s my best dog and I like her and I’m glad she’s going to be my service dog,” Braxton said.
During training, the Kinsey family takes Roxy home every other week.
At Zen, seizure alert class starts with the basics: sit, stay. The entire process could take one to two years.
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