Helping Paws: A Day in the Life of a Service Dog

Polar Bear and Teddy Bear explain what it means to be a service dog. They even introduce you to four of their friends!
You'll see how hard working and how different each service dog and their tasks are. The Helping Paws Pack will show you why it is so important to be left alone while working. Distractions can stop them from doing their really important jobs.
This book is a perfect educational tool! 

• Comprehension level: Kindergarten Level Language
• It can be used for all ages
• It is applicable to the laws in the US, UK, and Canada
• Shows diversity of service dog breed, tasks, gear, and work locations 
• It has female, male, and non-binary language gendered language 

Join the Helping Paws Pack as they raise awareness and educate others on service dogs.
Every dog, uniform, and task in this book is real! You can even meet them at the back of the book!

Why does it matter? It matters because this leads to safety concerns for handlers and their service dogs.
In this book, real service dogs introduce the world to the life of a service dog. You'll learn about how hard working and how different each service dog and their tasks can be.
This book has been a collaboration. Service dog teams from all over the US and Canada have submitted images of their service dog, the dog's "uniform," and their tasks, to help tell the story of service dogs in an enjoyable but easily understood way.
In these pages you'll meet six incredible, hardworking service dogs who spend their days caring for the humans who depend on their help.
Every dog, uniform, and task in this book is real.

Rylee is the author at Books by Rylee and a Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA). She has two medical assistance service dogs, Polar Bear and Teddy Bear. She struggled with years of medical problems and received an official clinical diagnosis of a rare "invisible" disorder in 2019 called hypokalemic periodic paralysis. While figuring out how to live with this disorder, she struggled with explaining her emotions, limitations, and needs to others. Then it hit her: how would she tell her future kids about this? She worried her children may inherit the disorder or see her going through paralytic episodes. She realized she needed to find a way to tell them they would be okay too. She decided to find a way to tell others that her disorder does not define her. She is choosing what kind of person she is. She reflected on her years of experience working with children and adults with medical and intellectual diagnoses in the field of Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA). She applied her experience of explaining difficult topics in simpler terminology, acknowledging each person's emotions, and providing appropriate, safe, and healthy replacement skills to her stories. These stories transformed into books. First, a book telling children with invisible disabilities that they were not alone. These reassuring and positive books let children know that it's okay to be different and teaches them it is okay to have emotions. Her books teach healthy and safe options to deal with the struggles that come with having these disorders by giving them the tools to ask for help and reach out to their support system. Throughout the process, her wonderful, playful, and silly service dogs were always by her side. She knew she had to expand her books to educating others on service animals, helping children who are diagnosed with medical disorders, and give a voice to these children (and their adults). She hopes that her stories help empower people to advocate for themselves and others affected by invisible disorders and disabilities.