For most people, spending time with a dog is something good for the heart. For one Shelburne Falls resident, it’s crucial.
Haylee Graves suffers from postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS), a chronic condition that causes the heart to beat faster than normal upon a transition from lying down to standing up. Throughout childhood and young adulthood, she endured a life fraught with debilitating physical and mental health issues to the point where she “couldn’t do anything alone.”
Then, Graves adopted Jake, a certified service dog, in 2018.
Since welcoming the purebred yellow lab, though, Graves has watched her life open up. Now, the dynamic duo has more than 1 million followers on TikTok (@jakethes.d) and nearly 130,000 followers on Instagram (servicedogjake), showing the world what such a partnership is capable of.
At a young age, Graves was diagnosed with anxiety, depression and other health issues that progressively worsened through her teenage years. The issue peaked when she began suffering severe panic attacks after graduating high school.
“It was really, really bad, to the point where I couldn’t drive without having a panic attack and passing out in the driver’s seat,” Graves recalled.
Going about her day without something triggering a mental health episode, Graves said, was a near-impossible task during the start of adulthood. Work and higher education were out of the equation as she sought a solution. After “a lot of research,” Graves decided to pursue her doctor’s suggestion of getting a service dog.
Graves remembered first approaching Greenfield’s Diggity Dogs Service Dogs Inc. in fall 2015 with her mind open to adopting a dog. Upon learning that the total cost of the dog and its training could exceed $10,000, she decided to consider cheaper alternatives. This led to her buying Juju, an untrained dog, elsewhere toward the end of the year, with hopes of training the animal herself.
“I was in way over my head,” she said. “I didn’t realize how much training really went into a service dog.”
Before long, Juju was relieved of duty and enjoyed an early retirement, rehomed to Graves’ grandparents as a pet. Meanwhile, Graves began fundraising, eventually collecting enough money to purchase a fully trained Jake for $12,000 in September 2018.
Jake, who began his work as a medical and cardiac alert service dog at 10 weeks old, was trained to remain observant of Graves’ body language. He would foresee Graves’ panic attacks by noticing behaviors, such as subliminal fidgeting, and nudge his owner to alert her. In some cases, he would resort to “deep pressure therapy,” jumping on Graves and pressing into her as a way of bringing down her heart rate. Later, Graves would train Jake to detect spikes in heart rate through smell, detecting the unique scent humans give off when stressed in such a way.
“It made it so I could get through these anxious moments without going into a full-blown panic attack that would land me into the hospital or not able to function,” Graves explained. “Already after a few months of getting him, I’m able to go into stores again.”
The difference in Graves’ capability having Jake by her side was night and day, she said. This was tested when she began working a retail job that prohibited her service animal. She recalled her condition being severe “to the point where [her] heart rate was getting super, super high and [she] would pass out and have to sit on the floor.”
“Just no accommodations for my condition whatsoever,” she recalled.
Insensitivity to her situation also came from the general public. When out with Jake, she would have people do anything from petting her dog without consent to pulling his tail, barking at him and throwing food.
“I don’t think they realize what they’re actually doing because what they’re doing can distract him,” she said, noting that any lapse in attention could divert a service animal from noticing a crucial warning sign exhibited by their handler.
The joy and relief of reclaiming her life, paired with frustrations of people’s ignorance, catalyzed a mission for Graves. She began to invest more energy into her service dog-themed TikTok and Instagram accounts, which she created the day she brought Jake home but struggled to gain traction with early on. As she honed her content to be more relatable, posted more content related to Jake’s training and gave a deeper look into what it’s like to own a service dog, Graves started seeing potential.
“Slowly but surely, they started to go viral,” she said of the videos she’d post. “People were pretty interested in knowing what a service animal can do, I guess. … I’m so glad I’m able to use the platform to spread awareness.”
Graves said her long-term goal is “definitely just getting more awareness out there” regarding what a service animal is capable of, as well as changing “the way businesses approach animals and service dogs in their stores.” This, she stressed, involves educating the public about the state laws protecting service animals and their handlers. Disability rights for users of service animals in Massachusetts can be found at bit.ly/3on1qt7.
In addition to approaching this destination, Graves has relished the journey as her follower count has soared. For instance, “so many people” have direct messaged her after finding her profile to share similar stories, open up about their own struggles and thank her for her work, she said.
“And of course,” she added, “Jake is just the best boy ever.”
Reach Julian Mendoza at 413-930-4231 or jmendoza@recorder.com.