Woman almost faints after child hits her assistance dog and gives it chocolate

Ella Walker, 19, says her assistance dog, Ralph, was hit by a child after she tried to feed him chocolate - the incident left him scared and Ella almost fainted

A woman has issued a warning against interfering with assistance dogs, following an incident where her dog was repeatedly hit by a child, leading to her nearly fainting. Ella Walker, 19, relies on her multi-purpose assistance dog, a two year old golden retriever named Ralph, for support in her daily life.

Living with chronic illnesses such as ME and a fainting condition known as Dysautonomia, Ella benefits from Ralph's special training which includes tasks like finding her a seat, fetching items for her, and alerting her if she is about to faint.

Ella emphasises the importance of Ralph not being distracted while working, to ensure he doesn't miss any cues and can warn her when she needs to sit down. However, she alleges that a girl of upper primary school age attempted to feed Ralph chocolate before hitting him, while her parent was preoccupied with their phone.

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This incident resulted in Ralph becoming frightened, leaving Ella disoriented and Ralph unable to perform his usual crucial assistance tasks. Ella, who is a student and part-time assistance dog trainer from Petersfield, Hampshire, said: "The incident led me going into medical episode and really impacted my dog."

"I urge people to be more considerate of assistance dogs in future."

Ralph was close to completing his two-and-a-half-year training programme to become a fully qualified assistance dog. But Ella says the incident, which occurred on 17 September, disrupted his training and affected his emotional and physical wellbeing.

Ella was concerned that a recent incident could jeopardise Ralph's assistance dog training, voicing her worries over how it had affected his ability to interact and perform. Sharing her experience, Ella recounted: "I've gone out with him to do one practice run."

To her dismay, during the run, "He's done really well but a girl was trying to distract him, which you're not meant to do."

Ella alleged that a primary school-aged girl attempted to feed chocolate to Ralph and resorted to "hitting" him for an extended period while her mother seemed disengaged, transfixed on her mobile phone.

According to Ella, "The mother was occasionally looked up and laughing," further adding to the distressing scene.

The resulting disruption in Ralph's training bore immediate consequences as he failed to signal a crucial medical alert. Ella explains: "Normally he can tell through the smell of my breath that an episode is coming," Describing her symptoms she noted, "My heart rate suddenly shoots up, and he can alert me, allowing me to get to a safe place and lie down."

Unfortunately, Ralph, being distressed from the earlier encounter, didn't detect Ella's impending faint. However, Ella managed to perceive the onset herself and safely retreated to a calm area until the sensation passed.

However, she expressed concern that in a busier environment, the situation could have been more dangerous. Ralph's training encompasses mobility tasks and crowd control, making him an indispensable part of Ella's daily routine.

"Since we have been going back outside, we're making sure he's feeling OK about people," Ella shared. "He was terrified of the child after the incident, we ended up back at the car, and he was shaking, but we still hope he will be able to pass his course."

While Ella has access to resources to help Ralph recover due to her work in dog training, she highlighted that many others who rely on assistance dogs do not have this luxury.

"It will cost me a lot less money, but for a lot of dogs, that would have been their career gone," she pointed out.

Assistance dogs that develop fear or anxiety due to harassment often have to cease working with people - which can leave some individuals unable to leave their homes or carry out daily tasks independently.

Ella aims to raise awareness about the potential harm caused by distracting assistance dogs. "I don't think people realise the damage it can do to assistance dogs and their handlers," she commented.

"It's a situation where the dog may anticipate being hit or hurt, and then they can't work if they develop a fear of children. These kinds of incidents are pretty rare, but when a child is beating a dog for 10 minutes plus, it can have devastating effects."

"I tried to step in and block her but she just kept going, I told her to stop but she wouldn't listen. Ralph's ability to preempt my medical episodes has prevented me from ending up face down in the road, that's why it's so important that people understand not to distract them."