A maintenance worker knocks on the doors of Megan Yee’s home. Sir, a yellow labrador retriever, hears the sound.
He hurriedly runs to Yee and nudges her leg using his nose. He alerts her of the sound she couldn't hear.
Yee has conductive hearing loss. It prevents her from hearing softer sounds like fire alarms, smoke detectors or the kitchen timer.
“If I’m by myself and I’m traveling, for example, I don’t worry about it. I don’t have to. I can go to a hotel and stay in any room. I don’t have to worry about telling the staff to come get me in case of an emergency because Sir is there,” Yee said.
Yee has received two service dogs from Canine Companions. Her first one, Ras, died two weeks after she graduated law school in 2018.
A few months later, she applied for another hearing dog. And that’s when Sir came into her life.
She said the organization provides lifelong support, as long as you have a dog from them.
Michelle Williams, Senior Manager of Public Relations and Marketing of the Northwest region, said they provide expertly trained service dogs to adults, children and veterans with disabilities at no cost.
“They need to be at least one year post injury. But after that, it’s really just if you are a person with a disability who wants a service dog to help you do practical tasks like opening and closing doors and drawers, turning on and off lights, picking up dropped items and delivering them to you,” Williams said.
Having a service dog was eye opening, Yee said.
She originally planned to become a certified behavior analyst. But her career path completely changed when she realized the laws about service dogs and where they’re allowed were unclear.
“When can I have the dog? Are there places that a service dog actually can’t go? Because the answer to that is yes. And so I really started researching the laws and talking to people about it. And over the course of learning all of this and doing all this research, I fell in love with the legal field and ended up going to law school,” Yee said.
Yee currently works as a probate examiner in California.
While working from home, Sir is her reliable partner.
She said he is low maintenance. And only needs cuddles and food. He is always in a good mood and ready to work.
But when he’s not working, he’s doing nose work also known as scent training with Yee.
She puts a few drops of essential oils on Q tips and hides them around the house. Sir looks for them using only his nose. Once he finds them, he is rewarded with treats.
Sir turns nine at the end of this year. For a bigger dog like Sir, retirement is right around the corner.
“I just want to be mindful of him and when he’s ready to, I want to give him time to really just be a dog and enjoy life too,” Yee said.
While the dogs are working, Canine Companions retains ownership of the dogs.
Yee says it’s a safety precaution. If something were to happen to Yee, the dog will not end up in a shelter.
But once the dog retires, the current partner can either adopt or return them to Canine Companions.
“But for right now I plan on keeping him forever,” Yee said.
Yee says even when she got married and could rely on someone else, she still wanted to have a service dog.
Having Sir by her side provides comfort to her, her husband and her family.
Those interested in receiving a service dog can apply online at canine.org.
