People say a dog is a man’s best friend, I never understood the saying until now and, in my case, this saying is true. When my fiancée Mariah and I lived at a friend’s house, we adopted a puppy. She is a black-and-white pocket bully who is about 6 months old. We named her Mazikeen, she is the best dog because of her personality, her history, and how she supports me on my mental health journey. Mazikeen has a personality like no other dog in the world. She loves to be a menace to society. For example, anytime there is food or drink around, she is there too. Whether it was breakfast, lunch, or dinner time, she was always ready to steal. There was one time when we were on a walk, and we stopped at Circle K to get a slushy and some water for Mazikeen. Mazikeen and I waited outside while Mariah went into the gas…show more content… Mazikeen is my service dog. There are many reasons why I need a service dog, I struggle with post-traumatic stress disorder from previous events in my life. Due to my post-traumatic stress disorder, I now also suffer from anxiety and depression. Mazikeen is trained to help me cope with my mental health. At night I have what are called Night Terrors. To explain it means some nights when I go to sleep my body relives all the events I have been through, sometimes causing me to forget to breathe. When this happened, Mazikeen would notify Mariah and lay on my chest to comfort me while Mariah reminded me to breathe. Mazikeen would also help when I become dissociated from my surroundings, by pulling me to the ground or pushing me onto a chair or bed to sit. I also struggle with anxiety; Mazikeen helped me learn how to navigate through my anxiety attacks. For example, she would give me a sense of safety knowing I not only had a service dog, but a guard dog as well. She also knew how to distract me and noticed my attacks before I even knew it was going to
