Service Dogs Save Lives

If there is any doubt in anyone's mind, let me make it very clear: Sugar has saved my life.
I have found myself in the moments of darkness where I know in my heart that I had the capability to take my own life. I have found myself woken up by a 50 lb dog when I was in the middle of another nightmare. I have walked through stores, feeling desperate, in danger, feeling that my life was threatened. In that moment, I had a beautiful Collie-Rhodesian Ridgeback mixed breed get my attention and get between me and my perceived threat. I have found myself slipping into a flashback- and feeling a dog not part of my flashback lick my face.
This dog has saved my life. I could have gotten rid of my husband if I'd really wanted to- but nobody would have been around to take care of my dog if I had gotten rid of myself. I can make myself believe any number of things about people, but it's impossible to tell yourself a dog, especially one like this, doesn't love you/need you/want you.
Sugar is happier if I get out of bed in the morning and go through our routine. If we don't, she will still tolerate and love me, but she isn't as happy. She is, more often than not, my reason for facing the day, even when I don't want to face myself, let alone the day ahead.
This mutt from the local Humane Society- a dog they said they'd had for a year before we adopted her- has saved my life in so many ways.
Sugar leans on me, often putting one or more of her paws on my foot or leg, to make sure I don't move without her knowledge. I feed, bathe and walk this dog- but make no mistake, I am not the rescuer in this situation.
Don't ever convince yourself animals are below you, or less than you. Dogs are capable of love and understanding on a level that I truly believe no adult human is.