Dyson is one of the five award winners of the 2021 AKC Canine Excellence Award, winning the service dog category. This category recognizes task-trained service dogs that can enrich the lives of owners with physical or mental disabilities. Including but not limited to blind guide dogs, epilepsy guard dogs, hearing aid dogs, balance dogs.

From 1998 to 2012, Brandon Holiday suffered a medical train accident. His scorecard lists systemic lupus, left leg amputation, 10 heart attacks, micropulmonary embolism, Addison's disease, and drug-related diabetes. The pain is unbearable in the seemingly endless corridors of seeing a doctor and going to the hospital.

But starting in May 2013, he visited the Susquehanna service dog in Granville, Pennsylvania, and started a bright day.

"I decided to keep a service dog because I felt something was missing," he said. "I don't want to burden my friends and family while trying sports (rowing), nor do I want them to worry about my safety."

Holiday, who lives alone in Maple Shade, Pennsylvania, applied to several organizations. A few months later, he was invited to a Pennsylvania facility to meet with four potential canine partners.

He recalled that day: "A friend drove with me. As soon as we got there, they brought each dog in and instructed me to ask the dog for a series of prompts and commands, such as sit down, stay, heel, etc. This is In order to see how each dog reacts to you. I met Clara, Hilly, Clover and Dyson. Clover is keen and focused; Clara and Siri are good and perform well; Dyson is like a dog with a purpose. , Rushing to me, I'm not sure if he is going to stop or knock me down. I can't help but smile. He is so cute and keeps shaking his little head."

Well, that's right! The young Labrador retriever's tail was stopped because it was constantly snapped by its gorgeous happy tail movement, including leaning against the side of the dog cage. He and Holiday clicked from the beginning. "I was smiling from ear to ear when I left the meeting," Holiday said with a smile.

But then began what seemed to be forever waiting for which dog he would be paired with.

"I don’t know which one was chosen for me, so I followed all the Susquehanna Service Dogs social media pages. Finally, a few months later, I received a letter saying that I was going to participate in team training and Dyson would be my partner.

"I now have a four-legged shadow, which allows me to freely do all the things I can do today. Without Dyson, I would not be here today," Holiday insisted.

Here are some of the tasks brought by this stupid but intuitive Labrador: smell detection, find the phone and press the emergency K9 phone to dial 911; open and close the door; retrieve items; turn the lights on and off.

The umbilical cord connection between Holiday and 11-year-old Dyson, and the powerful narrative that accompanies it, won the couple the AKC Humane Fund Award in 2021 because it is the honor of an excellent service dog for canines.

26-year-old Holiday was injured at work while serving at the Salisbury (Maryland) City Police Department in 1998. Since that injury, he has continued to experience DVT (deep vein thrombosis), which manifested as a blood clot. From 1998 to 2005, he suffered six or seven heart attacks due to blood clotting disorders.

In May 2006, his condition changed significantly. "One morning, I woke up with extreme pain in my left leg. It was not cramps, but a different type of pain. I knew it was a blood clot, so I drove to a nearby emergency room. I walked to the parking lot and tried Walked to the door of the emergency room, but fell down. I couldn't get up due to severe pain. A security guard found me, pushed the wheelchair and rushed over, and carried me into the emergency room."

The test revealed a clot in the posterior popliteal artery of the left knee. At first he was told that he needed amputation, but the doctor tried for a few days to dissolve the clot. However, a wound of approximately 4 x 6 inches opened, which resulted in approximately four months of medication and hyperbaric chamber use.

In August 2006, both toes were amputated due to gangrene and the hind legs were amputated one month later.

After losing his leg, with the help of the Challenger Athletes Foundation, he participated in an adaptive sporting event called the "Extreme Games". Various medical challenges.

Not to feel frustrated, in 2012, Holiday launched an adaptive sport called Athletes with DisAbilities Network NE, and kayaking is one of them.

But after a heart attack and a car accident, the rough road ahead is still looming, and it will take four years to recover. In 2016, he qualified for the National Paralympic Team, but failed to obtain a berth for sprint kayaking at the Rio de Janeiro Paralympic Games.

Since 2013, Dyson's physical and psychological importance has been off the chart. "I wouldn't be here without him," Holiday emphasized. "If I did not have a dog when I had an adrenal crisis in 2016, I am not sure if I would come out of the basement before my body stopped working due to the 105.5 degree fever caused by the stomach virus."

Holiday suffers from adrenal insufficiency caused by lupus, so he takes steroids.

He recalled an incident in December 2016 and believed that Dyson saved his life. "I thought I was poisoned by food, so I slept in the basement so as not to keep Liz (Liz Vogel, Holiday’s other half) awake. Of course, Dyson was with me and I didn’t feel so uncomfortable when I slept. I started to burn. It doesn't feel right.

"My phone is not with me, so I let Dyson find the phone he brought me. I called Liz and then 911. Next, I sent Dyson to my K9 phone and he pressed I also dialed 911. I couldn't walk, so Dyson leaned behind me and pushed me to help me climb the stairs."

Nursing staff drove him to the hospital and injected steroids to restore his 105.5 body temperature to normal.

Vogel added: "Dyson gave Brandon a sense of home and stability, and he took it with him wherever he went. It's almost like Dyson healed cloth in some way with positivity and love. Langdon. He is a big yellow, cute dog. When he curls up in the room, everyone gets excited and smiles."

Vogel and Holiday have been together since June 2013-four months after Dyson appeared-and have lived together since 2015​​. "Working with service dogs," she added, "needs some adjustments. We are more than two people. We will always be two people and Dyson. Although we consider all of our dog family members, we have one that can be taken with us. The dog has some unique features."

The couple also have three other dogs-Lucy, 7 years old, a German Shepherd; Valor and 3 year old Belgian Malinois Kiko. Vogel feeds and plays with them every day. "She is incredible," Holiday emphasized. "She maintains the optimism and progress of this package, which deserves high praise."

Although certain drugs have been proven to be ineffective on holidays, Dyson has proven to be the perfect prescription. "The increase in my activities comes from the confidence to be with Dyson. If there are bad days, Dyson will make those days bearable. Dyson is intuitive and can feel when I feel pain or mobility. Sometimes, When I feel tired and struggling to get up, Dyson slaps my face with my paw and makes a sound, which means "Get up, Dad." "That's a good cure, isn't it?"

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