Labrador Named Lily Always Gets Her Deaf Sister When It’s Time For A Walk

Meet Lily. This cute black Labrador retriever has quickly become irreplaceable in her owner Bridget and her other dog Kinley’s household. At first, Lily was just a service dog for Bridget, who is in a wheelchair, but Kinley the dog also requires some help as she is deaf. Lily and Kinley became best friends quickly, and now all their owner has to do is say, “Go get Kinley” and Lily rushes to let the other dog know that it’s time to go for a walk. She does so by simply booping Kinley’s nose.

According to their owner, Lily and Kinley spend the day together with Kinley relying on Lily to give her cues or signals. Without Lily, Kinley can become anxious and overwhelmed trying to understand her environment. Lily provides a lot of peace, comfort, and support to Kinley. Lily also learns so much from Kinley and models her behaviors. Bridget seems to be very happy to share a glimpse into their beautiful friendship: “They love each other and they take care of each other. I think there’s a lot we can all learn from Lily and Kinley.”

After sharing the story of Lily online, Bridget says she is grateful and surprised by the internet’s response. There wasn't any intention for Lily to become a dog influencer, but Bridget is hoping to utilize her audience to raise awareness and educate people about disabilities as well as the importance of service dogs.

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Bored Panda asked Bridget about Kinley and how she lost her hearing: “Kinley is a 9-year-old yellow Labrador and I’ve had her since she was 8 weeks old. She has some neurological disabilities that resulted in her losing her hearing when she was about 6 months old. We taught her signs to communicate with her and she lives a very happy, healthy life.”

When asked about Lily, Bridget explains: “I trained her as my mobility service dog, which means she performs tasks that help mitigate my physical disability. I taught her 'Go get help' for instances where I need more assistance. I think that provided the foundation for her to 'Go get Kinley.' Everyone seems to be really impressed with how many skills Lily can perform. She loves doing a job and whether that is helping me or Kinley, she's always up for the challenge. I think that is what people connect with the most - seeing how excited Lily is to get Kinley.”

Bridget told us more about getting a service dog in general: “There are not enough service dogs to meet the demand. I was 11 years old when I got my first dog, Coal, and I trained him myself as my mobility service dog. I began volunteering and training service dogs for other people with disabilities. I felt so lucky that I had the skills to provide someone with a life-changing service dog and I knew I wanted to help more people. In 2010, I started a nonprofit called Illini Service Dogs, which provides college students with the experience of training a service dog from puppyhood to placement. The service dogs are provided free of charge to people with physical disabilities since we are all volunteers. After Coal retired, I trained his successors and now Lily is my 4th owner-trained service dog.”

"Kinley and Lily are best friends and spend most of their day playing with each other or cuddling on the couch together. Since I am now working from home, we've been able to spend even more time together. The girls get along perfectly but there may have been one or two lamps that did not survive their zoomies," says Bridget.