And who could forget the beautiful pair of a high school student and her assistance dog, who both played prominent roles in their high school’s production of “The Wizard of Oz.”
At the Hasbrouck Heights High School in Hasbrouck Heights, New Jersey, Erin Bischoff was a senior. She was a typical student, but she did have a small distinction. She had osteogenesis imperfecta, often known as fragile bone disease, and needed a wheelchair to move around.
Gauge had been Erin’s assistance dog for four years earlier, making it a little bit simpler for her to get around. Gauge was skilled at grabbing items, opening doors, preventing people from banging against her wheelchair, and many other helpful tasks. The two formed a team right away.
Therefore, it was a given that Gauge would be playing the role of Toto when Erin was chosen to perform the major role of Dorothy in the school play. Even though it wasn’t his first time performing with Erin, he had a role to play this time. Erin also worked hard to ensure that Gauge would be prepared for the show and give a fantastic performance as Toto with the help of her classmates.
“I wasn’t used to having him be a proper protagonist, so it was a little difficult to work with since Toto had a lot of different signals and exits and entries throughout the play,” Erin said in an interview with Yahoo! However, we figured out how to teach him to recognize his signals with practice, patience, concessions, and adaptation.
Erin loved the theater, and she also played in the marching band at her school and worked at the neighborhood movie house. She would always have Gauge with her. There was no doubt about who would be by Erin’s side throughout her academic career when she decided to enroll at Fairleigh Dickinson University-Metropolitan Campus to pursue Health Studies. Erin had intended to go to law school after graduating from college.
To further her already amazing list of accomplishments, Erin frequently traveled to nearby neighboring high schools with Gauge to give talks about mobility assistance animals. She would discuss welcoming persons with impairments as well as service dog etiquette during these sessions.
The pair’s performance in “The Wizard of Oz,” which you can watch below, was possibly the most entertaining.