A local family is close to their goal of obtaining a service dog for their young son thanks to the generosity of the community.

The Brown family has been looking to get an Aspen Service Dog for five-year-old Colin for some time now.

Colin has been diagnosed with several medical conditions, including two extremely rare genetic conditions, autism, epilepsy, hypotonia, and microcephaly.

His mother Krista describes him as a beacon of light.

"He's quite a unique special boy. I say that not just because he's my child, but he seems to have this almost magic about him where he meets people and they just fall in love with Colin, they just take to him."

Colin's family tried to train their own service dog, Jovie, in early 2021, but she didn't end up being a good match for Colin.

Jovie is now living with a family in Edmonton, and the Browns regularly receive updates from that family.

Colin's time with Jovie was short but very promising, showing that just the presence of a dog was impactful for Colin.

'The small amount of time we had Jovie in our house, Colin started to babble for the first time, he had help with regulating his emotions; a lot of the autism spectrum issues a lot of children have. Another problem we have is him running off, say, in parking lots. A lot of people around town have seen us and I look like the crazy mom, he just doesn't respond and keeps on running. When we had Jovie, his job was to make sure the puppy was safe and hold the leash with mummy. He did it, he was so proud of that, and it changed our life," says Krista.

A fully trained dog would assist Colin with a number of things that are commonly associated with service dogs like epileptic seizures and emotional regulation, as well as some areas Krista wasn't even aware dogs could help with.

"Colin also has celiac. He is starting to have more vocabulary, but he's still limited in his speech, but he can't go up to somebody and say, 'I have to make sure this is gluten-free, otherwise it'll make me sick.' The dog is being trained to alert if there is gluten in food and block him. That's pretty amazing to me, I had no idea that dogs could do all these amazing things."

It's a lengthy process of two years of government-accredited training for the dogs, with families also needing to train with the dogs prior to taking them home.

They come at quite a cost for those who need them, about $30,000.

The Browns already have $5000 put aside from the fundraising for Colin's first dog, and thanks to the community, most of the rest has been taken care of.

Krista was hesitant to start fundraising again after the generosity from the first fundraiser, but the community didn't leave it up to the family to shoulder the cost.

In late October, the Okotoks Elks Club hosted a fundraiser featuring dinner, prizes, and live music.

December has seen two events for the family, with CanAm Wrestling hosting "Against the Odds," on December 3. The night was dedicated to Colin and included him signing photographs that were sold at the event.

About a week later, 100 Women Who Care Foothills made their quarterly donation to the family. It was their biggest donation yet, totalling $13,620.

For Krista, the response from the community has been unimaginable.

"I think we raised the entire amount, which is incredible... I would say 'speechless' is quite honestly a good word. The night that we left from 100 Women Who Care, my friend said, 'I don't know how you're not crying,' and I'm like, 'I think I'm just in shock.' I honestly think that's where I was and where I still remain because there's been tears in the shower and tears at night... I'm just overjoyed and completely overwhelmed with the love for my family." 

As for Colin's future service dog, Krista says there are a few dogs in training that are showing potential, with one that's looking particularly promising.

"If that dog passes all the testing, which is government standard, then we might have our dog as early as March 1, instead of October, which was our original two-year mark."