A dog and his boy: Corgi, child bound by more than mere puppy love

When Robert Love fell from the swing at Lawrence Park in Kalispell a few weeks ago, his mother, Crystal Leach, raced to her 4-year-old son.

She was beaten to the scene by Robert’s best friend, Comet, an 18-month-old border collie/Welsh corgi mix.

Robert had fainted, and both Leach and Comet tried to revive the little boy. Leach tried to hold him up to rouse him. Comet barked repeatedly at her until she set him down, then he gently licked and nuzzled Robert back to consciousness.

The boy put his loyal companion in a gentle headlock.

“I love you, buddy,” he said.

Robert has suffered from vasovagal fainting disorder since birth. Leach said she would hold him as a baby and he would sometimes go limp, his eyes rolling back.

The disease is hereditary — passed down from his father — and means when Robert overreacts to certain stimuli (such as shocking news or the sight of blood) he will faint.

This presents obvious problems for Robert and Leach, a single mother who works at a Kalispell hotel. She said the disorder is lessened by the comforting presence of Comet.

“It’s triggered by stress,” she said. “Comet needs to stay by his side. He’s so loyal.”

Robert will have to go to school next year, and Comet isn’t trained to be a service dog. She looked at the cost of basic obedience lessons as well as more substantive training to become a service dog.

It was impossible on a single working mother’s salary.

Leach’s friend Amy Harbor, the owner of Rustic Ridge Kennels, met her through Facebook while trying to set her up with a dog. The two quickly became friends, and Harbor has thrown herself into helping Robert and Comet.

“I’ve been helping finding training,” Harbor said. “We’ve been looking for any help we can get.”

The first step was taken care of for them. Marie Moddrell, owner of Four Footers Finishing School, a dog obedience training school in Kalispell, donated a $175 basic obedience training course for Comet.

But that is just the first necessary step. The public access training course Comet would need to become a certified service dog costs $5,400.

Despite the cost, Leach said her son and his dog must be allowed to be together when school comes around.

“Sometimes I’ll take Robert to his grandmother’s house and Comet just paces the house all night,” she said. “They are inseparable. Comet saved him from passing out. He has to get service dog status.”

As for Robert, besides his fainting spells, he is a perfectly normal 4-year-old boy.

“I’d like to train Comet to ride a bike,” he said, chomping on french fries. “I like to make him ‘sit cool.’”

Sitting cool is when Robert shoves Comet’s rump to the ground. Comet doesn’t mind Robert’s gentle shoves. There is something in their connection where neither boy nor dog feels comfortable unless the other is near.

Harbor, who has worked with dogs all her life, said the two formed a strong bond like she had never seen.

If Comet gets his training and can accompany Robert to school next year, it will take a load off Leach.

“It’s been stressful,” she said. “Whenever he faints, I have to take him to the hospital. We have to sit there for 24 hours. He’s 4. After the first hour he asks me when he can go play.”

That’s not to mention the strain placed on Leach’s work life. The boy and dog have to go to the hotel with her sometimes.

Harbor worked with Whitefish Credit Union to help raise money for Comet’s training, under the “Robert Love Comet Service Dog Fund.” Donations from the community are welcome, and Leach said even if she can’t afford the training with the help, the boy and his dog will remain close.

“At the end of the day, when he’s in his bed, he will talk to Comet,” she said.

“Robert tells Comet about the favorite part of his day, and he just sits there with him until they both go to sleep.”