Specially Trained Dogs Help out Farmers With Disabilities

The demanding daily chores of a farmer were always a little different for Alda Owen, who is legally blind, able to see some blurry shapes and very close objects but not much else

Alda Owen pets her farm service dog Sweet Baby Jo after moving cattle on her farm near Maysville, Mo., Wednesday, Aug. 19, 2015. AP Photo/Orlin Wagner

MAYSVILLE, Mo.—The demanding daily chores of a farmer were always a little different for Alda Owen, who is legally blind, able to see some blurry shapes and very close objects but not much else.

It was like that for years on the 260-acre farm she shares with her husband in northwest Missouri until a bull knocked a gate into her, requiring 60 stitches in her left leg. Owen’s daughter decided her proud mother needed a helping hand — or in this case, a wagging tail: Sweet Baby Jo, a friendly, energetic border collie that helps control the couple’s Angus cattle.

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