“You just have to know how to listen to them,” said Sondra Burnette of Killeen, a private service dog trainer who specializes in inter-species communication.

“Animals are born with the ability to read us like a book,” Mrs. Burnette explained. “They tell us things all the time. You just have to know how to listen.”

She says her teaching methods are similar to those of an ESL teacher.

“It’s repetition,” she said. “And it works.”

Mrs. Burnette’s not just a service dog trainer. She’s also a service dog user. Her unique position came about after a diagnosis of Parkinson’s Disease.

Her service dog, a 10-year-old hairless Chinese Crested, goes by the name of Calliope Rose.

“She’s a source of comfort,” Mrs. Burnette said. “The more I shake, the closer she presses against me. She tries to absorb the trembles so I don’t have to.”

The dog also fetches items Mrs. Burnette can’t reach or lift. Calliope Rose has also started to learn the steering controls on Mrs. Burnette’s new automated wheelchair.

“Sometimes I get flustered, trying to go this way or that - and already her paw is coming up, ready to take over for me.”

On the patient side of the service dog relationship, Mrs. Burnette’s been able to observe first-hand how animals are useful in therapy.

“The studies show that quality time with an animal can lower blood pressure and raise endorphins,” she said. “Now I feel that.”

--Email Tomie Lunsford at tlunsford@temple-telegram.com