Vote for Moxie the Service Dog

https://www.herodogawards.org/...

For a fuzzy, five-year-old Goldendoodle, Moxie has a lot riding on her sturdy little shoulders.

Moxie, a service dog, assists her owner, Katie Harris, with everyday tasks like retrieving and carrying belongings, opening and closing doors, getting bottled water from the refrigerator – and providing support and companionship.

Harris, a former Kansas City resident who returned to the St. Louis area in 2021, uses a wheelchair part time because she has Ehlers Danlos Syndrome, a rare congenital disease of the connective tissue that causes overly-flexible joints, easily-bruised skin and fragile organs.

Moxie is also the inspiration for Moxie’s Mission, the nonprofit Harris started to spread knowledge of service, therapy and emotional support dogs—and to provide financial assistance for veterans, first-responders, and those in need of service dogs.

Now, Moxie is a finalist for the 2023 American Humane Hero Dog Awards in the Service and Guide Dog Category. The honor was just announced, and voting is open for the next few weeks. (For the link to cast a vote for Moxie, visit the Moxie’s Mission website. You can vote once every day.)

It’s not just a cute dog contest – though Moxie is undeniably cute.

“It’s about more than winning,” says Harris. “The goal is to build Moxie’s Mission so we can help other people by getting a national platform, gaining credibility, getting more sponsors and having more speaking engagements.

“A vote for Moxie will literally change lives if we actually win.”

Harris not only has Moxie the service dog, she has moxie herself – the gift of facing difficult situations with spirit and courage. Her health challenges have not held her back from playing and coaching wheelchair tennis and helping others virtually through her private practice as a licensed clinical social worker.

Over these next few weeks, Harris will be even busier than she usually is, campaigning for Moxie in person, on social media and within her sizeable networks. Along with her two full-time jobs, she’ll be printing flyers and trading cards, recording videos, posting on Facebook and recruiting others to help spread the word.

“I do all the work, and Moxie gets all the credit,” Harris says with a laugh.

In addition, custom Moxie plushies will be available starting this month, and three fundraisers are in the works, with proceeds going towards a goal of $10,000 to fund service dog training through Missouri Patriot Paws for a specific first-responder battling PTSD.

Harris and Moxie maintain a busy speaking schedule, too, visiting camps, schools, YMCAs and other groups, sharing their story, demonstrating Moxie’s abilities and reading the children’s book Harris co-authored, “Moxie Makes a Difference.”

Indeed, the motto of Moxie’s Mission is “Pay It Forward. Make a Difference,” something Harris has been doing almost her whole life. When her brother died as a result of drinking and driving in 1998, she turned the tragedy into something positive, forming a non-profit, City Conquest, and traveling nationwide to give educational presentations to students.

“I don’t get paid for Moxie’s Mission,” she says. “My counseling clients pay what they can because I don’t want anyone to not get therapy because they don’t have the money. I want to take away the stigma of disabilities and mental illness through awareness and education.

“It’s all about developing resilience and using it for good—and that’s what Moxie and I are all about.”