Woman's adventures with her service dog at Disney go viral
Ashton McGrady and her service dog Forest have plenty of fun together, as documented in McGrady's social media posts capturing the help and guidance that Forest provides in her daily life.
McGrady said she posts videos of Forest online in order to advocate for service dogs and people with disabilities. McGrady said she has Gitelman syndrome, Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, POTS, autism and an inoperable cyst in her spinal cord.
Forest, a golden retriever, went viral earlier this month for his adorable reaction to meeting his favorite Disney character, Pluto, aboard a Disney Cruise Line ship.
In the video, which McGrady said has garnered around 20 million views across her various platforms, Pluto and Forest can be seen enjoying each other's company, cuddling with each other while Forest holds a Pluto-themed toy in his mouth.
"We make it a point every time that we visit Disney to always visit Pluto, and sometimes Pluto makes it a point to visit us," said McGrady.
She added, "I think it's important to take a step back and realize that he is only there because he is a working service dog. It's also a great opportunity to show what living with a service dog looks like, what that looks like for a disabled person ... I think just normalizing that is important."
McGrady said that through her Disney travels with Forest, Pluto has remained the pup's top choice of characters.
"Pluto is his favorite. Pluto is obviously very dog-like -- he has all the dog mannerisms. And [Forest] loves that," she said.
