Kriti Mehrotra
While there’s no denying service dogs are a wonder for those who need that sort of companionship, guidance, and help in life, some of us never really think of how much effort actually goes into their training. Then there’s the fact that finding the right match between a qualified canine and its person is an entirely different process altogether, which we get a bit of insight into with Netflix’s ‘Inside the Mind of a Dog.’ Thankfully, though, it turns out some like Jazmin Tinsley have been successfully matched with not one but two such animal partners in life, with the latter for her being a Golden/Lab Retriever mix named Bonus.
Jazmin Tinsley Has Faced Medical Issues Her Entire Life
The moment Jazmin was born to Sandy and Kevin Tinsley as their only girl as well as their youngest child, they knew something was awry owing to the seeming frenzy of the medical professionals to follow. That’s when they learned she had a few medical conditions that would always affect the quality of her life, only for them to double down and decide they would do everything in their power to support her. Her diagnoses actually include autism and muscle tone cerebral palsy, the latter of which hinders her from having full control of her movements since her muscles are so perpetually relaxed they lack stability.
Thus, Jazmin has reportedly had to and will continue to have to undergo several surgeries a year so as to live her best possible life, but it is undeniably difficult for her in more ways than one. In fact, she had a feeding tube until she was 18 and couldn’t walk for the longest time, only to now have limited use of her limbs through which she can use assistive technology to communicate. The truth is she has always had comprehensive abilities — whether it be a normal conversation, empathy, humor, passion, or sadness, she can clock everything — but she can’t participate in a way that is deemed normal.
Bonus is Jazmin’s Second Service Animal
Because of the way Jazmin didn’t have the right tools or the right companion through which she could effectively articulate her emotions, she was a rather introverted and publicly timid child. However, everything changed once her family connected with Canine Companions after both her older brothers noticed how service dogs help people with all sorts of disabilities and looked into the same for her. That’s because the 15-year-old soon got matched with an adorable pup called Ohio, whose aid as well as presence comforted her to such an extent her real personality began coming to light.
Unfortunately, as expected, Ohio grew older as the years went by and had to retire, so the Tinsleys chose to formally adopt him as a domestic pet before applying to receive a successor service dog. This was when Bonus came into the picture for them — Jazmin was matched with this then-2-year-old Golden/Lab Retriever mix in the summer of 2023, just for them to bond perfectly in their 2-week trial. Bonus’ empathetic, hyper, and luminous qualities, along with his training, enable him to be exactly what she needs, so the Tinsleys took him to his new home in Rehoboth, Delaware, in August 2023.
Jazmin and Bonus Are Best Friends Today
Although Bonus is technically Jazmin’s service dog as well as her prime support system, her father has since conceded that he is also so much more — he is her best friend in every way, shape, and form. Whenever she has had surgeries since they connected, he has always been by her side at both home and the hospital to ensure she is taken care of, all the while teasing and playing with her too. As if that’s not enough, it appears as if he has even enabled this 24-year-old Sussex Consortium graduate to thrive in her reported job at Ann Taylor Factory as a back-end worker plus shipment checker. Furthermore, it seems like the Rehoboth, Delaware native also teaches pre-kindergarten students in small groups, hoping to one day follow in her mother’s footsteps to become a professional teacher.
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