ORONO – Brooklyn the service dog gives Doug Sewall, 56, of Orono a new leash on life.

“He makes my life easier,” Sewall said. Sewall’s mobility was compromised when he had polio as a child. He gets around on crutches – the kind that fit around the elbows – and on occasion when necessary, in a wheelchair. Sewall retired four years ago from his profession as an anesthesiologist.

Brooklyn is a medium-sized yellow Labrador retriever highly skilled in the art of fetching and carrying, and other helping tasks. He came to live with Sewall in December 2003.

If Sewall drops a crutch, a mitten or car keys, Brooklyn will – on command – pick them up in his mouth and give them to Sewall. Sewall has wrapped his metal crutches with a soft, rubbery material to make it easier on Brooklyn’s mouth.

“The first time I dropped a glove after I got Brooklyn, it took me a minute to remember that he could help,” Sewall said. “He can pick up a credit card and even a piece of paper. The paper will be a little crumpled, but he can get it.”

Brooklyn’s zeal to assist is so finely tuned, he sometimes helps when he hasn’t been asked – like bring the cordless phone when it didn’t ring. He also likes to carry in the mail and help Sewall’s wife, Kathie, carry in sticks of firewood. He can fetch his leash, turn lights off and on, close doors and open automatic doors by pushing the door button with his nose. But his life is not all work.

“The thing about Brooklyn,” Kathie Sewall said, “is that he seems to know the difference between being just a dog around me and a service dog to Doug.” Brooklyn likes to chase tennis balls, romp in his fenced-in yard, go for walks with Kathie Sewall and trot along when Doug Sewall takes a spin on his hand-operated bicycle.

Brooklyn sleeps on his own bed at the foot of Sewalls’ bed. He’s not allowed on the furniture and has a second bed in another part of the house.

Brooklyn is allowed, like seeing eye dogs, to go anywhere Sewall goes, including restaurants.

“He is never given food from the table so he hasn’t learned to beg,” Sewall said. Which means when the Sewalls dine out, Brooklyn strolls into the restaurant, retains his doggie dignity, crawls under the table and goes to sleep.

Brooklyn was trained by the National Education for Assistance Dogs Services program, or NEADS, based in Massachusetts.

“Brooklyn loves women,” Sewall said. There may be a very good reason for that. He spent his first 10 weeks at a dog breeding facility owned by a woman. He spent his next year or so in training with a woman inmate at a Connecticut correctional facility, and another few months, before being placed with Sewall, at a kennel owned by a woman.

“Brooklyn did a year of jail time,” Sewall joked, “but he got out on weekend passes so he could be socialized with families.” Sewall praised Tracy, the woman inmate, and her ability to train Brooklyn so well. “Brooklyn was with Tracy 24 hours a day.”

Brooklyn is not the only one who received training in order to make the canine and human relationship work. Sewall, along with four other people who received service dogs, was required to attend two weeks of training before bringing Brooklyn home.

“It was a life-affirming experience,” Sewall said. “Some of the others were much more limited in mobility than I am.”

In February, Brooklyn went along to visit the Sewalls’ daughter in California. It was the dog’s first plane ride.

“I was prepared for it not to go well,” Sewall said, but Brooklyn took to the air calmly and easily. The dog answered calls of nature before boarding the plane, settled at Sewall’s feet during the eight-hour flight and got only a bit uneasy during take-off and landing. “People were amazed at how well-behaved he was [during the flight],” Sewall said. For his in-flight snack, Brooklyn ate dog biscuits.

The badge of Brooklyn’s profession is a little red “vest” he wears in public and a gentle leader he wears around his muzzle. Sewall said that some people are respectful about approaching Brooklyn and ask if it’s OK to pet the dog. Other people reach to pet Brooklyn immediately, which is fine with Sewall.

As for Brooklyn, when he’s on the receiving end of all that attention, he wiggles all over, from the tip of his black nose to the tip of his yellow tail. He looks up as if to say, “I have the best job on the planet.”

Doug Sewall and Brooklyn are available to talk to groups interested in knowing more about service dogs. Call him at 866-2103. Visit www.neads.org to obtain more information about the NEADS service dog program.