Assistance dog, 12-year-old make 'Marvelous' pair

0 Comments | USA TODAY, September, 2007 | by Brittany Levine

The next premier offering at FAO Schwarz isn't a robot with fancy gadgets or a jumbo giraffe. It's a book with no wizards, no princesses -- just Shea Megale and her assistance dog, the stars of Marvelous Mercer.

Shea, a happy-go-lucky 12-year-old from Centreville, Va., has a rare form of muscular atrophy, a terminal illness that limits her mobility and forces her to buzz around in a wheelchair with Billy Bob the teddy bear strapped to the back and Mercer, a 5-year-old retriever mix, at her side.

Ever since 2004, when Mercer became Shea's assistance dog, they have been inseparable. At the mall, Mercer carries Shea's purse and will hand the clerk a credit card using his mouth and paws. At school, Mercer lies beneath Shea's desk, and when she drops a pencil, he...