When ailing Elizabeth Woodard needs help, she can always rely on her guardian angel dog.
The Upper East Side woman says her pet pooch Olivia can sense symptoms of her chronic illness before they strike — but her co-op board charges the barking dog is more nuisance than Nostradamus.
The Woodard family, facing possible eviction, says it would rather be homeless than dogless.
“If we lose Olivia, we lose Elizabeth,” said her mother Harriet Woodard. “They have to be together.”
Elizabeth, 32, suffers from mast cell activation syndrome — a rare, life-threatening disease that leads to sudden and unpredictable changes in blood pressure, rapid heartbeat and bouts of dizziness. The ailment left Elizabeth unable to work or even leave the E. 86th St. apartment without the help of relatives who live with her.
Harriet says her daughter’s diagnostic dog helps make things easier. “Sometimes, Elizabeth is eating something that we think is fine, but Olivia knows better,” said Harriet Woodard. “She barks at her and then jumps up and pushes the food away.
“Sometimes, she’ll bark and bark at Lizzie until (she) lies down because Olivia knows that her blood pressure is about to spike.”
Co-op board members contend Olivia’s volume drowns out claims of her supposed medical abilities.
Olivia arrived three years ago as a gift to Woodard’s parents, and family members quickly recognized the bearded collie’s gift.
Woodard suffers from mast cell activation syndrome — a rare disease that leads to sudden and unpredictable changes in blood pressure, rapid heartbeat and bouts of dizziness. Her family says Olivia, the dog, can warn her of oncoming symptoms.
“You see it once and you think it’s a coincidence, but then it happens again and again,” said Woodard’s brother Andrew. “You’re like, ‘Wait a minute. There’s really something happening here.’ ”
But a board attorney claimed the Woodards have refused to address the barking, along with repeated requests to more thoroughly soundproof their home or train the dog to remain silent.
One building resident has filed a series of complaints about the yapping dog. The Woodards insist Olivia only barks occasionally — and never loud enough to become a pain.
The family, in a Manhattan Supreme Court lawsuit filed last week, also charges the board hinted that they are trumping up Elizabeth’s debilitating illness.
Olivia was not purchased as a service dog, like those that help the deaf or veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder. But it became clear to the Woodards soon after they took the dog home that this was no ordinary pet.
The Woodards said they understand the board’s skepticism about Olivia’s special powers, but not the insensitivity.
The Woodards have lived in their building since 1988 and don’t want to move. But one thing is for sure: They’re not giving up their magical dog.
“It’s about safety,” Harriet Woodard said. “This has been home for over 25 years. I’m just so disappointed.”
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