It’s been a busy month, with books launching and book week book weeking… And with all this exciting news, I’ve totally neglected my favourite segment: Dogs of the Rich and Famous!!!

For those playing along at home, in these posts, I feature an adorable canine creative muse. This post’s pooch is a tiny working dog that plays a huge role in the lives of his family.

Gorgeous Carson is assistant to Australian fantasy and children’s book author Rebecca Laffar-Smith, but that’s only part of his day job.

“We got Carson as a puppy two years ago with the intention of training him to be a service animal for my 14yo autistic son, Joshua,” says Rebecca.

About Carson 

Age:  2 years.

Breed (or best guess): Poodle cross Maltese (also known as a Moodle)

Assistant to: Children’s and scifi/fantasy author Rebecca Laffar-Smith.

Rebecca Laffar-Smith always yearned to explore the wonders of this world and beyond. She gave up a successful career writing about the non-fiction world in favour of fantastical creatures and the fanciful things she could create and immortalise in fiction.

Now she writes full-time while homeschooling her Autistic son, raising her creative daughter, and volunteering as an events coordinator and mentor for her writing community.

She dreams of someday running a writer’s retreat on the outskirts of Perth and writing her stories in a detached, hexagonal room with dozens of bookshelves and plenty of natural light.

Rebecca writes children’s books especially for dyslexic kids, and fantasy/scifi. Her most recent book is City of LIght, book one in the Shadows Of Nar.

Help or hindrance? “Carson sits in my lap when I’m working,” says Rebecca. “When I’m thinking or struggling with emotional scenes, he does his job as a service animal to comfort me and bring me back into the real world when I get a bit lost.”

Fave toy: “He has two favourite toys,” says Rebecca. “A fluffy, pink bunny and his brother, my mother’s Poodle-cross-Chihuahua (Choodle), Teddy.” (Sooo cute! Check out Carson and Teddy the day Rebecca and her mum picked them up.)

Fave game: “Carson loves Fetch,” says Rebecca. “We have a device that shoots a small ball across the room and he loves it, but hasn’t quite mastered putting the ball into it himself.”

Photos by: Kaylie Laffar-Smith, used with permission, all rights reserved.

You can see more of Carson and Rebecca on Twitter or check out her books for dyslexic kids or scifi/fantasy on Facebook.