Patches the BEST service dog in the world!!

by Viki Gentilman
(Bryceville, Florida)

This is Patches "Princess" wave

Patches is half Anatolian Shepherd and half Great Pyrenees. She was born the same day my first guide dog puppy graduated (who was raised by my daughter in law, son and a bit of help from me)... How is that for karma!

I got her from Florida Service Dogs in Jacksonville, Florida. She knew how to brace (stand like a rock for me to get up from places) and balance me when I was walking. When I begin to lean to the right, she leans to the left in her harness...when I lean towards her, she "pushes" up on me till I am upright. BEFORE I got her I was falling an AVERAGE of 4 times a day and had even broken several bones. I have had her almost 5 years and she has not let me fall one time! She is my ANGEL!!

It took about a year and a half of working with her to get her to retrieve things. Both of her breeds are stubborn with a "make me" attitude. I knew she knew how to do it...but she just didn't want to. Then one day while working a puzzle book in a hotel lobby in Tampa...with all the comings and goings of check in and check out, a jackhammer outside tearing up the sidewalk, Tampa traffic and blowing horn, and a radio with soft music -- I dropped my pen. When I reached to get it, Patches had it in her mouth!! Of all the places and times in the world, she decided that was a place to really impress me! And it WAS!!

She is so good now at retrieving things she can pick up a dime. I don't let her pick up pennies anymore since I found out they were poisonous to dogs. She will get me anything I ask her to, treat or not!

Everyone loves Patches. My husband and I are busy with lots of volunteer programs (CERT, ARES, RED CROSS, and I volunteer with FORESTRY)and she is somewhat the "mascot" in them all. When we graduated from the CERT training, the fire chief from Jacksonville gave PATCHES her own certificate! We also went to an Emergency Management "boot camp" where we stayed 14 days in a row. All of the different pictures of the class doing things, Patches HAD to be front and center and she had her own ID plate made...and she got a certificate from Tallahassee Community College! We have also taken many of the FEMA courses that you have to go to (as well as the online courses) and most of the teachers give Patches a certificate for coming. They are all in the book I keep her "important records" in.

She is my ANGEL and I look forward to her retirement time ONLY because she wants to slow down. I will miss working with her. But she does want to stay home and watch Lassie movies while laying on the couch with her Kong filled with treats...and I hope she has a VERY LONG retirement!!