Looking for dogs for our next training class is one of the best parts of what I do. This time I am excited announce that we will be working with  Oakland Pet Adoption Center!!! They have agreed to donate dogs for FREE to our program! They believe in our mission and are excited to help and so are we….

Donna Fournier (Dog Trainer), Jamie Gorm (Dog Trainer apprentice), his wife Lillie and myself headed out to see what we could find Friday. In the car on the way, I knew I had to have ‘the talk’ with Jamie and Lillie. Going to a Humane Society or Animal Control is very hard…seeing the dogs living in that environment. With Jamie in training and observing body language, he would surely see many signs of stress and anxiety. I needed to prepare them that we couldn’t save them all. And with that being said, I went directly into the details of what we were looking for in this next group….

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Hi, my mane is Fiona. It wasn’t always that name, my life wasn’t like this. I don’t remember much of my past, as I like to live in the moment! I do remember living somewhere far away from here; I drove a long time in the back of a truck, in a cage with other dogs like myself.  I remember waking up in a strange place…..I was sore, tired and confused. I heard someone say that I was spayed…..whatever that meant. I have had babies in the past and I wasn’t much interested in that again. I was put in a room alone. Someone even brought me dinner! I didn’t have to try to catch it; it was placed right in front of me. My mouth was sore…..but I could still eat the niblets better. I was now missing a tooth, and it was hard to keep my tongue in my mouth. I tried to smile pretty when strange people would come look in at me, they did that all day long. These people would take other dogs out of there room, and then the dogs would never come back- just being replaced with other dogs. I got the impression that I was ‘ugly’, I heard someone say that one day, I could tell it wasn’t good cause of the look on their faces when they looked at me. Sympathy and sadness was what I saw all day long, for almost 2 months…until one day when a nice lady took me into a room….

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The story of how we got this wonderful dog named Patton is an incredible story of love. The man in whom we named this dog in honor of, Army Specialist Adam Patton, is a legacy that will live on in a unique way….

I wrote to Sandy Orr Kottre only days after her receiving the news of her son’s tragic death…..I debated on writing her, knowing a little of the shock and grief she was feeling. I also understand the need to hang on, to keep the memory alive in others. I was prepared that I wouldn’t receive anything back from Sandy for awhile, if ever. But I needed to have her permission to name this special dog after her special son before I could make it official. Sandy replied back that night…..needing to reach out understandably, but neither of us knew where this would lead….We have emailed back and forth over the next month, strangers connected in a shared tragedy, unspoken but understood. There is a sad and unique bond from these ‘Gold’ Star families…..a group you do not want to be a part of, but one highly respected.

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Faith: meaning hope and belief in goodness. Honor: fairness and integrity. Combine them together and you have love and loyalty….

This story reminds me of an old sang my mother used to say; “Never judge a book by its cover”

I remember that day at Michigan Humane Society, we were there a week ago and back to look at another dog. While in the room with that other dog, a black blur went by the door. “Let’s look at that dog” Donna pointed. And in wagged a stinky, chubby black mess….she helicopter twirled her tail and nudged her nose right in Donna’s face!  And out the door we walked with a dog that normally wouldn’t have been my first choice. (We all have certain breeds or looks we like, mine is a big block headed bully breed). So I was unprepared to be taken in by this sweet soul…

Honor, a big name for this little dog. But she lives up to it perfectly.  She is the most well balanced dog I know. Quickly nicknamed “Vet Cat” by one of our veterans. You know, the cat at the Veterinarians that is allowed out and greets everyone when they come in? Yup, that was Honor alright. And within weeks she was losing weight and ready to pass Canine Good Citizen. Honor was more than ready to meet her Therapy Human….

Air Force Veteran, Faith Harris. I was wondered if we would receive a woman in our program. I mean, woman didn’t serve in combat, right? And Air Force?  Maybe she was flying in a plane and got shot down? Faith Harris was assigned as Security Forces to an Army unit. Multiple tours including Iraq. When meeting Faith it is clear, it is not about man or woman, no difference in which Military branch…..but another Veteran who served our country (*understated*)

Faith wasted no time in getting plane tickets to come meet/train with her dog. Picking up Faith from the airport, we were allowed to have Honor meet her at her gate. It was like a reunion with old friends. Their connection so complete that I could have turned them right around and sent them home with no additional training…..

Hona, drop the r and add an a, with Faith’s Boston accent, quickly became her new name. I loved it! The change in Hona was immediate, she was more playful and even sassy at times. We took Faith and Hona to the lake wondering how she would be in water.  With Faith living by the ocean, they went to the beach often. Well, I believe it was Hona that pulled Faith into the water….swimming naturally back and forth, using her tail like a rudder. She looked like a Otter. She then became Honor Otter. Within the first week Faith and Hona worked so well together, that they were ‘neutral dog’ in part of 2 other dogs Canine Good Citizen tests. This confidence and motivation encouraged Faith to ask to become a trainer so she can go back home and help train other Veterans dogs.  Faith+Honor=Pride.

I got a call from Faith 5 days after returning home. “Something is wrong with Hona….. she isn’t acting right…..walking in circles, wont lay down, starting to whimper”……Faith took Hona to the Emergency Vet Clinic on a Saturday night at 9:00.  I paced my bedroom for the next hour…..what was going on? she couldn’t be sick, she was just seen by the Vet, did she eat something?  A bowl instruction? Terrible thoughts and worry raced thru my head….then Faith called to say: “Hona has swimmer tail!!!” …..apparently she had a little too much fun swimming in the ocean that day and  she pulled a butt muscle……