Selfless career comes to close for beloved dog

[Nina, Phil, Harlow & Lacey]

Many of us watched the PBS special Through a Dog's Eyes, the story about Canine Assistants.  Well Canine Assistants farm is not too far from where I live.  Yesterday I was reading our local weekly paper and came across this article about one of their dogs.  I have copied it below just in case the link doesn't work.

 

Selfless career comes to close for beloved dog

By Joan Durbin
[e-mail]

 

Eight years ago, at a Sam’s Club, Kathy Walker encountered a woman with a handsome golden retriever wearing a Canine Assistants vest.

The dog, Caesar, was a service dog from Milton-based Canine Assistants.

“I was immediately drawn to him,” said Ms. Walker.

Sue Harrison, Caesar’s handler, told Ms. Walker about the nonprofit organization that trains dogs to aid the physically challenged, and Walker, who has a disabled son, immediately signed on as a Canine Assistants volunteer.

Since then, she has trained numerous dogs for the organization and has both an active service dog for her son and a retired service dog, now a companion and pet, at home. She said Caesar has always been her inspiration.

“Caesar taught me what to expect of the dogs I train,” Ms. Walker said. “He was confident, a role model, what service dogs should always be when out in public.”

As a “spokesdog” for Canine Assistants, Caesar was well-known to many north Fulton residents and had made appearances across the nation.

“He did presentations at schools, from pre-schools to college, businesses, Rotary Club meetings, and participated in the K-9 Kids pilot program, a reading program where at risk readers read one-on-one to the dogs,” said Ms. Harrison, a Roswell resident who is the director of National Volunteer Services for Canine Assistants.

“He traveled with me all over the country, doing presentations and raising awareness about service dogs and how they assist people with disabilities. He loved his job, always had a smile on his face.”

People would stop and ask about him whenever they saw him, Harrison said, opening the window of opportunity to talk about Canine Assistants and service dogs.

Locals knew Caesar as Ms. Harrison’s companion on daily walks or her trips around north Fulton to complete everyday tasks. Good-natured, spirited and highly intelligent, it was almost impossible to resist his considerable doggie magnetism. Some businesses they visited regularly even kept dog treats on hand because Caesar relished them so much.

That’s why his sudden demise earlier this month came as a sad shock. An apparent neurological breakdown left him incapacitated, and the end came quickly.

Harrison, who with her husband Arnie were Caesar’s human “parents’ since he was eight months old, said the dog’s first role in life was as the first male breeder for Canine Assistants, siring 25 puppies for training by the organization before taking on the role of goodwill ambassador.

“He was such a perfect example of all that is good in dogs that we used him as a breeder in the hopes we could produce more dogs like Caesar,” said Dr. Kent Bruner, the Canine Assistants’ veterinarian and husband of the group’s founder, Jennifer Arnold.

Though his blood line will live on, Caesar will always be one of a kind, Ms. Harrison said.

“He had a presence about him. He loved life; his exuberance was contagious and a part of him will always be with us.”

 

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

RIP, Caesar. You did more good in your short time on this earth than most people ever do, and your memory will live on, along with your legacy.

[Denise & Hunter!!!]

What an inspiration Caesar was ~ God Bless

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

Thanks for sharing Caesar's story, Nina. He was certainly a very special, inspirational dog.

[Lisa {Zoe's Mom]]

Karen & Jack said it perfectly. What a life! May life over the bridge bring as much joy to you as you did to those on earth.

[cheryl & oliver]

what a wonderful dog and all he did for all that needed it...RIP your way to the rainbow bridge will be lit with many candles to guide you....

[Nancie & Gracie Doodle]

How sweet and how sad! What a wonderful dog, teacher, friend and companion he was :(

[F, Calla & Luca]

Hail Caesar! What a great story about a great dog.

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

What an inspiration!

[Lorraine Bromley]

UNCONDITIONAL LOVE! That sums up ceasar and many dogs who have had the same given to them throughout thier lives. Some even give it when they have never known it themselves. God lives in dogs.