3 local dogs compete in American Humane Hero Contest
Leo, Monty and Peyton are heroes to the people who love them. Now their owners are campaigning for official recognition, entering them in the American Humane Hero Dog Awards contest.
A total of 250 dogs are entered, including these three from the Pittsburgh area. Leo and Monty are in the Therapy Dogs division, which has 55 contestants. Peyton is entered in the Emerging Hero category for ordinary dogs who do extraordinary things.
They need your vote online to advance to the semifinals.
For more than 10 years, Leo, 11, a Portuguese water dog, has brought comfort and joy to kids at the Children’s Institute of Pittsburgh in Squirrel Hill. He lives in Moon with his therapy visit partner, Linda Shooer,and her husband, Ted Osial.
Monty, 8, a border collie mix, has been making therapy dog visits since 2012 with owner/partner Leonard F. Picone Jr. of Regent Square. Monty is versatile, visiting an array of age groups, including children at the Ronald McDonald House in Oakland and adults battling drug and alcohol addiction at the Gateway Rehabilitation Center in CenterTownship, Beaver County.
Peyton, a Boston terrier, lives in Washington, Pa., with a woman who says, “If not for Peyton, I would have taken my own life.”
In her very brief entry/nomination, the woman, a widow who wishes to remain anonymous, describes herself as “disabled” with “many health issues. ... I am just an ordinary person who happens to share my life with the most extraordinary dog that God created.”
Although this is a hero contest for dogs, Ms. Shooer and Mr. Picone deserve praise and credit
for the many hours they spend taking their dogs to therapy visits.
Both have full-time jobs and make therapy visits on their days off. She has worked at Carnegie Mellon University for 25 years and manages the professional development center in the Software Engineering Institute. He’s the chef at UPMC East in Monroeville.
For 8½ years, Leo worked with children who have Prader-Willi syndrome. The complex genetic disorder affects growth, development and behavior. Symptoms include chronic hunger that can lead to excessive eating and obesity.
“Walkingslowly with each child, Leo would maneuver carefully around oxygen tanks and make each child giggle hysterically by asking for a belly rub,” Ms. Shooer wrotein her nomination.
Leo has inspired sad and silent children to speak again. After spending days with Leo, a teenager who had lost her eyesight asked him to accompany her to her therapy sessions.
Since the Prader-Willi program ended about 18 months ago, Leo has been working withchildren with autism.
Leo has a clownish personality and likes to make people laugh, which Ms. Shooer says is typical of Portuguese water dogs.
Staff at the Children’s Institute are voting for Leo and will be posting a story about him on their website.
“I have seen Leo bond with each person he interacts with,” said Charlene Horvath, a teacher’s aide in The Day School at The Children’s Institute. “Leo makes each person feel special. He has an adorable and lovable personality. He is the best therapy dog I have known.”
When Mr. Picone was hospitalized in 2011, he missed Wolf, his husky mix, but was cheered by visits from therapy dogs. He vowed that someday he would own a dog that could make therapy visits. In 2012 that happened with Monty.
“Border collies are so smart. It wasn’t hard to get the therapy dog certification,” Mr. Picone said. “Monty is able to uplift almost anyone” just by playing and cuddling.
Children dress him in costumes, including the Superman shirt he wears on his Facebook page.
Learn more about these dogs on their Facebook pages: Leo the Therapy Dog and Monty International Therapy Dog.
Go to herodogawards.org to see photos and bios of the 250 dogs. Put the name of the dog you want to vote for in the “search” box. Or, go directly to the voting page of a local dog: herodogawards. — or the same address with “monty” or “peyton” at the end of the web address.
Online voting continues until April 25. You can vote once a day in each of the seven categories for a total of seven votes per day. The other categories are service, search and rescue, law enforcement/arson, military, andguide/hearing.
The seven finalists will be feted at a September gala that will be broadcast on the Hallmark Channel. American Humane will donate $2,500 to each dog’s “charity partner” and an additional $5,000 to the Hero Dog of the year.