Coming to the rescue
Parker the former rescue puppy now is a service dog to a veteran who served her country
The little black puppy with two white front legs was “cute as a button,” but it wasn’t at all what Carol Borden was looking for.
When a veterinarian retired from the University of Florida asked her to rescue that puppy and five littermates, Ms. Borden agreed to take them into her facility in Williston, Fla.
For the past 10 years, Ms. Borden has been breeding and training German shepherds as service dogs for people — most of them military veterans — with physical and psychological injuries. She calls the dogs, and her organization, Guardian Angels Medical Service Dogs.
It didn’t seem like these puppies would work for that purpose. They were a mix of Labrador retriever and Great Pyrenees. Bred to be livestock guardian dogs, Great Pyrenees are big white dogs that are not generally trained as service dogs by any major organization.
Fast forward two years, and the distinctively marked canine is in the Pittsburgh area — partnered with a retired Army veteran who says the dog “has truly given me my life back.”
Once again, the black-and-white dog traveled a unique path to get to her destination.
Staff and customers of a popular local restaurant chain had been looking for ways to help veterans, said Trina DeMarco, director of community impact at Eat’n Park Hospitality Group. They decided they wanted a Guardian Angels dog — and they wanted a “rescue” dog.
The restaurant company, based in the Waterfront in Homestead, funded the $25,000 training cost. Ms. Borden tapped the Great
Pyrenees mix. And 10,000 “team members” (employees) voted to name the dog Parker.
Eat’n Park put Parker’s photo on posters that appeared in the restaurants.
Last summer, Parker came home with a veteran who says she is “a full-time mom, so I’m always on the go, and Parker has given me the freedom and independence to take every day in stride.”
The woman agreed to an interview via email but did not want to give her name or details about her military service.
“Parker has been a huge blessing to me. She has been trained to mitigate the effects of post-traumatic stress disorder, traumatic brain injury, seizure disorders, glucose imbalance, mobility issues and more. For me, she immediately recognizes when I’m uncomfortable and wakes me from nightmares,” the veteran said.
“When she’s off duty, she loves to play with my kids. She is very sweet and incredibly loving. Honestly, I can’t imagine my life without her.”
Parker and the veteran plan to visit all 60 Eat’n Park restaurants “so I can introduce Parker to everyone.”
“I know that team members and guests followed and supported Parker’s journey, and I am forever thankful for their support,” the veteran said.
Only Parker and one littermate made the grade as service dogs. That’s a 33% success rate. Ms. Borden found homes for the other four.
Ninety-five percent of the German shepherds Ms. Borden breeds have what it takes. It takes two years and $25,000 to train and care for the dogs. Each year, she and her staff place 50 dogs with people who need them.
Twenty percent of those dogs are “rescue” dogs. Her success rate with them is 80%, and she’s to be commended for giving rescue dogs a chance.
The people who need Guardian Angels dogs don’t pay a penny. The funding comes from companies, corporations and individuals. Many of the donors wish to remain anonymous, Ms. Borden said, but the list includes PNC Bank, which holds huge fundraisers in Pittsburgh and other locations. The Steelers, Pirates and Penguins have funded dogs, and so has the Scaife Foundation, The Pittsburgh Foundation and Highmark.
Since 2016, local businessmen Tony Accamando and John Piazza, both Vietnam veterans, founded Life Changing Service Dogs for Veterans to raise more than $1.3 million for dogs to provide service to 60 local veterans. About half of those veterans are waiting for dogs to be bred, born and trained.
Ms. Borden gets donations from all over the country, but the biggest percentage comes from the Pittsburgh area. That’s why Guardian Angels is trying to raise $15 million to $20 million to build a training facility on 102 acres in Robinson, Washington County. The organization purchased the land for $6,000 per acre.
“We hope to have an announcement in 2020” about how the fundraising campaign is going, Ms. Borden said. The goal is to double the number of dogs trained every year. The waiting list is now four years.
See www.MedicalServiceDogs.org for more information.