Training began immediately, thanks to Kristen’s daughter Samantha, who is a Certified Master Trainer and owner of STK9 Dog Training. One morning on the way to work, the trio drove through a Dunkin Donuts drive-thru. Colt went ballistic with the noises and the people. So crazed was this dog, that he bloodied the car windows as he lunged at the Dunkin’ Donuts staff. To try to help Colt improve his social skills, Kristen and Samantha incor- porated the drive-thru routine as part of his training. “One of us would get out of the car to correct Colt every day. We continued to do this for five days straight,” said Kristen. “On that fifth day, he was a changed dog. Calm, he just sat there in the car. The entire staff inside Dunkin’ Donuts came to the window and applauded Colt.” Another of Colt’s peccadillos
was putting one of his toys in the toilet bowl and flushing the toilet to watch it twirl around until it disap- peared. Yes, Colt is that smart. He had somehow figured out how to flush a toilet. This was both stimulat- ing and fun for him. After multiple flooding and expensive plumbers’ bills, Kristen had a heart-to-heart with Colt. “It had been a good six months before Colt and I came to an understanding. When I sat down with him, I looked him in the eye and said that we would keep doing this together, but from now on, we were going to do it my way,” said Kristen. Within a year of the heart-to-
heart, Colt received his Canine Good Citizen certificate. Six months later he was a trained therapy dog through Therapy Dogs International (TDI) and doing volunteer work with Kristen. In fact, Colt and Kristen’s other dog, Riley, a Great Pyrenees, have been tandem tested for therapy dog work. The team is part of an elite group of dogs working with Guardian Ad Litem, law enforcement, attorneys and other victims’ advocates for children who have either witnessed a violent crime or have been the victim of a violent crime themselves. In Pinellas County, the dogs are not actually allowed in the courtroom, but are placed in a room just off to the side of the courtroom. There, the dogs help a child during intimidating depositions. The room is usually full of detectives and lawyers, but no family members to help comfort the child. Some of the children only see cops as bad peo- ple. “Of course, they care very much for the children, and are doing everything they can to help them,” said Kristen. The dep- ositions, with the comfort of a therapy dog present, can be a step- ping stone for getting a child to open up. Then the child must go into the courtroom to take the wit-
ness stand, often having to face their abuser. When a child realizes the dog will not be allowed in the courtroom, it usually brings tears. Kristen was inspired to create stuffed animals in the likeness of Colt and Riley. She gives one of the animals to the child with
32 THE NEW BARKER
some of the dog’s own fur. She tells the child, “This is your force field, your protection. As soon as you get out of the courtroom, we’ll be right here for you.” No doubt, it’s a tough scene emotionally, for all of the
humans involved. “It takes a little while to get over everything you’ve witnessed and heard. You can’t talk about it to anyone. You just have to shake it off and get back to your regular life,” said Kristen. She remembers the case of a 17-year-old who had to testify
against her father. The abuses this child endured at the hands of her father for many years were unfathomable. Riley was the ther- apy dog who helped the young girl talk about her ordeal. The case was built and the day she took the witness stand, her father was in the courtroom looking right at her, mouthing ‘I love you’ to her. He ended up being convicted, receiving two back-to-back life sentences. Afterwards, the young girl re-
entered the side room off the court- room, shaking and sobbing. She sat in a chair, visibly drained. Riley stood up, walked over to her from across the room and looked straight in the child’s face, then sat down in front of her. “She grabbed Riley so hard and just hugged him,” said Kristen. Chills shook her as she recalled the memory of that day. As tough as it is on the humans,
Kristen knows how draining it is on the dogs afterwards. “These dogs see into people’s souls,” said Kristen. “They give so much of themselves while they are working.” After every therapy session at the
courthouse, Kristen treats her dogs by taking them to the Happy Talking
Box. “We go through the drive-thru at MacDonald’s and they get a hamburger with nothing on it. For me, I just love ‘em, hug ‘em, and each time hope to God we never have to go through that again.
Because that kind of abuse on children shouldn’t happen.”
Dogs who do this kind of therapy work have to be top notch and able to handle everything. Colt? The toilet toy tosser? Those rough edges have disappeared. This is one gem of a dog, and he continues to amaze everyone around him. In 2014, Colt played the part of Sandy the dog in the pro-
duction of the Broadway musical Annie at Thurgood Marshall Middle School. He went to play practice four nights a week. “Everyone loved him. He made friends everywhere he went,” said Kristen. He was voted Best Supporting Actor by the students. This past October during the 2016 German Shepherd Dog
Club of America National Specialty Show, Colt was recognized as Rescue Dog of the Year by the American German Shepherd Rescue Association. It is an honor bestowed on a GSD rescue dog who has contributed to his or her community, and honorably represents the breed.
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