Hero Dogs
Story by Anna Cooke Photography by Laura Allen Studios
You Cannot Do A Kindness Too Soon
For You Never Know How Soon It Will Be Too Late.*
Sport’s mission, and it appears he’s chosen to accept it, is “to give pieces of his heart away.” Sport is a therapy dog who visits patients in hospitals and those entering the final chapter of their lives under Hospice care with his handler, Linda Hunter. The team vol- unteers at a hospital and a pediatric rehabilitation center, both in Plant City, Florida. They also visit an assisted living facility in Zephyrhills, and the Lifepath Hospice House in Ruskin, which is where we caught up with Linda and Sport in June. The black Labrador Retriever
Sport and Linda, leaving the room of a patient at Lifepath Hospice House in Ruskin, Florida.
*Ralph Waldo Emerson.
came in to Linda’s life in 2008 when he was just 13 weeks old. Linda was undergoing chemo and radiation treatments for breast cancer. Randy, her husband, asked if there was any- thing he could get her after a particu- larly rough few days. “I always had a dog growing up. Since Randy was allergic to dogs, having one in our family was just never an option,” said Linda. “But, I realized something was missing from my life and I decided to let him know that I wanted a dog to love.”
Picking Sport from a litter of
cute Labrador puppies was easy, Linda said. “He was the only puppy brave enough to climb onto my lap and give me a kiss. I knew at that moment he was the puppy,” she said.
44 THE NEW BARKER Even as a puppy, Linda sensed
that Sport knew she was ill. “He was content to stay by my side and watch over me,” said Linda. In their first few months together,
Sport would entertain Linda with his puppy antics. “Sometimes he would tumble over himself while looking back at me to see my reaction. I real- ized then, that I hadn’t laughed out loud since by diagnosis, and it felt good to experience happiness again,” said Linda. Little by little, Sport was the first
to recognize that Linda was beginning to regain her strength. “He would bring me a ball and drop it in my lap, Then, he would nudge my hand and look at me as if to say, ‘can we play with this together?’ How could I resist?” said Linda. Soon, Sport was Linda’s motiva-
tion to get dressed and go outside again. Unconsciously, she was increasing her activity level and time outdoors every day. “One day, it occurred to me that I wasn’t laying around in my pajamas, anymore, feeling sorry for myself,” she said. “I was out doing things with my dog.” Linda watched how Sport
seemed to bring sunshine to everyone he met. After retiring from her career as an educator, Linda decided she wanted to share Sport for the good of others. She researched therapy dogs and found Alliance of Therapy Dogs, an international registry of certified therapy dog teams. The organization provides guidance, testing, certifica- tion, registration, support, and insur- ance for members who volunteer with their dogs in animal assisted activities. In April of this year, Sport had
just completed his 400th volunteer visit as a therapy dog since their first visit in August 2015. When we met Linda and her superhero, they had just completed their 450th visit.
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