George & Eagle

George was in his second year at Lake County College in Illinois when getting a ride home from his girlfriend’s house.  That ride home ended in a bad accident, leaving George paralyzed from the chest down.  In 2012 George moved to Florida with his elderly family dog; a Golden Retriever named Marley. Shortly after relocating, Marley passed away and George’s mother urged him to get a service dog. George agreed, but he would only consider a Golden Retriever.  He started searching online for Golden Retriever Service Dogs where his research brought him to the Genesis Assistance Dogs Inc. page.

Upon the completion of both the short and long application forms, Charlie, Jeff, and the Genesis trainer Jennifer arranged to visit George at his home with Eagle tagging along. It was quite a meeting!  After being placed with Eagle, the entire team worked hard to help George and Eagle bond and to provide Eagle with the skills to support the needs of his new handler.

Eagle really makes George feel more confident going out in public, and the extra help Eagle provides is amazing. I can honestly say that with Eagle by his side, George is the happiest he has been since his accident.  Eagle now goes with George everywhere.  Whether it be school, grocery shopping, getting a haircut, going to the inlet, joining friends and family at a restaurant, and even on dates, Eagle is always at George’s side. Eagle is very well behaved as all our Genesis Assistance Dogs should be.

On the home front, Eagle helps take the trash/recycling out, assists with laundry (he pulls the hamper from one end of the house to the laundry room), retrieves dropped items, opens and closes the sliding glass doors, kitchen drawers and the refrigerator.  Eagle even helps George with an extra pull when he gets tired from pushing his wheelchair.

George feels blessed to have discovered Genesis Assistance Dogs Inc. and all they do for those who are in need of the extra help provided by a loving and loyal companion by their side.