A Gift – A New Puppy – A Florida Assistance Dog in Training
Genesis Assistance Dogs, Inc. was blessed by the arrival of an 8 week old Golden Retriever puppy on September 25, 2016. Lake’s journey to Genesis and being a Florida assistance dog in training was one born of the love of a mother wanting to do something significant in memory of her son who had passed away.
Robert Lake Sylcox passed away at age 33 after waging a tough war against an aggressive and rare form of cancer. Rob had a happy childhood and was close to his family. Following high school Rob and his family came to the realization that he needed to make a change in his life if he was going to have a successful and happy future. It was a hard decision to make but he was determined to be the best man he could be.
He left his family and the familiar surroundings of Virginia moving to South Florida where he began attending a local church where he met amazing people who ministered to him and helped him turn his life around. Rob was becoming the person that he always wanted to be. He loved music and playing golf. He went back to school where he earned a BS and was working towards his master’s degree. He began ministering to others and was well-respected and loved by those around him. He married a lovely young lady, Lindsey, whom he’d met at the church. They’d been happily married only 10 months when Rob was diagnosed with cancer. With the support of his new bride and his family, Rob fought the good fight for the next 5 years before he succumbed.
Linda knew she wanted to do something meaningful to celebrate the life of her only child. She was sitting on the porch one day flipping through Facebook when she stumbled across a post from a friend about Genesis Assistance Dogs, Inc. Linda became intrigued by the beautiful golden retrievers and researched everything about our organization and Cloud9. She was especially touched by a picture posted by Megan Cloudman of Cloud9 showing her girls holding a precious puppy while in the car on the way to donate him to Genesis. That beautiful pup was Eagle!
Linda reached out to Megan and began to inquire about how the dogs were bred, how they were trained and how the process of raising an assistance dog moved forward. She travelled to Brooksville, Florida and met Megan for the first time at a dog show. The two immediately clicked. Linda asked Megan if she could arrange to donate a dog in memory of Rob to Genesis.
Traveling to DeLand in September, Linda spent time with Lake at the West Volusia Dog Show along with Megan and her girls. Charlie and Jeff drove up to meet Linda and to receive Lake. Genesis is humbled by Linda and Rob’s story and are immensely grateful for the gift of Lake.
Lake is a stunning Cloud9 puppy. He is cuddly and handsome and smart as a whip. He is a quick learner and very determined. He’s a lot like Rob. Check out Lake’s determination in the video below. We’ll be featuring a monthly update on Lake’s progress and training over the next 3 years. We hope you will check back often to see videos and pictures and fall in love with him the way we have.
Next month: How a potential Florida assistance dog is chosen from a litter of puppies. Lake passes the test.
