Freckles, the friendly Boxer, who brought an instant smile to all who met him, lost the good fight in mid-November at 16 years of age.  His handler and driver, Verylon Durant, says that Freckles taught him everything he needed to know about being part of a therapy team.

Long before Freckles was a Pet Partner, he was Verylon’s partner as a firefighter in Somerset, TX. Freckles’ place in Verylon’s fire truck was in the Front Officer’s seat, and he often comforted those affected by disasters.  It was at one accident scene, though, that Freckles convinced Verylon that he needed to become a therapy dog. While working the scene, Verylon noticed that Freckles had jumped from the truck into a ditch to console a little 6 year old girl while the firefighters extricated her parents from their vehicle. Freckles laid his head in the child’s lap, staying with her and soothing her until she was safely removed.  Shortly afterwards, they became a registered Pet Partners team!

They were quite active as a Pet Partners team, visiting senior care facilities in Poteet and Jourdanton several times a week. Freckles and Verylon participated in many group Pet Partner events, and were a crowd favorite at university Stress-Down days.

Freckles was a gifted therapy dog, and always seemed to know who needed his comforting the most. Freckles will be greatly missed by his clients, and his friends in Delta Pet Partners of San Antonio!

written by Debra Berry of Delta Pet Partners of San Antonio