Meet Phoenix Our Spotlight Dog For September

A rescue success story!

I had the pleasure of meeting Phoenix for the first time probably two years ago in our therapy dog program we do for Mesa Public Schools. He came to his humans as a rescue with scars as many do, and watching him transform has been special.

Phoenix and his human Brian worked hard in classes and the way Brian supported Phoenix and committed to the program really made them stand out. Brian kept a very open mind when it came to training and that helped them to be successful in both obedience and therapy prep.

Phoenix needed a lot of support to feel comfortable visiting with people and Brian’s attitude, energy and effort to support his dog was amazing. Phoenix became more and more comfortable and decided people were pretty neat and would gently elicit affection.

They passed all of their evaluations and they became an outstanding therapy team for the schools.

Phoenix and his family have been mentioned before to highlight the efforts put into making change and uncomfortable situations okay for Phoenix. That takes so much effort and we got to fully enjoy Phoenix again when he boarded with us for a very long stay of 3 weeks.

Again his humans were superheroes in helping their dog adjust and be ready for what can be a super stressful event for a dog…Their humans leaving them. His stay with us was SO smooth and he bonded with us which is a pretty special thing.

This dog and his family absolutely exemplify outstanding training and advocacy. He truly is a successful rescue story and I could not be more humbled and proud to have a front row seat to watch their journey and enjoy the fulfillment this part of my job provides.

Good job Phoenix, and Brian thank you for sharing your boy with us.  We can’t wait to see what’s next!

Recognized by Brandy Girot