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| Name: |
Eli
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Age: |
Four and a half years old
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| Gender: |
Male |
Breed: |
American Pit Bull Terrier
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| Home: |
Lakeland, Tennessee, USA |
It all started when Eli was still a puppy. He's now four and a half years old. A neighbor realized Eli was an American Pit Bull Terrier and she would cross the street when Eli was in the front yard playing with his best friend Skylar, who is my six-year-old granddaughter. She kept making comments on how dangerous pit bulls are and wouldn;t even walk on the same side of the street he was on and she had never even met Eli. I have another neighbor who is a nurse at St Jude Children's research hospital and suggested I train Eli to become a therapy dog because of his loving temperament (common with the APBT breed). So I did, and he passed all of his temperament test with perfect score. I was going to show the mean neighbor how great my dog really is but what I didn't know at the time was my pit bull was going to make me a better person by being more charitable and giving of my time.
Eli is a member of the Alliance Of Therapy Dogs and West Tennessee Therapy Dogs. He works with the children of St Jude Hospital, kids with autism at the library reading program, as well as critical care and hospice facilities. My granddaughter even goes with me to work Eli as therapy dog. He has helped more than 2000 people in the three years he's been a therapy dog. He resides with his human family and three other dogs which are his buddies of course.
Several of these pictures are Eli "at work." In one Eli sits attentively while child with autism reads to him at library "paws for cause" reading program. Also one of him with nine-year-old cancer patient. In the one with the blurry tail, Eli sits awaiting instructions at critical care unit, and I included one with his best friend Skylar.
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