Lexi was found as a stray in Rapid City, South Dakota, and taken to the Humane Society of the Black Hills, where a staff member noted her high energy and love for tennis balls and contacted SDF. Lexi was evaluated and accepted into our search program, where according to trainers, she demonstrated good focus and energy, was comfortable on the rubble, and showed nice possession of the toy. But as time passed, it became clear that Lexi wasn’t enthusiastic enough about a career in search to keep her in the program. Instead, she would be placed in Lifetime Care to find a job she liked better or a forever family home.
In nearby Ventura, Lisa Burton had recently lost her beloved companion dog. She didn’t think she was ready to welcome a new pup into her household just yet but was browsing Petfinder to pass the time. As she scrolled through the hundreds of adoption profiles, she stopped on a picture of Lexi, and something clicked. Before she knew it, she was heading to SDF to meet Lexi in person.
At their meet and greet, Lexi immediately walked up and sat on Lisa’s feet in an effort to get as close as possible, and that sealed the deal for Lisa. Lexi had found her new home.
The friendliness Lexi showed at her first meeting with Lisa turned out to be a hallmark of Lexi’s personality—so much so that Lisa quickly realized that her big, black dog with kind, brown eyes was meant for a higher purpose. Lisa says, “If someone is walking by, they see Lexi and stop and greet her, and she’ll lean into them. No matter if they were in a hurry or what they were doing, they would stop and smile. I realized this dog had a calling, and I needed to put it to work. She wasn’t meant to be just a pet.”
Because of Lexi’s unique connection with humans, Lisa thought the role of comfort dog would be a natural fit. She contacted Pet Partners, a national nonprofit organization that engages volunteer handlers and their companion animals to participate in various animal-assisted therapies, from hospital visits to crisis response, and initiated the process of becoming a therapy team.
Lisa and Lexi have been certified as a comfort therapy team for about nine months, mostly visiting hospices in Lisa’s neighborhood. At the hospice, Lexi sits at the patient’s side as they stroke her head, and the soothing feel of her soft fur puts them at ease. As patients relax, they often slip into a reverie of fond memories and share stories as Lisa listens. It’s during these times the importance of Lisa and Lexi’s therapy work comes into sharpest focus because, for a brief moment, the patient they sit with isn’t a patient. They’re the person they are in the story—healthy, strong, happy—just chatting with a new friend, petting a dog.
Lisa truly believes that Lexi was meant to help people, and along the way, she has found a renewed sense of purpose too. “It was not a part of my retirement plans, but she and I are a team, so I knew I needed to let my dog lead me into this work. And now I love the work, and it was all because of my dog.”
We’re grateful to our SDF community, who believe, as we do, that each dog has the right to choose the life that makes them happiest. We’re thrilled that both Lexi and Lisa found meaningful work as a team and, although not as a search dog, that Lexi is impacting lives in a profound and positive way.