In October, nine-year-old Taka was badly burned in a house fire.
The senior dog was sleeping on his screened-in porch in his home in Georgia when the house caught fire.
His family had to run from the house, and they sadly couldn’t get to Taka.
Taka woke up just in time and ran off the porch, but he got severely burned.
He had burns on his eyes, mouth, ears, and belly and went blind.
A neighbor rushed Taka to the Care More Animal Hospital, where he received treatment for his injuries.
Taka’s family came to see him at the hospital, and they decided to surrender him to the hospital.
They were worried they couldn’t care for his injuries properly.
The vets at Care More Animal Hospital fell in love with Taka.
One vet, Emily Martin, took Taka home at night.
“He likes his belly rubs, and he loves food, so he’s a little piggy,” Martin told The Dodo. “He also likes to cuddle.”
After a few weeks of treatment, Taka was ready to go to a foster home.
Martin considered fostering Taka, but she already had five dogs and a baby at home, so it wasn’t possible.
Then, a vet tech named Chrystal Lesley offered to foster him.
Chrystal took Taka home.
While Taka was very friendly and sweet with people, he was aggressive toward her other dogs.
She wanted to keep him, but she wasn’t sure if she could.
Then, she heard about the Canine Training Project, a training program that helps dogs of all ages.
“[Older dogs] can be trained just like any other dog,” CTP founder, Mandy Foster told WRDW News. “Sometimes it takes a little bit longer, but in Taka’s case he’s nine-years-old and he has flown through his training. He’s brilliant.”
Taka did well with his training, and Chrystal kept the pup.
In the end, she decided to adopt him!
Chrystal also decided to start training Taka to become a therapy dog for a burn center—since he was so good with people, she knew he would be a great fit.
“He’s got the right temperament for it,” Mandy said. “Of course he has the scars to show for it and he can relate to a lot of the people there so I think it’s going to benefit both him and the patients there.”
Taka took his Canine Good Citizen test on July 26, 2019, and he passed with flying colors!
Now, Taka can start working with patients at the burn center.
“To see that he could be an encouragement or at least a light at the end of the tunnel for a child or anybody that has gone through what he’s gone through is what all of this is about,” Chrystal said.
Taka is a brave, resilient pup who will make a great therapy dog! We’re so glad that Taka has found such a great place to call home.
See Taka’s sweet personality in the video below!
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