A Shiba Inu dog severely burned in a house fire is training to become a therapy dog for human burn victims.
9-year-old Taka was badly injured when scorching flames broke out at his Georgia home back in October of 2018.
Even though Taka survived, he was permanently disfigured, losing a large part of his facial fur. In addition, he suffered emotional trauma.
Taka’s veterinarian, Crystal Lesley adopted him a while ago, but she says she was not sure if he would be a permanent member of her family as he started to fight with her other dogs when she brought him home.
“I didn’t know if I was going to be able to keep Taka and it was breaking my heart,” she told WRDW.
However, Taka’s behavior changed when Crystal introduced him to a new dog trainer.
Mandy Foster of the Canine Training Project believes that it is never too late to retrain a dog.
“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. I knew that there were some problems, some challenges that were happening, and I wanted to get in there and help.”
Mandy and Crystal have now teamed up to work towards helping Taka get his Canine Good Citizen certificate so he can officially become a therapy dog.
His traumatic experience will make him a great support animal, said Crystal.
“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.”
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