Heroes of Our days. “Lotus,” German Shepherd Dog Winner of Award for Canine Excellence 2022#shorts

“Lotus,” a German Shepherd Dog Winner of the AKC Humane Fund Awards for Canine Excellence 2022.
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Lotus is an Assistance Dogs International-accredited psychiatric and mobility Service Dog for her owner, Asia Duhamel.

Duhamel is a former active-duty Marine who was struggling with PTSD when she thought a service dog might help her get through daily life.

Though retired from mobility except for retrievals, Lotus assists her owner in many ways,
including disrupting repetitive and anxious behavior, responding to increased breathing,
and crowd control.

With Duhamel, that means putting her body on her lap, moving her hands out of the way,
and licking her on her back until she recovers.

Since receiving Lotus, Duhamel has started her training apprenticeship with Next Step Service Dogs after being ADI-accredited through the organization.

She is now the lead trainer at a non-profit organization called Canine Support Teams training service dogs.