Although some dogs step into their roles more easily than others, by the time they have that jacket buckled around them they’ve gone through quite a bit of intensive training.

There are three types of service or assistance dogs: guide dog, hearing dog, and service dog.

Not only do the dogs have to be trained in their specific area, but they must also be trained to have extraordinary focus.

They can’t run the risk of being distracted; at the very least, their owner could get hurt and in a worse case scenario, it could create a life or death situation.

And that is where a very special cat named…can you believe it?…D.O.G comes in. It’s pronounced “dee-oh-gee” and he’s every bit as unusual as his name implies…

One of the top dogs at a St. Louis canine training center is actually a cat with the name D-O-G. https://t.co/ARdLUunbAr pic.twitter.com/iSCJcqfdHz

— AP Central U.S. (@APCentralRegion) December 14, 2017

His personality makes him invaluable for the training facility, and it also makes him a big hit with all the personnel too.

“There are a few staff members who like to pretend they’re exclusively dog lovers, but everyone secretly adores D-O-G,” Support Dogs, Inc. CEO Anne Klein said.

“He’s spoiled rotten.”

Klein told People Pets back in September that the office is pretty cushy for D-O-G, who has a multi-level cat condo all to himself and all the dogs he can play with!

The post When You Meet A Cat Named “D.O.G.”, You Know He Is A Serious Bad A** appeared first on Addicting Stories.

Same goes for dogs.

Our canine friends can be every bit as strong, determined, and persevering as any human, as any animal lover will tell you.

As proof of that, meet Furgus, an amazing Great Dane puppy who was born with only three paws.

Obviously, this is a serious impediment. But Furgus isn’t fazed, and it helps that his owners are so loving and – as it turns out – innovative.

Bill and Pam Laurence thought it’d be a good idea for Furgus to visit people who struggle with a similar problem; i.e., those who were born without limbs, or had limbs amputated.

So they had an idea to turn their three-pawed pooch into a service dog.

But for that to happen, they needed him to be a bit more independent and mobile; Furgus needed a prosthetic leg.

The only problem was that Bill and Pam just couldn’t afford it.

Then Bill remembered a man named Tom Whitehurst who’d crafted a prosthetic leg for his father back in the ’90s, so he decided to make the call and see if Tom could help.

Amazingly enough, Tom took on the strange assignment and made up a prosthetic limb for Furgus.

Of course, as the puppy continues to grow, Tom will have to continue to make new legs at various stages of the growth process. But he doesn’t mind at all:

“I feel like I’m responsible for this dog to walk, you know?” he said. “So I’ve got to keep doing it.”

Tom says the difficult process involves a lot of trial-and-error; it began with a basic prosthetic akin to a peg leg, then advanced to a sling, then finally featured a knee so Furgus could bend.

He really believes in what he’s doing, too:

“They [animals] have just one purpose, walk to food, or get somewhere to go run and play.

If they can’t do it, but you throw something on there to make it better, they just take right to it.

That’s the cool thing about them.”

Furgus has officially begun his training to be a service dog, one that will specifically help people with recent amputations.

Pam also hopes Furgus can visit kids in schools so they can learn more about overcoming adversity, which is a darn good idea.

This courageous pup sets a great example for everyone, as do his fantastic owners and Tom Whitehurst!

Source: DoggiesCare

The post Furgus Was Born With Only Three Paws…But His Incredible New Life Will Blow You Away! appeared first on Addicting Stories.