Our special little furry friends are mostly just for companionship but now they can become service dogs! In Heritage you should have seen a cute black dog patrolling the halls with his owner, Brady Moineau. Meet Zenith, a 2 year old English Black Lab a very well trained service dog. 

Did you know that getting a service dog requires a lot of money and hours of working towards it? 

Brady spent 2 long hard years to get Zenith. Brady actually opened his own dog biscuit business in order to raise $5,000 to get Zenith. Brady also had to spend hours giving speeches on why exactly he should have a service dog. Zenith is through a company called CARES (Canine Assistance Rehabilitation Education & Services) which goes through great lengths to make sure every single dog that goes through their program is well trained. Zenith actually got trained by prisoners, they were required to be good for at least 6 months before getting to train him. Later Zenith got transported to a person for more at home care and then 2 weeks at CARES for more extensive training about Type 1 diabetes.  Brady had fly to Kansas and spent 2 weeks to pick up Zenith and finally got to bring him back to VA. Thankfully, Zenith has been adjusting very well to Heritage High School.

Remember, no matter how cute Zenith is, please do not pet him. As he is on duty and trying to look out for his owner.