Scooter

5 years ago a very special young man came into Kirstie’s life. Not only did he save her but he has transformed the lives of countless others.

The young man I’m talking about has 4 legs, a wet nose and an electric blue Mohawk. His name is Scooter and he is a dog. Well he’s actually way more, he is Kirstie’s trainee Assistance Dog, he is a Therapy Dog who visits patients, visitors and staff at St Richards Hospital, helping stroke patients with their rehab, even laying with end of life patients who have no family or are missing their own pets. He helps children at a local school with their reading and speaking confidence. He runs Salt Water Therapy Sessions with Global charity One Wave Is All IT Takes at his local beach in West Sussex. During these sessions he rides on the front of surf and paddle-boards with people, raising awareness of mental health and last but not least he started his own School to teach dogs and their humans to paddle-board and surf together safely.

Not bad for a scruffy mutt thrown out onto the streets of Portugal when he was just a pup!

Thanks to O’Cantinho Da Milu, a rescue sanctuary who rehome street dogs, Scooter was given a second chance in life and boy has he made the most of it.

Kirstie is a keen surfer and paddleboarder and when she became ill last year she realised that she could combine her love of these sports and the healing powers of the ocean with her love of Scooter and his skills as a Therapy dog. She taught him how to surf and believes this is what saved her from the crippling PTSD she had developed after 24 years in the Police Service.

Scooter has competed virtually in 2 World Dog Surfing Champs held in Southern California. His dream is to attend in person and take part with all his superstar surf dog friends.

Scooter was nominated for a Naturo Super Dog Award in the Carer Category. Finalists were invited to a black tie event at a London Hotel in November hosted by TV personality Stacey Dooley. He was named the Winner by an expert panel of judges out of over 100 000 entrants.

Scooter is currently training with the help of Darwin Dogs to become Kirstie’s full time assistance dog. With her trainer Louise Williamson from South Coast Dog Training School, the team attend weekly classes and have 121 sessions. Scooter is doing really well and absolutely loves “school” as they like to call it. The tasks Scooter is learning to help Kirstie are Deep Pressure Therapy on her by laying across it or placing his head on it to ground her. Nudging her face when she disassociates and blocking in front, to the sides and rear when in busy places or in queues.

Kirstie suffers from anxiety when out and about but feels safer with Scooter as his unusual appearance takes the perceived focus off her and onto Scooter.
With Scooter’s help Kirstie is able to go further afield than she would ordinarily.

He has passed 2 out of the 3 assessments required to become a fully ADI qualified Assistance Dog Partnership. He hopes to pass his final assessment in March 2022.

Following his Superdog award Scooter has been invited to do lots of new things like attend movie premiers and do radio interviews.
He was on ITV’s The Pet Show (episode 2) and will be on a new Discovery Channel show in the new year. He loves any opportunity to talk about and raise awareness of the things he is passionate about, rescue dogs, mental health, diversity and saving the planet.

The future looks bright with a series of children’s books in the pipeline and of course Scooter Mohawk merch!