Meet the “Triplets”
In November of 2019, among Tennessee's fall leaves, the "Triplets" (Captain, Auggie, and Norman) joined the Patriot Service Dog training program as eight-week-old puppies. All three were donated by long-time PSD supporter and friend, Traci Thompson of Country Goldens. PSD has been lucky to train many dogs from Traci including graduates like Hero, Patriot, and Radar and these three pups immediately showed the same good looks and spunky attitude that we have come to know from Traci!
The three boys went into training with our inmate-trainers as soon as they made the journey down to Florida. They had already bonded so closely to one another, most people thought they really were Triplets! Those who came to know their personalities well could tell that Norman and Auggie are bothers and Captain comes from two of Traci's other dogs. But no matter their blood-line, the nickname "Triplets" stuck.
Norman:
Sponsored by the Gheen family and named after General "Stormin'" Norman Schwarzkopf, this boy has always been full energy.
Norman approaches everything with gusto! At just a few months old, he went on his first adventure to Jacksonville, Florida for a photoshoot at the historic Norman Studios, the location of one of the earliest silent movie studios. Even then, he seemed to know he was adorable.
More recently, Norman was a hit again when he got to meet and give a demonstration for Jessica Schwarzkopf, daughter of the general!
Captain:
Sponsored by the Del Webb Community in Summerfield, Florida, Captain is not technically brothers with Norman and Auggie, but if you watched them play, you'd never know--we are pretty sure they don't even know! But Captain's personality is all his own. He is independent and observant in new situations; two traits that will serve him well when he is matched with a veteran in need.
After receiving his initial training with our inmate-trainers in our prison program, Captain moved to Gainesville, Florida. While Gainesville, wasn't a big move geographically, it was a new world of exposures! Captain's puppy raiser, Sydney introduced him to restaurants, community parks, and even her pet cat. Captain handled it all with grace and eventually made a cat friend!
Auggie:
Auggie is sponsored by Old Town Trolley Tours, one of our oldest sponsors!
Old Town Trolley runs the familiar green and orange trolley cars in cities around the country, but they are based in Kew West, Florida and run tours around St. Augustine, Florida. While we have had the chance to introduce the St. Augustine Trolley crew to the dogs their organization has sponsored, Auggie was the first in years to make the long journey down to Key West!
Auggie visited the entire Old Town Trolley office and met their office dog, another Golden Retriever! They laid out the red carpet for Auggie! He received a private tour of the Key West Aquarium and gave him a room in President Truman's Little White House!
We can't wait to take Auggie and his veteran on the St. Augustine trolley tour, one of our regular stops during Advanced Training.
The Triplets' Future:
The Triplets are now almost two-years-old and are completing their final training before they are each matched with a veteran. Over those two years, we have come to know Captain, Auggie, and Norman as three deeply bonded, but totally unique dogs. We will take that knowledge of their personalities and strengths to make the best matches possible with the needs of our applicants. We can't wait to see them lined up one last time with their veterans!
Auggie was a delight to work with.