Her AKC name is Trumpet’s Call to Victory, and her call name is Trumpet. She is now 10 years old and training for her began at 3 months old. In her early years, Obedience was her main focus, but later on, Rally and Agility were all in her schedule. 

With the passing of my Golden Boy, Smokey, in 2023 on a Thursday, Trumpet was recruited for 2 scheduled Friday visits on the very next day at Emory L. Bennett Veteran’s Home and the VA Clinic, both here in Daytona Beach. Smokey was the first therapy dog to be introduced into the local VA Clinic, and now 4 more teams that I tested are visiting. 

On this first pair of visits for Trumpet, I had no concerns about her taking on the role of a therapy dog, and as expected with her background of 8 years in obedience and other AKC events, she shined. Getting her ATD-certified happened a few weeks into January 2024. 

Six days after submitting her application to ATD the approval came back as “good to go” on January 16, 2024. Immediate visits then began and also during the 3 weeks until certification, she was the neutral dog with other Tester/Observerwork that I needed her for. 

As with Smokey’s visit schedule, the visits did not change for Trumpet. Our visits continue to be 7 Nursing Homes on each Tuesday, 2 on Saturdays and 1 on months with 5 Tuesdays. Psych Unit group visit every other Tuesday now in my17th year.     Beyond scheduled visits, we visit weekly to the Halifax Hospital complex, and 2 local universities are visited on request 3 to 4 times each year. The Brown & Brown, Ins also 3 or so times each year. 

All of this to do her best to reach her goal of 600 visits and Therapy Dog Supreme Title.  It is now April 24, 2026, and just 1 week ago, I submitted the title forms to AKC for Therapy Dog Supreme. The amazing part is how long it took for her to achieve this goal. 

Starting that first visit as soon as the OK was given by ATD, the 600th visit was reached 2 years 3 months and 1 day later. 

Ralph Orlando, Wilbur By The Sea, FL 

Interested in sharing your story?

Members can now send submissions through the “Contact Us” form on the ATD website found here, https://www.therapydogs.com/contact-us/ and select one of the following options:

• Member Story Submission
• Over The Rainbow Submission
• Retiree Submission

Member Submission Guidelines have been updated and can be found on the ATD website under the Members link. The guidelines can be found here, 2026-2027 ATD Member Submission Guidelines