Dog Names Ending in T

In 2008, a Golden Retriever named Ricochet was slated to become a service dog for someone with disabilities, but Ricochet, or Ricki as she is sometimes called, was not particularly interested in the training. She was much more interested in chasing birds and she was eventually dropped from the program, but during her training Ricochet had shown a particular talent for riding the boogie board in the swimming pool, so her owner and trainer, Judy Fridono, decided to let her surf. Ricochet's transition from chasing birds to chasing waves went well and Ricochet began entering competitions. Eventually, she met up with Patrick Ivison, a fifteen-year-old quadriplegic who surfs using an adaptive surfing board and both of their lives changed. Patrick and Judy decided that they could raise money to help Patrick meet his rising medical bills by surfing side-by-side on separate boards, but Ricochet had an even better idea. She stepped up on Patrick’s board and they began to surf in tandem, Ricki had a natural ability to know exactly where to stand on the board and the cameras were rolling as the first quadriplegic and canine tandem surfing team took their first wave. The fundraising that they did together allowed Patrick to receive innovative rehabilitation treatments, and he was able to walk across the stage for his high school graduation in 2012. 

Ricochet wasn’t ready to quit surfing or quit helping yet though. Since then, Ricki has gone on to become a canine ambassador for all sorts of surfers with disabilities, including people with physical disabilities, children with autism, and even veterans suffering from PTSD. She has an uncanny ability to read the emotional state of the people who need her and to respond appropriately and is the only surfing dog in the world who surfs in tandem with children with special needs, people with physical disabilities, and wounded warriors and in 2011 she was the first-ever recipient of the American Humane Society Hero Dog Award in the Emerging Hero category. She continues to raise money by surfing, either alone or with others and she has become an ambassador for the an organization that helps young people who have been affected by an injury to the spine experience the mobility and freedom that surfing can provide, and is now an official member of Team USA for the International Surfing Association’s Adaptive Surfing Championships alongside her first tandem adaptive surfing partner, Patrick Ivison.