Biscuit, a chocolate Labrador and service dog in training, took a break from the Capitals’ development camp and stopped 草莓传媒鈥檚 newsroom to say hello Monday morning.
honed some of my own hockey skills at development camp !!
鈥� Biscuit (@CapsPup)
Biscuit is the Capitals’ 鈥渙fficial pup,鈥� , and has been with the team since September. To acquire Biscuit, the Capitals teamed up with that partners service dogs with military veterans and first responders who have disabilities to lead their lives with renewed independence.
During his time with the Capitals, Biscuit has worked on perfecting his service-dog skills, such as the 鈥渞est鈥� command, a favorite for many veterans. Whenever Biscuit hears the word 鈥渞est鈥� from his trainer or owner, he will lie his head on top of the owner鈥檚 lap and look up, giving his owner a moment to relax.
Biscuit鈥檚 trainer, Deana Stone, told 草莓传媒 he is very 鈥渢reat focused鈥� 鈥� Biscuit loves dehydrated beef liver 鈥� and is quiet, calm and easy going.
Stone said Capitals right-winger Tom Wilson and Biscuit got along extremely well, and one time, Wilson led Biscuit by his leash into the Cap鈥檚 locker room.
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鈥淎nd a few minutes later, Biscuit comes out with a big ol鈥� roll of the white tape that they put on their sticks. And he was happy as could be. And Tom was very happy,鈥� Stone said.
鈥淎nd of course, they won the game that night,鈥� Stone added.
Stone said the service dogs America鈥檚 VetDogs train are 鈥渓ife-changing鈥� and 鈥渓ife-saving鈥� for veterans with disabilities. Sponsors like the Capitals are essential to keeping the program going. But so are volunteers, Stone said.
鈥淲e operate mainly with volunteers. We need volunteers to take these puppies into their homes. Not a really hard ask right?鈥� Stone said.
Stone said anyone interested in volunteering, or learning about the different ways they can help, should go to the America鈥檚 VetDogs sister organization, the , and on their website, go to the .
Once Biscuit moves on from the Capitals, he will return to America鈥檚 VetDogs’ 10-acre campus in Smithtown, New York, where he鈥檒l go to his formal trainer and then veteran or first responder.
鈥淭hey’re going to take a look at Biscuit鈥檚 strengths, his weaknesses, his personality, kind of overall, what kind of lifestyle maybe he would be suited for,鈥� Stone said 鈥淭hen they’re going to match him with a veteran or first responder who needs him.鈥�
Before Biscuit, Captain was the big dog in town. Captain, like Biscuit, went through basic service-dog training and socialization with the Caps prior to beginning his career as a service dog.
