

Just like any other human being, dogs too retire from work. Retirement comes when one reaches a certain age which will deem him or her ineligible to work already. For humans, it usually falls between the age of 50 to 60 years old.

For dogs, however, it comes earlier than usual since they have different age clock. Take for instance this therapy dog, who is now 105-years-old in dog years, who is known as the first ever registered therapy dog to work inside a school.

Mac, a K9 counselor, retired from his work as a therapy dog at the University of the Fraser Valley on March 5, 2019. He first set foot in the university 13 years ago, where he was trained by Dawn Holt, a registered clinical counselor. Serving for almost 14 years now, Mac has set the record as a longest-serving dog with the Pacific Assistance Dogs Society.



During his retirement ceremony, there was no flashy celebration — only a grateful heart from the university he has served for the most of his dog life. His owner, who insisted that the school should bring him to the university as a therapy dog, could not hide his happiness that Mac can finally have some more time for himself.

That does not mean, though, that the dog did not enjoy what he did in the past. Holt said that when she brought the idea to hire a therapy dog on campus, at first, the school administrators were hesitant.

Holt insisted anyway, saying it was a leap of faith on the part of the university for heeding to her request. From then on, Mac has helped a lot of students who were experiencing some problems with their personal and academic lives.

Nikki Dionne, a UVF student, for one said that she did not want to go counseling, but when she learned that there is a dog counselor, she immediately went for it and got the help she direly needed.

In his retirement, Mac will not entirely leave the campus. He will still be there, but this time will focus more on himself.

This story first appeared on globalnews.ca.