We adopted Pepper in March 2001 from Dalmatian Rescue of Colorado. Beth had an opportunity to come out to our house soon after we adopted him and told us that he would make a great therapy dog. Shortly after, in Pepper's obedience class the instructor told us the same thing. We went through training and Pepper became a Registered Therapy Dog. He also earned his Canine Good Citizen Award.

Pepper was a therapy dog that visited at Littleton Hospital, the Johnson Center, and ElderCare. He also visited a school on occasions. Pepper made "Volunteer Of The Month" several times at the Johnson Center and was a recipient of the 2006 Spirit of Planetree Award, recognizing his personal embodiment of Littleton Adventist Hospital's patient-centered approach to providing care. For more information on his award, please click here.

Pepper was a blessing to us as he was a blessing to others with all of his healing that he did with his therapy work. He died on Saturday, April 15, 2006 at the age of 12 ½ years due to heart problems. We miss him so much. We are thankful we adopted him.

--Daniel and Margaret Finelt