Sign In

Service Dog In-Training

July 10, 2020

The future of the NHL season is still up in the air, but that’s not stopping the Minnesota Wild from making some adorable roster moves.

The team recently adopted Hobey, a 5-month-old golden retriever from Coco’s Heart Dog Rescue on a one-year training contract.

Hobey will be raised and trained to be a service dog for a veteran through the team’s Adopt-A-Dog Program, whose mission is to give a local hero a hero of their own. “We’re excited to continue our Adopt-A-Dog Program and help another rescue dog become a service dog,” said Wayne Petersen, Minnesota Wild Director of Community Relations and Hockey Partnerships. Hobey is the second dog adopted by the team from Coco’s Heart Dog Rescue. The Wild adopted Breezer last August, and the Labrador Retriever is now training with Soldier’s 6, a nonprofit based in Minnesota that provides honorably discharged veterans, police officers, and firefighters with specially trained K-9s.

Wild CFO Jeff Pellegrom and his wife Mary will foster Hobey and work on his basic obedience training until next summer. Then, the Wild pup will join Soldier’s 6 for specialized training before being permanently placed with a veteran as a “Battle Buddy.”

Hobey was born in February of this year in Wisconsin. His favorite toys are sticks, especially hockey sticks. Hobey’s position is Forward, and of course, his favorite team is the Minnesota Wild.

Register Your Dog

  • Most Recent News

    Former Victoria man’s diabetic alert dog helps him get back to life

    When Luke Hengen’s diabetes worsened in his early twenties, it stripped him of the outdoor activities where the country kid felt at home. Countless wilderness adventures and years of hard-fought football games took a toll on his body, to the point where he could no longer sense when his blood sugar was too high or […]

    Read more

    Students Get Therapy Dog

    When middle school students return to class on Jan. 11, they’ll find a new face at the door: Daisy. Daisy is a therapy dog and the personal pet of Rob Kreger, principal of the Rock L. Butler Middle School. The five-year-old golden retriever is not a school pet or mascot, but rather a working dog […]

    Read more

    Therapy Dogtor

    Last March, Caroline Benzel, a third-year medical student, began to notice the stress and discomfort her nurse friends were feeling from the pressures of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. “[Personal protective equipment] can be really rough on the skin,” Benzel, 31, tells PEOPLE. Benzel and her 3-year-old Rottweiler, Loki (who’s also a therapy dog) hatched a […]

    Read more

    Therapy Dog Pups

    When Stanley the miniature fox terrier’s owner passed away, the little dog started a ‘paw-some’ new role – bringing puppy love to some of the Gold Coast’s oldest residents. After Carinity Cedarbrook Diversional Therapist Julianne Staff adopted Stanley, he began visiting the aged care community at Mudgeeraba as a therapy dog. Therapy dogs help to […]

    Read more

    Puppy Cams

    A nonprofit is providing an unusual form of therapy for those on the front lines of the coronavirus pandemic – puppy cams! “You spend five minutes with a puppy and try not to smile,” said registered nurse Robin Lingg Lagrone. Lingg Lagrone says watching little furballs wag their tails and prance on their paws helps […]

    Read more

    Pet Committee

    When Moore County’s school doors were abruptly closed earlier in 2020, two- and four-legged volunteers from the Moore County Citizens’ Pet Responsibility Committee (PRC) were in their 12th year of presenting a six-session Pet Responsibility Education Program for fourth-graders. The PRC quickly shifted gears and placed its program materials online as part of a home […]

    Read more