One of the undeniably beautiful and endlessly mysterious facts of this life is the strong bond we share with our dogs. We humans, as a species, began to domesticate dogs thousands of years ago. Now they are a non-negotiable (for many of us) part of our lives. In Australia (where I live), dogs reside and take pride of place in 49 percent of households. That’s 7.4 million dogs who every day enrich and in all ways make better the lives of millions of the residents on these sun-drenched shores. Dingoes existed among the Aboriginal population (they are still in Australia) first thousands of years ago, though they were not properly domesticated. The first domestic dogs in Australia arrived with the first fleet of English settlers and convicts in 1788, the beginning of European colonisation of the ‘Great South Land’. 

In the United States, there are up to 90 million pet dogs. That is close to 60 percent of American households having a minimum of one dog to love and adore. No wonder the dog food/dog accessories businesses are thriving! We would do anything for our dogs…..and they for us.

When I was given the outstanding and transformative book “Finding Grace” to read, I was transfixed from page one. A spoiler. I love and adore dogs, and if a book is about or includes dogs in the story, I am sold on the book even before beginning to read.

Finding Grace by American authors Larry Randolph and Jennifer Marshall Bleakley is a memoir about Larry’s calling by God (he felt God speak to his heart) to begin a Christian therapy dog ministry. A ministry that came to be known as “Canines for Christ”, and that was to become bigger and more effective than Larry’s wildest dreams could have ever envisioned.

Living in Charleston(a city by the sea in Southern Carolina) and then the pristine environs of Florida, Larry found himself alone (after a marriage breakdown and his daughters being grown up) apart from his faithful Bassett Hound, Gus. 

Noticing a gathering of people one day in Florida, and after talking to them, Larry was introduced to the “Project PUP”(Pets Uplifting People) team. Dogs in this organisation went into nursing homes to lift the spirits of the often overlooked and forgotten (by society) residents. “That afternoon, Larry made an appointment for Gus to be evaluated by an American Kennel Club (AKC) certified dog trainer, and two weeks later, Gus had his Canine Good Citizen certification, a Project PUP bandanna, and the green light to represent Project PUP at a nursing home on Bayshore Boulevard”.

From the time he met and comforted the nursing home residents, Gus was a natural at being a therapy dog for the dejected residents.

Gus had to sadly be put down due to health issues. It was while living in Florida with his new wife, Susan, that Larry believed God wanted him to be involved with therapy dogs. Larry told his business partner (Larry worked in real estate at that time), Brad, of his thinking: “It just feels that maybe I’m supposed to do something with a therapy dog. But I have no idea what exactly”.

When Susan told Larry she has a new client at “Meals on Wheels” called Sister Agnes, a former teacher at a Catholic school who lived at Tall Pines retirement community who was quite alone in the world, Larry had the sweet and noble idea to visit Sister Agnes with a therapy dog. 

There was only one obstacle. Larry and Susan didn’t have a dog. Fortuitously, Susan’s daughter Brooke did. The six year old Golden Retriever called Cody fitted Larry’s agenda perfectly. Cody possessed a Canine Good Citizen certificate and had passed obedience training. 

Cody’s very presence was nurturing and healing for Sister Agnes, and soon many others. 

Larry wrote a prayer to God that went “God, I sense that you are calling me to share your love with the sick, the lonely, the elderly, children, and all who need hope, and to do so through dogs. Dogs that you have created to be a vessel for your compassion and kindness”.

After speaking to Pastor Matthew at his local church, Larry was greatly encouraged in his plans for therapy dogs to help people. Both on people’s happy, bright days and their sad, dark ones.

Larry explained to Pastor Matthew, “I experienced the unconditional love of a dog named Gus at a very difficult time in my own life. He constantly pointed my heart back to God. I think it was the way he was always there for me, always happy to see me, always looking at me with soulful eyes that seemed to see the best in me…”.

Pastor Matthew encouraged Larry by saying “As you know…..people in this world are hurting…But most of them won’t step foot in a church. And many of them physically can’t. But the church can go to them. And maybe in this case the church- or at least God’s presence and love- could go to them in dog fur with a wagging, happy tail”. 

Cody and Larry found themselves at a VA hospital campus, where there was much despondency and fear. Cody was already a natural at Tall Pines retirement center and the ManorCare Nursing and Rehabilitation Center. 

A “paws up” command at the VA hospital would cause Cody to put his paws up on a patient’s bed so that the patient was able to pat Cody’s head.

Cody brought much inner healing to all who encountered him, and his morale boosting and gentle presence was a balm to wounded bodies and spirits.

Cody took part in a life-affirming study in a trauma ward at the VA hospital. A man with a terrible brain injury was in a coma and the neurologist and his team wanted to see the effect that Cody would have on the patient’s (Mark, an Air Force pilot) brain activity. Cody got up on the bed, a nurse moving Mark’s hand back and forth over Cody’s fur. 

Cody’s presence and the touch of him for Mark resulted in a 30 percent increase in flow of blood from Mark’s brain when he was stroking Cody! (Dogs rock!).

Other places Cody and Larry went to included Suncoast Kids Place. Here, children and teens experiencing grief could be in a safe place. Cody shone there. 

When Larry found himself with a white English Labrador puppy called “Grace”, his therapy dog vocation soared even more. Grace was a much loved visitor and friend to the students and staff at the Trinity school, an “arts-focused facility for adults with mental and developmental challenges”.

Hospice patients, cancer patients and students were all having doggie visits to lift their spirits from Larry, Grace and the Canines for Christ team.

Volunteers like Laura (who had been in a car accident, and joined Canines for Christ with  her energetic dog, Chloe, a yellow Labrador) soon became willing and motivated volunteers, along with their well-behaved dogs, for Canines for Christ.

You’ll have to read this wonderful book to know of all the special interactions that Grace, Cody and Larry got to experience together. And to know just how big and amazing Canines for Christ has gotten.

At the end of the book we are told that “Canines for Christ Therapy Dog Ministry Inc., seeks to shine the love of Christ through our volunteers and canines as his disciples. We provide a ministry of presence that actively engages with people who need the compassion that only God’s message can provide”.

“Our canines and volunteers serve in hospitals, 911 call centers, special-needs facilities, courtrooms, crisis response situations, nursing homes, police and fire departments, schools, hospice centers, cancer centers, and other places of need. As a Christian-based therapy dog ministry, we use ordinary people and their beloved dogs to share God’s powerful message of love and hope to communities throughout our country and the world”.

Sadly, Canines for Christ does not exist in Australia where I live. However, Australia has the organisations Therapy Dogs Australia and Assistance Dogs Australia among other therapy dog organisations, and the dogs in these organisations and their owners do amazing work in many places in this vast country.

Wherever you live, please check to see if Canines for Christ or other therapy dog charities are working in your area, if this type of service to others interests you (either to be a participant or on the receiving end).

Bravo Larry and Jennifer! You have written a book that grabbed my heart from the title page (with a stunning photo of Grace) and made me smile, laugh and at times feel like a good cry.

Dogs do so much for us in so many ways. There are those, like Grace and Cody, who stoically and calmly go into workplaces (in Australia there are dogs who sit in court with people giving testimonies to make them feel less anxious, and other countries have dogs doing this also), hospitals and schools etc to give to others a reason to smile and feel comforted and ‘seen’.

I loved reading every page of Finding Grace. Dog lovers will feverishly devour this book. And even if you don’t have a great love for our canine companions like so many of us do, this book will help you to see all the good and wonderful things that are being done in this world.

Even if you are not religious, there is no denying the superb job that has been and is being done by Canines for Christ.

You’ve done and are doing fantastic things for the sad, lonely, side-lined and suffering folk in this world, Larry and Susan and your team. Well done to all those at Canines for Christ and all the sweet dogs and their volunteers who are working together in this world to make it a better place for many. Heck, well done to all the ever-giving dogs everywhere!

This was a five star read for me.