Meet Molly, a chocolate labrador retriever giving hope to kids and teens together with her trainer, Memo. They are a team doing what they do best: bringing smiles to those who need it most. They can quickly establish rapport with people, leading to thousands of precious lives being changed.
Memo, whose real name is Gullermo Loa, is from Bogota, Columbia. He migrated to the United States with his family and got his dream job. He always wanted to work with animals, so when he came to the United States, he studied and earned his ABC Certified Dog Trainer certification.
Memo’s dream finally came true when he got to work with Molly. It was indeed a perfect match as they both worked in excellent harmony. June Bleich, Molly’s owner, noticed something spectacular! Memo taught Molly commands in both English and Spanish. She was also trained to read sensitive body language, making her follow him more easily.
June was amazed and saw the potential of the two in helping and decided that Molly could serve as a therapy dog. June asked Memo and Molly to use their skills to help the YAI on Long Island and New York City’s Covenant House in Manhattan. These are centers that house people in crisis. Some were runaways without any families, escaped trafficking, and survived abusive situations.
Since then, Molly and Memo have appeared to give comfort and joy to people at the shelter. Molly provides warmth and comfort and becomes the best stress reliever. Everyone experienced the simple pleasure of having a dog companion. Also, the patients with physical or developmental disabilities found comfort in the duo’s therapy techniques.
Having a spirited dog around feels like receiving lively energy that gives a new will to live. Also, Molly’s bilingual capabilities allowed her to reach out to more patients. The emotional connections helped troubled people to feel loved and renewed.
Photo credits from Molly and Memo FB Page.