“All my dogs have been rescued from animal shelters or rescue groups because I believe it is better to save a dog’s life and it will enrich yours. Except for Muffin, all my dogs have been trained mostly by me to be service dogs and the opening act in my show.”
~ Dennis Walters
I got Muffin shortly after my accident and her job was to keep my spirts up and she was Great! I never thought to teach her any tricks, she was my guardian angel!
Mulligan was my second dog and so as in golf, I took a Mulligan. She was rescued from The Orlando Humane Society during The PGA Show. We put her name down for The Super Bowl pool and naturally she won the pool.
Benji was rescued from Pets in Distress in Ft Lauderdale and his name comes from the fact that he looked like Benji the movie dog and from my favorite golfer Ben Hogan. Benji made 8 commercials for K-Mart and won his segment on a talent show for pets called Pet Star on Animal Planet. He could answer questions by barking out the answers to math problems, general information, or golf trivia questions. Performed for Presidents and Hall of Famers!
Bucky was rescued from Canine Castaways of Arcadia Florida and I named him after my Dad. I loved saying his name numerous times during a day because every time I did I thought of my Dad. Bucky could do all the tricks that Benji did and that pleased me a great deal.
We call him Gussie and he was rescued from The Big Dog Ranch and Rescue of Loxahatchee FL on Jan 1, 2020. Gussie was found in a bag abandoned by the side of a road 40 miles from San Juan, Puerto Rico. Even though I’ve only had him a short time, he can do all the tricks and even some others that I did not teach the other dogs. My crowning achievement in dog training is that I taught Gussie to hit a golf ball. After a good shot he claps for himself and picks up the balls. Covid-19 has prevented him from performing before audiences, but I hope this changes soon as I’m sure audiences everywhere will love him.