It’s been one year since the killing of former House Speaker Melissa Hortman, her husband Mark and their golden retriever, Gilbert.
Gilbert started out as a service dog in training through Helping Paws, the Eden Prairie nonprofit that trains assistance dogs for people with physical disabilities, veterans and first responders living with PTSD. But Gilbert was ultimately deemed a little too friendly for the job, and the Hortmans adopted him as their own.
Alyssa Golob, executive director of Helping Paws, said that even though Gilbert did not become a professional service dog, he was an unofficial service dog to the Hortman family as they navigated demanding professional lives of public service.
“It wasn't his journey to be a service dog, and we respect that. In my head now, I kind of feel like that Gilbert was where he was supposed to be with Melissa and Mark. He helped them through the stress of their lives.“ Golob said.
In the months following their deaths, thousands of people donated to Helping Paws in their memory. That support helped create the Hortman Heroes Fund, which will train future service dogs.
During the most recent legislative session, lawmakers also funded an entire litter of puppies to go on to become service dogs in the Hortman’s honor. They are called the "Guided by Gilbert” litter. The nine puppies each have names that start with the letter G.
The puppies left for their volunteer trainer placements on May 31, and will train for more than two years to become professional service dogs for veterans and first responders with PTSD.
Golob calls the outpouring of support the “Melissa, Mark and Gilbert effect,” and said that their story is now a part of the soul of Helping Paws.
“Donations came our way, and that's wonderful, but it was really about people wanting to walk in Melissa and Mark's footsteps,” Golob said. “Now we have a wait list of people who want to take on a puppy.”
Training a service dog is hard work. In order to graduate, puppies must learn more than 70 commands from sitting all the way up to turning on lights and opening doors. But when they are still young like the “Guided by Gilbert” litter, they are mostly working on socializing with each other and people.
“Every time I watch the puppies play, it kind of gets me teared up a little bit,” Golob said. “These puppies, two years from now, are going to change somebody's life. You have no idea who they are going to, but somebody's life is going to be changed because of this cute, silly puppy.”
For now, though, they are still just puppies — tumbling over one another, exploring the world and growing into the dogs that Helping Paws hopes will one day transform someone's life.
“When the guided by Gilbert litter went home, there was a lot of love and pride in the room,” Golob said. “They have a lot to live up to, those puppies, and we were certain that we're going to watch them grow, and they're going to change lives. Melissa, Mark and Gilbert will continue to be proud of us.”
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