We not only celebrate the milestones of accomplishments of our GatorlandK9 German Shepherds we also celebrate their lives.  Kodiak went over the Rainbow Bridge.  He is memorialized here by his family.  Rest Peacefully Kodiak and THANK YOU for your years of service to your family.

Dear Ted,

Ten years ago My husband and I called you with a problem and you gave us a beautiful, furry solution. 

As a military family, we move often and had moved to a rural area into a newly built home. Unfortunately, this home being built upset a local man who decided to stalk us and our teenage daughters to tell us of his unhappiness, that the house had been built on land he liked to consider his own. Not that he owned it or even for that matter had any gainful employment. He frightened us. He was armed. The police told us that there was not a whole lot that could be done. We had a restraining order, and we had extra patrols but really we were on our own.

Then Kodiak moved in. He was a visible presence in the yard and while we were training outside as well.  We ran together first thing in the morning and he was very clearly a serious dog. We loved him and he quickly became a part of the family.

The girls taught him to eat whipped cream.  He learned more tricks and traveled with us everywhere we went. Transfers took us from Eastern Pennsylvania to Virginia to Florida, back to Central Pennsylvania, and to Maryland. He discovered the beach, the art of looking intimidating, and was smarter than any dog we ever met. While traveling he either drew people to us to ask about him or kept them away, all of which we appreciated. He was wonderful with strange children who often ran up to him. But if he did not like you (as you told us Ted he had a scum bag detector) you knew it in a subtle but clear way.

Two serious events come to mind where our protector made his imprint on us. We often traveled back and forth from our home to where Doug was stationed on the ship. One late night we stopped at a quiet travel rest stop. It appeared to be empty but hearing you tell me to bring the dog everywhere I went, Kodiak and I went into the ladies room. I asked him to search and he did. When he sat down to show me there was a problem in what I thought to be an empty restroom, I was shocked. But there was a man hiding in a stall, standing on the toilet in the ladies room. I put Kodiak to guard and called 911. When the troopers came they all said that they did not believe me that I had the man trapped and that they had been looking for this man for months. The man kept saying that I should just take the dog and go.

The second story is that with any home we had to have contractors come to fix things or to do work at the house. One time I had hired a handyman and Kodiak was clearly not liking the guy. Kodiak stayed between the man and me everywhere the guy went and finally the man said to me, “I don’t think your dog likes me”. I agreed. The work was completed and was fine. When my neighbor asked about the handyman I said he was fine. He came on time etc. but by the way my dog did not like him.  She hired the same man to work for her and she was robbed. Enough said.

Our beloved Kodiak died last week and we wanted you to know how his wonderful training and fun personality affected our lives. This was by far the best dog. He was a serious one though. Never once got onto the furniture and although happy to be petted and scratched, he was not a snuggly pet. He was trained so well that we took him on board navy ships, into the hospital, and often took him to work with me too. He protected us all and took his “job” seriously. We will miss him terribly.

Ted, we cannot thank you enough!

Douglas Harrington

Constance Morrison