By Phoebe Muthart
InkFreeNews

Marcia Martin’s therapy dog, Levi, 5, has competed in various canine competitions. This photo was taken at a United Kennel Club obedience trial, hosted by the K9 Dog Fancier Club of Fort Wayne and held in Columbia City last year. Photo provided by Marcia Martin.

PALESTINE — Marcia Martin finds comfort in bringing joy to others with her therapy dog. In fact, her previous canine companion, Jaden, that passed away was also a therapy dog.

“All I’ve ever wanted to do is work with dogs,” she said. “I love anything to do with dogs and kids.”

Born and raised in Kosciusko County, Martin graduated from Mentone High School in 1972. She has a sister, who is 7 years older. She grew up with dogs.

“My mom was a big dog lover,” Martin recalled. “In the late 1980s, we would stop after church and pick up our dogs and go to a nursing home in Warsaw to visit my grandpa.”

Martin explained, “I was also doing 4-H at the time, and we would take the kids to the Warsaw nursing home. After grandpa died, I got away from it.”

But as a Christian, she felt her God-given talent was working with animals. “It’s a sign from God,” she said.

She became a dog groomer after high school, working for a local veterinarian. She has been a dog groomer for the past 50 years.

Martin’s first official therapy dog was Jaden. In 2016, she started taking Jaden to Kosciusko Community Hospital. “He was my first regular therapy dog,” said Martin.

However, 13-year-old Jaden died. The canine was a Samoyed breed. “He looked like a big fluffy Husky from Siberia,” she said.

After Jaden died, she adopted Levi, Jaden’s nephew.

“I had to get his credentials, so we got that,” she said of getting Levi, then a year old, registered as a therapy dog.

Five years ago, she fell and broke her shoulder. She had just lost Jaden. “That kind of started retirement,” she said.

However, after adopting Levi she felt the urge to take her newest therapy dog to the hospital to cheer up patients, usually on the fourth floor. Visits normally last no more than an hour.

“The staff all love him,” she said, “and so do the patients.”

In the past, she has had a variety of dogs, including an Alaskan Malamute and a German shepherd, before she adopted Jaden and Levi.

Therapy dogs, she explained, are born that way. They cannot be trained; either they are or they aren’t.

“I do train other dogs sometimes, too,” she said. “Dogs are my life. I love training, showing and doing therapy work with my dogs.”

Dogs don’t do bad things, she said, adding, “They only do dog things, and it’s up to us to show them what we need from them.”

Levi, 5, also competes in shows. “Levi is a competition dog, and he’s a breed champion.” However, she noted, he doesn’t like agility.

Last year, Levi took part in a United Kennel Club obedience trial put on by the K9 Dog Fancier Club of Fort Wayne. It was in Columbia City Nov. 10. High in trial means he had the best score of all the dogs entered in the regular classes. Levi finished his novice title that day with a score of 198 1/2 out of 200.

She owns and operates Marcia Martin’s School for Dogs. Martin, a Palestine resident, also delivers Mobile Meals with her husband, Eldon. “I drive and he delivers,” she said.

The couple’s “children” are
their dogs.

People often will ask her if she gets paid to take her therapy dog to KCH. The answer is no.

“I get paid with smiles,” she said.

She also has two other dogs.

“One is shy, while the other one is ‘crazy,’” she said laughing.