A German shepherd who was found wandering the streets of Manchester last year is patiently waiting for his forever home. The dog named Zeus was initially very timid when he arrived at Manchester Dog’s Home but staff have closely bonded with him over the past 12 months, and he is now a happy and content dog who obeys his owners’ voice and hand signals.
He eats six cups of “Gentle Giants” large breed dog food a day and can occasionally get into trouble by raiding the baby’s pacifier off the counter or stealing a piece of cake out of the kitchen. He sleeps in bed with his owner, who says he is “usually well behaved” but sometimes can be stubborn and makes Zoom meetings a little difficult by peeking over the edge of the couch.
After rescuing him from the city’s animal services, Melton and Anderson trained Zeus to become a service dog for their daughter with PTSD. They say that when they give him the command “let’s go to work,” he becomes fully on task and ignores any distraction, even other dogs in public places. Then, when he is done with his shift and is told “free dog,” he happily runs to greet his humans in the parking lot. He even surveys and sniffs each store they enter, from the ACE hardware on Cleburne Boulevard to the meat department at the grocery store. They commute together each week from their house in Pulaski to Charlottesville in Melton’s single engine Beechcraft Bonanza aircraft.