Service Dogs for Patriots in Gainesville and Ocala - Our team

Michelle Dunlap

Michelle Dunlap, M.Ed., Executive Director and Lead Service Dog Trainer, is from Gainesville and earned her Masters of Education from the University of Florida in 1997. She taught middle and elementary school in Cleveland, Ohio, Tallahassee, Florida, and Waldo, Florida. Her teaching career ended when she suffered a brain injury in 2002. Michelle trained her rescued pit bull, Amber, to assist her following the brain injury. For many years, Michelle trained family dogs through her company, Gainesville Canine Academy. She focused her training efforts towards service dogs when she met a rescued pit bull who showed great potential to assist her owner the same way Amber assisted Michelle. Michelle founded Service Dogs for Patriots to address the need for trained dogs to assist veterans with PTSD. Michelle shares her life with a delightful beagle mix named Phoebe.

SD Amber and SD Liberty

SD Amber, NTD, ITD, CGC, TT Therapy Dog and Service Dog (2004-2018)

Amber was Michelle Dunlap’s service dog after her brain injury in 2002. Amber’s assistance to Michelle is what inspired the idea of training rescued dogs to become service dogs to assist veterans with PTSD.

SD Liberty, CGC

Liberty is the first service dog to be trained by Service Dogs for Patriots. She is currently assisting Army Veteran Chuck Hubert.

Veteran/Handler Teams

Charles J Hubert, Staff Sergeant (US Army retired) and Liberty, CGC

Liberty was rescued from the Sumter County Shelter by Phoenix Animal Rescue and adopted by Chuck on September 12, 2015. They completed cooperative service dog training in 2016.

Fred Wilcox, Captain (US Army retired), and Wendy, CGC

Charles J Hubert, Staff Sergeant (US Army retired) and Liberty, CGC

Wendy was rescued from the Levy County Shelter by Phoenix Animal Rescue and adopted by Fred in 2016. They completed cooperative service dog training in 2017.

Jimmy Ritten, Boatswain Mate First Class (US Navy retired) and Cody

Charles J Hubert, Staff Sergeant (US Army retired) and Liberty, CGC

Jimmy Ritten, Boatswain Mate First Class (US Navy retired) and Cody

Cody was rescued from the Bradford County Shelter by Gainesville Pet Rescue and adopted by Jimmy in 2016. They completed cooperative service dog training in 2017.

Joel Renfro, Specialist (US Army) and Shadow

Colleen Campbell, Lance Corporal (US Marines) and Artemis

Jimmy Ritten, Boatswain Mate First Class (US Navy retired) and Cody

Shadow was rescued from the Suwannee County Shelter by Gainesville Pet Rescue and adopted by Joel in 2016. They completed cooperative service dog training in 2017. Shadow's training was sponsored by Senior Financial Security in The Villages.

Colleen Campbell, Lance Corporal (US Marines) and Artemis

Colleen acquired Artemis from a breeder as a puppy. They completed cooperative service dog training in 2018.

Felicia Rawls, Hospital Corpsman (US Navy) and Scout

Colleen Campbell, Lance Corporal (US Marines) and Artemis

Scout was rescued from the Columbia County Shelter by the Lake City Humane Society, and was initially trained at the RMC Paw Camp in Lake Butler, FL. SD Scout and Felicia completed cooperative service dog training in 2017.

Dale Sievers, Specialist (US Army) and Sarge

Christopher Pericht, Petty Officer First Class (US Navy retired) and Remington

Sarge was rescued by Dale's friend and fellow veteran. He has graduated our
training program.

Sarge was rescued by a fellow veteran and adopted by Dale. They completed cooperative service dog training in July 2018. Sarge's training was sponsored by One Team One Fight 4 PTSD.

Christopher Pericht, Petty Officer First Class (US Navy retired) and Remington

Remington is a German shorthaired pointer bought by Chris' wife for him to train as his service dog.

Remington was a gift to Chris from his wife. They completed cooperative service dog training 2019. Remi's training was sponsored by One Team One Fight 4 PTSD.

Zachry Skidmore, Sergeant (US Marines) and Damen

Christopher Pericht, Petty Officer First Class (US Navy retired) and Remington

Zachry Skidmore, Sergeant (US Marines) and Damen

Damon is a German shepherd dog owned by Zach and is in training to be his service dog.

Damen was already part of Zach’s family. They completed cooperative service dog training in 2019. Damen's training was sponsored by One Team One Fight 4 PTSD.

Keith Totten, Corporal (US Army) and Saint

Rodney Fausnaugh, Sergeant (US Army) and Tony Stark

Zachry Skidmore, Sergeant (US Marines) and Damen

Keith adopted Saint from the Humane Society of Marion County. They completed training in 2019. Saint's service dog training was sponsored by Jean Ann Dorrell with Senior Financial Security in The Villages.

Rodney Fausnaugh, Sergeant (US Army) and Tony Stark

Service Dog in Training Tony Stark is a border collie mix from the RMC Paw Camp prison dog program.

Tony was rescued from the Columbia County Shelter by the Lake City Humane Society, and was initially trained at the RMC Paw Camp in Lake Butler, FL. They completed cooperative service dog training in 2019. Tony Stark's training was sponsored by James Coats of Phalanx Defense Systems.

Jose Jimenez, Sergeant (US Army) and Mindy

Rodney Fausnaugh, Sergeant (US Army) and Tony Stark

Service Dog in Training Mindy is a pit bull from the Humane Society of Marion County.

Mindy is from the Marion County Humane Society. They completed cooperative service dog training in 2019. Mindy's training was sponsored by One Team One Fight 4 PTSD.