LYNNWOOD, Wash. — This dog rides a skateboard. But that's not the most impressive thing about Darrel. The rescue mutt's human mom, Hailey Adair, works at the Alzheimer's Association, a place where compassion is the order of the day every day.
"He's my assistant," Adair said.
Ever since Darrel was a pup, he fit right in with his office mates.
"We had never seen a cuter puppy in our lives," she said, "He ended up coming with me every day to work."
Co-worker Samantha Chapman agrees, "Darrel is more like an office member than a dog. Everybody knows him and he knows everybody. He's very, very smart."
Every year at the Walk to End Alzheimer's, Darrel is at the front of the pack.
"He is maybe more of a people person than a dog person," said Adair.
And he serves as a counselor to those who need him most.
Adair's husband Nick said, "In all honesty, I've never known a dog to be so calm, caring and loving right out of the gate."
"We work with a lot of families and individuals who are just going through a really tough and devastating disease," Chapman said, "And Darrel kind of brings this light and joy into the office, and he is so happy to meet every single person who walks in."
With the pandemic grounding this active pup, Hailey and Nick Adair realized they needed to find something for him to do.
Hailey said, "Just to keep us active, and also him active. And it's been a little bit of a challenge without being able to go to the dog park."
The answer: Skateboarding.
"Started very slow. Now he sees a board, he just jumps on it. So fun," Hailey said.
Until Darrel can roll back into the work life he loves, he'll keep rolling along with his new hobby. He's a dog with great heart and pretty good balance.
Nick Adair said, "I couldn't be happier with how he's turned out."
You can see Darrel live in action on his Instagram page this Saturday, June 20, during The Longest Day fundraiser for the fight against Alzheimer's.
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