Comfort dog 'Kerith' sets out to improve mental health of first responders
Owner Carmen says the 3-year-old golden retriever has always loved firefighters, and they love her back.
CALIFORNIA -- A golden retriever with a little too much energy as a puppy to be a guide dog has found a different way to help those in need.
Kerith is a 3-year-old golden retriever on a mission to comfort first responders.
"Firefighter wives and husbands and kids that thank me...it's so cool," said Kerith's owner Heidi Carmen. "It's so heartwarming. It makes me teary and makes me so proud of what I'm doing."
Carmen says the pup has always loved firefighters, and they love her back.
"This one firefighter I saw she came up and said, 'Is that Kerith?' And she just started crying," added Carmen.
Kerith and Carmen take their jobs seriously.
"They're the helpers. They're the ones who help us, and they don't ask for help. And they need to ask for help," Carmen said.
What might be hard to say to a human -- Kerith seems to just understand.
"Kerith loves firefighters. So I decided I would launch a nonprofit so I could help Kerith help firefighters. We created a certification a whole process so people could become first responder therapy dogs because there's such a need," added Carmen.
On Wednesday, Kerith and Carmen are going to Sequoia National Forest to meet the first responders working there.
ABC News contributed to this report.
