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Westminster Dog Serves As Friend In Need For Children, Vets

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork)-- Pup Wyatt has been to the Westminster Dog Show five times, but his day job is even more impressive.

Wyatt's "real job" is service dog to his owner Janice Wolfe, who has a seizure disorder. He's also a "therapy dog" for anyone who needs him.

The 7-year old Rhodesian Ridgeback goes from resident to resident at The Oakland Rehabilitation and Healthcare Center.

Seventy-four-year-old Martha Volckhausen said she was surprised to learn Wyatt had been to Westminster five times.

"I watch the dog show, but I didn't realize that was Wyatt. Now he'll be a star and I'll have to follow his career!" she told CBS2's Cindy Hsu.

That career includes helping children with special needs. Wolfe started the non-profit group Merlin's Kids, which rescues and rehabilitates shelter dogs into service dogs for children and veterans.

Ben Peare is autistic and Wyatt visits him as he waits for his own service dog. His parents say it's normally very hard to keep Ben calm and get him to sleep peacefully.

"I just noticed sitting down with him, he wants to go to sleep Ben needs to be a little calm, Ben can be a handful sometimes," Stuart Peare, Ben's father, told CBS2.

Twelve-year-old Ben said, " I feel like when the dog's laying on me, I feel like closing my eyes."

He dreams of getting a service dog as wonderful as Wyatt.

"Janice is amazing, she's sent from heaven with what she does with the dogs... not only does she rescue dogs but I think that she saves people's lives," Lynn Peare, Ben's mom, said.

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