When “Rudy,” a black and white Standard Poodle, leans against you for a hug, it’s a rare moment of respite. The 6-year-old therapy dog from Chatsworth, California, offers comfort to people facing physical and emotional challenges. His certifications are through Blue Line Dogs (Therapy Dog), the Los Angeles Police Department (Therapy Dog), and the American Kennel Club (Canine Good Citizen, Urban Canine Good Citizen, AKC Trick Dog, and Therapy Dog Distinguished).
Rudy works alongside his owner and handler, Steven Zonis, in various settings, including at schools, hospitals, police patrols, and disaster sites. After his previous dog passed away, Zonis was reluctant to get another dog. But from the moment they met, he knew that Rudy would make the perfect companion and began the process of getting him certified as a therapy dog through Children’s Hospital in LA. “I almost died when I was a child, and they saved my life,” he says. “I always wanted to pay them back in some way.”
On Mondays and Wednesdays, you can find this hardworking duo visiting hospitals, while Thursdays and Fridays are dedicated to police work. “I do my best to juggle my schedule,” he says. “My wife and I work as a team. I couldn’t do this without her.”
Along with weekly therapy dog visits, Rudy and Zonis routinely provide assistance during emergencies and major disasters. During the 2025 Southern California fires, they provided comfort and relief to staff, leadership, and fire crews, as well as individuals and families affected by the fires. “Meeting Rudy felt like they were petting their own dog back at home,” he says. “It gave them renewed energy to continue their work.”
Rudy’s dedication and winning spirit earned him the 2025 Award for Canine Excellence in the Therapy Dog category. Each year, the AKC Humane Fund awards five dogs who do extraordinary things in the service of humankind in different categories: Service Dog, Search and Rescue Dog, Uniformed Service K-9s, Exemplary Companions, and Therapy Dogs, like Rudy. Dogs in this category are certified therapy dogs working in hospitals, schools, disaster sites, war zones, and wherever else the affection of a loyal dog can provide comfort.
Rudy Puts People at Ease In the Most Trying Circumstances
There was little question that Rudy would excel as a therapy dog. At just 4 weeks old, “he was Mr. Personality and got our attention,” Zonis says. “Now, Rudy is one of the superstars of Blue Line Dogs, and I’m a senior therapy dog handler, and that’s from experience and certifications.”
As part of their training, therapy dogs need to be comfortable interacting with unfamiliar people. “The training is constant, and we have supervisors who observe and correct our behavior,” he says. This training is necessary because distractions consistently surround them, whether it’s noise from sirens or heavy equipment, or food on the ground.
Therapy dogs need to be desensitized to different working conditions and situations. Sometimes, they’re supporting people who use mobility aids. Other times, they encounter people crying or arguing, so they need to be prepared to handle intense emotions.
That’s where Rudy shines. He puts people at ease by capturing their attention and shifting their focus to something positive. He’ll come up and extend his paw or make eye contact and lean against a person. It’s his way of giving a hug. Plus, he’s a whiz at reading people’s facial expressions and body language.
Keeping Rudy Safe and Letting Him Do His Job
Throughout his life, Zonis has been volunteering in hospitals and community activities. “It gave me the patience and aptitude to relate to people in difficult circumstances,” he says. Before retiring, he worked as an engineer, gaining valuable project management and people skills that he says have made him a better dog handler.
“My job is to monitor the interaction between the dog and the individual and make sure the dog gets the support they need to continue their work,” he says. Another one of his responsibilities is becoming familiar with institutional policies, procedures, and codes of conduct, to work safely and professionally. Aside from answering questions, Zonis tries to limit his involvement during visits and only intervenes if the dog’s health or safety is at risk.
Usually, Rudy can work for two or three hours, at which point another dog will take his place. In fact, Zonis has a second therapy dog, an 8-year-old Poodle named “Ella,” who will step in for Rudy when he gets tired, and vice versa. “Therapy dogs act like negative energy sponges,” he says. “But when they’ve had enough, they need a break, and they get rid of that negative energy by sleeping it off.”
When Rudy isn’t training or working, he loves to go to the beach. Sometimes, he’ll chase birds, but balls are more his speed. When Zonis throws the ball for him, he loves running through the surf to retrieve it. “It’s just a delight to see him having a good time,” he adds.
Therapy Dog Visits Make a Real Difference
When people are in crisis, they can become overwhelmed or withdrawn. Being in a dog’s presence can help people feel calm and think more clearly. “Dogs are really good at giving and receiving love,” Zonis says. “They have no secret agenda. When they give love, it’s from the heart, and people respond to that.”
Visiting Hospitals
Rudy and Zonis visit healthcare staff and patients in several hospital units, from pediatrics to intensive care. When they work in physical therapy, for example, they’ll stand beside the patient, helping them feel less alone and more independent while walking or learning to operate a wheelchair. “Sometimes, people have been in the hospital for many days, and they’ve stopped communicating,” he says. “We’ll come in and work with them, and suddenly they’ll perk up and start petting the dog.”
Once, when they were in labor and delivery, the head nurse asked them to visit a patient. “We don’t go into the delivery rooms normally, but this was a unique situation,” he says. The patient needed to be on medication for hypertension and preeclampsia, but the doctors had their hands full as they responded to an emergency. “When I asked Rudy to get up on the bed, she put her arm around him, and within 15 minutes, her blood pressure dropped from well above 200 down to 140,” he says. “I was just in awe watching them.”
On another occasion, they had just gotten off the elevator when a nurse asked them to visit a young patient who was screaming at the staff. As soon as he started petting Rudy and focusing his attention on him, the boy’s demeanor changed. Later, Zonis learned that the staff had been trying for more than an hour to gain the boy’s cooperation, and just 15 minutes with Rudy made him calm enough for the doctors and nurses to do their job.
Supporting Dispatchers at Communication Centers
Zonis and Rudy have to be very mindful when working at 911 communication centers and command posts. “The dispatchers love to pet the dogs,” he says. “Sometimes they’re on a break, or they’re listening and multitasking, so we have to be aware of what they’re doing before we approach them,” he says. They have a policy of “ask and acknowledge” to make sure the dispatchers are ready to meet Rudy and aren’t busy with an emergency.
Working with the Police
While waiting for hospital visits to resume following the COVID-19 pandemic, Zonis and Rudy started volunteering with the Los Angeles Police Department’s (LAPD) bike patrol, car patrol, and emergency callout team. Through the LAPD, they connected with the Community Emergency Response Team, the Community Police Academy, and Blue Line Dogs, which oversees the training and certification of therapy dogs for the police, fire, and sheriff’s departments. He and Rudy also work with the state highway patrol and federal agencies.
Occasionally, police work involves attending a public ceremony where patrol dogs, drug detection dogs, or scent detection dogs are receiving a commendation. “People will bring their children, or they’ll want to pet the dogs,” he says. “But, since these dogs aren’t trained to interact with the public, we act as a buffer, and they can interact with our dogs.”
Helping at Schools
In the lead-up to final exams, Zonis and Rudy will visit universities like UCLA and Pepperdine to help students de-stress. Other times, they’ll work in educational facilities, visiting children with ADHD or children who are on the autism spectrum. “Some children respond extremely well to the dogs,” he says. “And Rudy is very good with children and adolescents.”
Providing Comfort During the Southern California Fires
In early 2025, Rudy and Zonis were called out to the emergency command centers, 911 communication centers, and emergency evacuation centers to assist at the Pacific Palisades and Eaton fires. For nine days straight, they provided support to fire crews and evacuees. “Some people had lost their homes, while others had lost relatives or pets,” he says. “Especially for young children, who were so afraid, dogs really provided a protective atmosphere.”
He and Rudy woke up at 4 a.m. to make it on time to the 6 a.m. briefing sessions. Later in the day, they were standing in the chow lines, greeting firefighters and emergency personnel. “Some of these people were just coming off the line, and they were covered in ash and soot,” he says. “You could tell they were absolutely exhausted and needed a few moments to just be a human being, petting a dog and having the dog smile at them.”
The therapy dog teams worked various shifts from early morning to late at night. Among the groups they supported were the California State Fire Department, county fire departments, the Los Angeles Fire Department, emergency medical technicians, public utilities, and lifeguards, as well as fire crews from all over the U.S., Canada, and Mexico. “We were thanking everybody for coming to Southern California and putting their lives on the line in this very dangerous situation,” he says.
The beauty of what they do is offering warmth and comfort during periods of unimaginable stress. “When I think of Rudy and me, as a therapy dog team, it astounds me sometimes just what we can accomplish,” he says. “I love getting out with the dogs and meeting all these interesting people and trying to make their life a little bit easier.”