FETCHINGPERSONALITIES

Advocate Pet Contest Winner: Duke was voted as the cutest pooch in Oak Cliff by readers

Advocate Pet Contest Winner: Duke was voted as the cutest pooch in Oak Cliff by readers

After suffering a stroke last year, Les Spradlin sometimes gets confused about where he is, even in very familiar surroundings.

Recently, he walked out of his back door in Beckley Club Estates and forgot where he was, but his faithful dog, Duke, reminded him.

“He came and got me and showed me where the back door was,” he says.

Spradlin, 55, also has trouble climbing the stairs in his two-story house. He knows to put one foot on the step and pull himself up, but it’s like his mind can’t convince his body to do it. So when he’s home alone, Spradlin could spend 15 minutes to an hour getting upstairs. No matter how long it takes, though, Duke never leaves his side. Sometimes, when Spradlin resorts to scooting up the stairs on his bottom, the chocolate lab puts his head under Spradlin’s armpit to nudge him up.

“When we finally get to the top, he just wags his tail and is so excited,” Spradlin says. “It’s like he’s celebrating.”

Spradlin and his partner, Greg Hutchinson, find Duke’s helpfulness all the more amazing because he’s never had any training as a service dog. In fact, he was a dog someone tried to cast off. Their pal in East Texas found Duke as a puppy after someone dumped him near her rural property.

Spradlin also found out this year that he has the beginning stages of Parkinson’s disease, which afflicted both his parents as well. And Hutchinson, a real estate agent, recently took chemotherapy for skin cancer on his scalp. So it’s been a rough year for them.

“You just have to stay positive and enjoy the good days,” Spradlin says.

Having a loyal dog by your side doesn’t hurt, either.