CANINE COMPANIONS

OCOEE, Fla. — Ocoee Music Festival returns next weekend and features another star-studded lineup. The 28th Annual Ocoee Music Festival takes place March 10 and 11 at Bill Breeze Park on North Lakeshore Drive, featuring free concerts, food vendors and family fun. On Saturday, country music artists Chris Janson and Niko Moon will perform, joined by Chapel Hart, Walker Montgomery and more local acts. In addition to music, the festival also includes a Chick-Fil-A 5K and kids fun run, carnival rides, fishing tournament, arts and crafts and more. (WFTV)Click here to download the free WFTV news and weather apps, click here to download the WFTV Now app for your smart TV and click here to stream Channel 9 Eyewitness News live.

From pup to service dog, we’ve followed Flo’s journey as she continues her service with family in need through a special organization called Canine Companions.

This update is special for us here at News 6 because it involves one of our very own producers, Hailey Coomes, whose passion for animals is getting results for people with special needs.

Canine Companions is a nationwide organization that provides service dogs to people with disabilities. It takes a village to raise a pup to become a service dog.

A four-legged addition to a Florida hospital is helping lift spirits and motivate kids.

A four-legged addition to a Florida hospital is helping lift spirits and motivate kids.

Parks’s advanced skills include turning light switches on and off with his snout and pulling ropes to hold doors open.

From pets to assistance and working dogs, Orlando will celebrate their impact at the DogFest Orlando 2022 on Saturday, April 23.

ORLANDO, Fla. — A four-legged team member has joined the team at Orlando Health Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children. Parks will help bring healing, comfort and fun to chronically and critically ill patients, their families and team members, the hospital said. The hospital received Parks at no cost from Canine Companions, an organization that trains and provides facility dogs to health care, criminal justice and educational settings. Expand Autoplay Image 1 of 14 Parks, Orlando Health first facility dogAccording to Orlando Health, facility dogs undergo a two-year extensive and specialized training, where they learn more than 40 commands that allow them to interact with and calm patients and staff appropriately. The hospital said Kimberly Burbage has been a child life specialist at Orlando Health Arnold Palmer for 15 years and stepped into her new role as Parks’ handler earlier this year.

WINTER PARK, Fla. —Join 9 Family Connection and our partners, McCoy Federal Credit Union, Mister Sparky, Stanley Steemer, and The UPS Store, in Winter Park on April 23 for DogFest starting at 10:00 AM! DogFest supports the mission of Canine Companions to enhance the lives of people with disabilities by providing expertly trained service dogs free of charge. These service dogs make a profound impact through the jobs they do like opening doors, picking up dropped items, alerting to sounds and much more. Click here for more information on how to register and donate to help Canine Companions reach their goal of $115,000! Click here to download the free WFTV news and weather apps, click here to download the WFTV Now app for your smart TV and click here to stream Channel 9 Eyewitness News live.

SEMINOLE COUNTY, Fla. – Despite the danger posed by COVID-19, Kids House in Seminole County continues to do their part for neglected and abused kids with help from a furry friend. She's able to support them in ways that we as therapists can't," Ashleah Zigmond, mental health counselor for Kids House said. Kids House says they're already working on other ways Jordan can be of support to them. "We've seen a marked increase in the referrals that are coming into Kids House over the last week," Conus said. "Our staff here at Kids House are stressed, too because we're worried about our kids," Conus said.