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Palm Coast service dog, Kissable Katie, wins AKC Award for Canine Excellence

Jill Dempsey's seeing-eye guide dog was one of five dogs to win the awards for improving the lives of their owners and communities.


  • By
  • | 5:00 p.m. January 2, 2025
Kissable Katie. Courtesy photo
Kissable Katie. Courtesy photo
  • Palm Coast Observer
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Kissable Katie, the service dog of Palm Coast resident Jill Dempsey, won an American Kennel Club Humane Fund Award for Canine Excellence (ACE).

The standard poodle won in the Service Dog category. In its 25th year, the ACE awards celebrate five loyal, hard-working dogs that have significantly improved the lives of their owners and communities.

Kissable Katie is a seeing-eye guide dog and medical alert dog who warns Dempsey before an epileptic seizure and helps ease her anxiety. According to a press release, Dempsey couldn’t leave the house for years, afraid that her blindness, anxiety and seizures would cause problems. That all changed with Kissable Katie.

Dempsey is now a civilian Citizen Observer Patrol dispatcher. She also participates in Western reenactments and gunfights, even taking first place in the 2017 Florida State Ladies Champion Cowboy Fast Draw competition with Kissable Katie by her side.

They both volunteer to help with service dog groups for veterans and first responders who need service dogs. Kissable Katie has given Dempsey the confidence to live her life to the fullest.

The winners of the ACE awards were featured in a television special broadcast on ESPN2 on Dec. 15.

 

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