Stand By Me
One Woman, One Dog and the bond that changed everything.
Dale Marie Taylor writes of the training and bond she shares with her service dog, Gunter.
From the moment Gunter padded into her life at just ten weeks old, everything changed.
In this heartfelt and often humorous story, Dale Marie Taylor shares the true story of raising and training a German Shepherd puppy into a devoted service dog — and trusted lifeline. What begins as a simple admiration for the breed grows into an
extraordinary journey of dedication, learning, laughter, and deep companionship.
More than a training manual and far more than a pet story, this book offers an intimate look at what it truly means to live and move through the world with a service dog. Dale invites readers into the daily realities of training, bonding, and navigating public life — revealing both the joys and the challenges behind the scenes.
Through perseverance and countless hours of work, Gunter earns his AKC STAR Puppy, Canine Good Citizen, and Urban Canine Good Citizen certifications — but his greatest accomplishments are the quiet, life-changing moments: steadying Dale when her balance falters, helping her rise after a fall, and standing watch with unwavering devotion.
With warmth, honesty, and gentle humor, this book dispels common myths about service dogs and thoughtfully explains why a true service animal is not created by a vest alone — but by patience, consistency, and a deep bond built on trust.
This is the story of a remarkable dog…
and the woman whose life he changed forever.
Curious about the real-life hero? Visit the World of Gunter to see photos and sketches of the dog who inspired Stand by Me.
To purchase:
Stand by Me (Books2Read) Ebook
Stand by Me (Amazon Print Book)
An excerpt from Stand By Me:
Chapter One
When we decided to get another German Shepherd, it was because we were suffering. Our first German Shepherd was Louis. I had adopted him from a shelter in Pennsylvania. Louis had been in the shelter for several months and was known for running away. I was enrolled in a doctoral program for literature at the time and was also teaching at our community college in Galveston, Texas.
Louis was a great companion. He was very smart. I needed him because I had to travel between Galveston and Pennsylvania to maintain my residency for the doctoral program. When I stopped at rest stops along the way, I received some unwanted stares from truck drivers. Once Louis joined me, no one thought to even glance my way. Everyone was very polite.
Louis was well behaved and walked well on a leash. That was a big change from the three dogs we had adopted before Louis. Satchel was a Dandie Denmont terrier — more like a terror. Shadow was a Lhasa apso who was affectionate but destructive when he was a puppy. Betsy the birddog failed hunting school. But when all three died, I said I’d never get another dog because most of the care for them fell to me.
Before Heber and I married, I was cat person. I thought cats were much easier to manage. They did not have to be walked and could be trained to do their business outside. Every cat I had was like that. No trouble. But the two toy dogs and Betsy were a handful. So, when I went away to graduate school, I told my husband that I never wanted another dog.
We spent long minutes on the phone during the three years I worked on my doctoral degree. It was a slog, and I almost gave up. The university I attended was in bear country. So, Louis had the added benefit of protecting me from bears that investigated the trashcans outside my bungalow. But how I even ended up with him is a story itself.
One night while we were talking on the phone, my husband said that he was lonely without me there in Galveston. “I’ll be home soon,” I assured him.
“Don’t you think I should get another dog?” he asked.
“Oh, no,” I said. “You work long hours at the newspaper, and all the care for the dogs falls to me. So, no. I don’t want to get another dog.” I heard silence on the other end of the line and thought my husband had hung up. But then I heard a long sigh.
“I just don’t think I can live without a dog in my life,” he said. My heartstrings were tugged.
“OK,” I said. “I’ll look for a dog up here in Pennsylvania.”
That’s how I ended up with Louis. My husband’s lonely suffering and the unwelcome attention at rest stops on the long way home to Galveston resulted in Louis.
I was relieved when I graduated from that program. But, Louis was with us for five years after I graduated. When he died, I was devastated. He was smart and well behaved. I thought I’d never find a dog as smart as Louis.
But, after Louis, I was hooked. Louis came up to the college with me on cold lonely nights when security wasn’t around. He helped me get to my car without a problem. I was able to sneak him into the college for late-night visits.
Louis made me feel safe in the same way I felt safe on the road. I have suffered from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder since I was a young woman and really never discussed it with anyone because people always assume that PTSD affects men who have been to war. But soldiers aren’t the only people who experience trauma.
So, even though I knew that the care of Louis would fall to me, I didn’t mind. He was my constant companion when I wasn’t working, and he made me feel safe.
After Louis died, it occurred to me that a hole had been left in my heart. A German Shepherd was the type of dog I needed. It took me a while to come around to the idea of adopting another, but eventually I did. So, I began to look at German Shepherd adoption services.
That took me to Houston, where I was vetted before I was allowed to take River home. On the day I arrived at his foster parents’ house, River put his paws on the table, turned his head to me — I’m only about 5 feet tall — and licked me full in the face.
I was a little afraid of him because he was much larger than Louis — a giant Show Line German Shepherd with red and black markings like Rin Tin Tin, the star of a popular television show years ago.
I learned on the way home from Houston to Galveston that River was deathly afraid of thunderstorms and rain. I reasoned that it was possible his former parents were in a car accident. However, I continued to talk soothingly to him, and we arrived home. My husband was visiting a friend who lived around the corner.
I put River on a leash and walked him over to our friend Bill’s house. Bill was stunned at the giant dog I had on the end of a leash.
“Are you sure that’s a dog?” Bill asked. “He looks more like a small horse.”
Heber was delighted at my choice. River fit in well in our household. We had a cat who was not afraid of dogs, and the two got along well. When our aged cat died, we adopted another from the shelter, and this one too got along well with River.
However, River was so passive that the cat was clawing his ears. I had to do something about that. I was able to find a solution, but the biggest surprise was that River had seizures.
Stand By Me and other books by Dale Marie Taylor are published by Narrativemagic Press. (narrativemagic.com)
