Earlier this month, Brian Machowski and Wally, a therapy dog, walked slowly through the lobby of the Gino J. Merli Veterans Center in Scranton. Several employees stopped for a quick hug and smile before the pair reached the patient floor.
A resident looked up expectantly before Machowski said, “Would you like to meet Wally, sir?”
“He’s a great kid to be around,” said Patrick DeNapoli, a 1960s Army veteran who taught at Keystone College and Luzerne County Community College. DeNapoli had dogs in his younger years.
“He’s special, you can see that,” he said.
The Merli Center is on Machowski and Wally’s regular route as a certified therapy dog team.
“Especially for our residents who have always loved animals, Wally fills that special place in their hearts,” said Angela Watson, communications director for the Pennsylvania Department of Military and Veterans Affairs, via email. “Unfortunately, we cannot accept pets when our residents move here, so visits like these have an incredible impact on the mental health and well-being of our veterans, families and the staff who care for them.”
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Wally is ready for a Fall Foliage Trolley ride at the Electric City Trolley Museum in Scranton. (Brian Macowski)
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Black rock creative
At the Helping Heroes NEPA Stomp Out Soldier Suicide Run/Walk in Peckville. Wally and his owner, along with Master Sergeant John Paul Karpovich and Captain Ayana Jones, are members of the 55th Maneuver Enhancement Brigade, PA Army National Guard. (Black Rock creative)
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Brian Machowski
Wally and Brian Machowski. Wally generally wears eye protection.
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Wally attended a Halloween event at the Luzerne County 911 Center and posed with, from left, Geisinger Emergency Medical Services emergency medical technician Marissa Malys and emergency medical technician Kendra Smith. (Brian Macowski)
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Wally is ready for a Fall Foliage Trolley ride at the Electric City Trolley Museum in Scranton. (Brian Macowski)
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Machowski, 54, is a priority agent for ARROW Land Solutions LLC and lives with his wife in Scranton.
He and Wally have volunteer arrangements to visit a few facilities and also wander around everywhere. They are the couple you may have seen moving around the Lackawanna Winter Market, parades, veterans’ ceremonies, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport, hospice units, the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Railriders baseball games, stores and parks.
“We haven’t had a weekend off in two and a half years,” Machowski said.
His next public appearance will be the Clarks Summit Ice Festival Parade in January.
The “Where’s Wally Now?” Facebook page has 2,900 followers and 2,000 likes. The messages are sometimes in Wally’s voice as he poses with police, first responders, veterans, Santa Claus, “The Office” cast members, business owners, athletes and with his “dad.”
“I don’t know who saved who,” Machowski muttered as Wally got scratched at the Merli Center.
The Labrador mix was estimated to be 8 weeks old, weighed 13 pounds, was heavily infested with worms and was found roadside in Georgia in 2020. Machowski was mourning a dog at the time.
“It’s the unconditional love,” he said. “The unconditional love and bond that Wally and I have is the strongest thing I have ever experienced in my life.”
Walking together was an outlet during the pandemic.
Machowski got Wally certified by the Alliance of Therapy Dogs after meeting a veteran during a biker honors ride. After an older man played with Wally, a companion told Machowski that the man had not lifted his head in months.
Now Machowski, the son and grandson of veterans, goes to many veterans’ celebrations. Earlier last week, the couple was guests at a Helping Heroes NEPA fundraiser at Texas Roadhouse.
Since therapy dogs are allowed in most places, Machowski often brings Wally into his daily life, both to keep their training sharp and for companionship. He has walked more than 5,000 kilometers with his ‘adventurous companion’.
“Wally is just a lot better, in his intelligence, in his caring and compassion,” Machowski said.
