Onyx Fur Baby Floyd: The Service Dog Who Saved His Handler’s Life — And Kept on Giving

Some service dogs are trained to save lives. Onyx just does it naturally.

In this episode, Tim sits down with April Floyd to hear the remarkable story of how Onyx, a golden doodle who nearly made it to the door of a Humane Society, came into her life at exactly the right moment, and what happened next.

April was battling epilepsy, congestive heart failure, spinal issues, and three forms of cancer simultaneously. She was placed on hospice and given four to six months to live. Through all of it, Onyx was there, alerting, intervening, pushing emergency buttons, and according to April, refusing to let her give up.

In this episode:

• How Onyx found April in a Humane Society car park, and why the timing was no accident
• The day Onyx pushed his emergency button and got April to hospital in time for a heart attack
• The nurse who didn’t believe she was sick, until Onyx pushed the button for her too
• How April trained Onyx for tasks she didn’t even know she’d need yet
• Onyx’s double life as a service dog, emotional support dog, and community ambassador
• The runway encore that made him a local celebrity
• His upcoming feature film, Wishbone Christmas
• Why April believes dogs choose their owners, not the other way around

Less than a year after being given four to six months to live, April is cancer free. She credits Onyx with helping her fight.

This is one of those episodes.

Follow Onyx on social media: search Onyx Fur Baby Floyd

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Paws on Point is brought to you by Pawsabilities Service Dog Society, a non-profit society advocating for, educating and supporting service dog teams across Canada.

This episode is supported by Trupanion Pet Health Insurance.

Breaking the Silence on Men’s Mental Health — Calvin Fernandez on Why Men Don’t Ask for Help and What We Can Do About It

Men make up over 75% of suicide cases in Canada, yet remain underrepresented in mental health care. So what’s actually stopping them from reaching out and what can we do about it?

In this episode, Tim sits down with Calvin Fernandez, a fifth-year PhD candidate at UBC’s School of Population and Public Health and a trainee with the Reducing Male Suicide Research Program. Calvin’s research takes a strength-based approach to understanding how men experience mental health distress, including racialized men, queer men, and men with intersecting identities and what strategies genuinely help.

In this episode:

• Why men don’t ask for help, and why it’s not because they don’t want to
• The role of masculinity, stigma, and mental health literacy in keeping men away from support
• Why therapy isn’t just for crises, and how that misconception is costing lives
• The value of peer support and community connection in reducing suicidality
• Canada’s first-ever federal men’s health strategy, and why it matters
• Boys, young men, and the growing threat of the Manosphere online
• The role of male role models in schools and communities
• How service dogs are changing the mental health conversation
• Calvin’s message to anyone who’s thinking about reaching out but hasn’t yet

Resources: Calvin and his team at MHR have resources available for anyone wanting support or wanting to learn more.

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Paws on Point is brought to you by Pawsabilities Service Dog Society, a non-profit society advocating for, educating and supporting service dog teams across Canada.

This episode is sponsored by Helmcken Veterinary Clinic.

Meet Sierra: Service Dog Handler, Apprentice Trainer and the New Co-Host of Paws on Point

Paws on Point has a new voice. In this special episode, Tim introduces Sierra, the show’s new co-host, and she shares how she went from a dog-loving daycare employee to a service dog handler and apprentice service dog trainer.

In this episode:

• Why Sierra thought service dogs were only for people who are blind or deaf, and what changed her mind
• What it’s really like to work with 30 to 40 different dogs in a day, and why dog body language is a whole second language
• How a life-changing moment led to a conversation about a service dog, and how her service dog Cosmos came into her life
• The juggling act of being both a handler and a trainer, and learning to “flip the switch” between the two
• Why vests alone don’t make a service dog, and how that perception affects working teams in public
• What Sierra hopes to bring to the podcast, and why the service dog community has more to say than it’s been given room for

Paws on Point exists to lift the veil on the service dog world, and with Sierra on board, you’ll hear more perspectives from handlers, trainers, families and experts each week.

Have a story to share? If you’d like to come on the podcast, get in touch with us at Pawsabilities Service Dog Society.

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Paws on Point is brought to you by Pawsabilities Service Dog Society, a non-profit society advocating for, educating and supporting service dog teams across Canada.