COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) – NBC4 is celebrating the birthday of our puppy with a purpose, Paris who turns one on Sunday.

To celebrate, we take a look into his 16-month journey to become a full-service assistance dog through Canine Companions.

We first met Paris last spring coming off the plane from Californian when he was just a little thing at 8 weeks old.

“From start to finish, you see like Paris was when he first came on air just like this little fluff ball with energy and personality and you know some quirky behaviors, puppy behaviors and then they grow, and they mature with the puppy raisers who do so much” said program director Adrena Spreacker.

Viewers see Paris on air every Friday at 6 a.m. on NBC4 Today, but who you don’t see is his puppy raiser Elaine May.

“I am his chauffeur. We get up at 4 o’clock every Friday morning. We have our breakfast. We get a little brushing. We toilet and off we go and as soon as we pull in the parking lot he knows exactly where he is,” said May.

Paris is the ninth dog May has raised with Canine Companions.

“Our puppy raisers who donate their love, money, time and trust to us to make sure that we are going to utilize this gift that they’re giving us for someone else,” said Spreacker. “They work really hard to make sure that they are getting that dog to be the best that they can be.”

Spreacker told NBC4 the skills May are teaching Paris now are fundamental and will be expanded on by professional trainer to become working skills.

He’s learning things like ‘touch’, ‘visit’ and ‘lap,’ cues that will help him in professional training where he’ll learn even more, like opening doors and picking items up off the ground.

Viewers tuning in may often see Paris demonstrating his skills with Storm Team 4 meteorologist Joe Speir during the “fur-cast,” but he’s also seen in the studio when he’s not working with Joe. May said seeing Paris lay down and be calm is actually a good thing as it’s part of his training teaching him to stay calm.

“With all the action of people walking around, the cameras moving and there’s light and there’s people talking, he can take a snooze during all that,” said May.

Paris will continue to be on air with us every Friday until late summer when he graduates and gets paired. Each recipient receives their Canine Companions assistant dog at no cost.

“The skills that the dog can provide are incredibly important, but the confidence that these dogs give to folks is something that is unparalleled,” said Spreacker.

May says while it can be hard to give the dog back after puppy-raising, she finds peace knowing they get to make a difference in the world.

“You have to go in with the mindset that you know that you’re going to give the dog back,” she said. “I don’t say that I’m giving him away. I’m giving him back. and then when you hand the leash over to the recipient and see what a change it makes in their life and that you got to be a part of that, it’s so worth it.”

The public is welcome to attend Canine Companion graduations to see how it all works. The next graduation is Friday, Feb. 7 at 1 P.M. at the North Central Training Center in New Albany. You can meet Paris as he will be there to help celebrate his graduating peers.

There are also plenty of volunteering opportunities like puppy raising. If you are interested in volunteering or donating, you can visit https://canine.org/.