Canine Companions' Paris to leave NBC4 for professional training

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — Viewers and NBC4 staff will soon bid goodbye to Paris, the station's Puppy with a Purpose, as he enters his professional training phase.

The Labrador-golden retriever mix was born in California on Feb. 2, 2024, and arrived in Columbus eight weeks later. He was NBC4’s fourth Puppy with a Purpose in partnership with Canine Companions — a nonprofit that trains assistance dogs to help children, adults and veterans with disabilities — free of charge.

Named by viewers before his first TV appearance, Paris got his famous moniker in honor of the 2024 Olympic Games in the City of Lights.

For the past year and a half, he has been on-air every Friday, visiting the NBC4 Today staff while staying with his puppy raiser, Elaine May. Now, he will take his next step on his journey to becoming a full-service assistance dog. It is time for Paris to learn working skills, such as opening doors and retrieving dropped items, to assist a child, adult, or veteran with disabilities.

Recently, at Canine Companions' weekly puppy class, Paris joined other future service dogs in training for a special session of interacting with a local Star Wars group. See the video in the player above.

“This is about socializing the dogs so that when they do encounter someone out in public with a costume on, that they're not going to be fearful or anything like that,” said Suzanne Sliclen, the puppy program manager at Canine Companions.

All the dogs passed the test, including Paris.

Sliclen also said that Canine Companions is looking for volunteer puppy raisers in central Ohio. Anyone interested in raising a dog to become a future service dog can visit canine.org to start the application process.

Paris's last day on-air will be Friday, Aug. 8, 2025. Fans of NBC4's furry friend can leave well-wishes on our Facebook page and share photos using the form below.