This ‘Sloth-Like’ Lab Failed Guide Dog Training — And Found His True Calling

March 4, 2026

"I adore him but he's honestly the most laziest person," says Lina Pugliano, medical oncologist and owner of Cancer Fit.

When Marcus was a puppy, he began training with Guide Dogs NSW. But after 12 weeks, it became clear the Labrador wasn’t quite suited for guide dog work. He was, as Samantha O’Keeffe, alternate pathways manager at Guide Dogs NSW, put it, “a little bit of a sloth.”

Now four years old, Marcus has found his true calling — as a therapy dog.

Affectionate, friendly, and wonderfully polite, he’s perfectly suited to bringing comfort to people who need it most.

Marcus wasn’t the wrong dog.

He was just in the wrong role.

And once he found the right one, he became someone’s hero.