12/14/2025
WAPAKONETA, OHIO • December 14th, 2025
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The following is the story of local artist and dear friend, Grant Turner, and his journey to receive a precious companion from Dulebohn Service Dogs. May every soul in this story be blessed with uplifting love and appreciation.
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FROM CLAY TO FIRE: The Making of An Artist
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When Grant Turner attended Wapakoneta High School, he enjoyed working with a variety of art mediums, especially pottery, under the guidance of his ceramics teacher, Betsy Selover. In his pursuit of further education after graduating from WHS in 2018, his initial goal was to attend Bowling Green State University to acquire a degree in animation. Grant graduated from BGSU in 2022.
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Grant quickly mastered the technical skills of digital arts and eventually realized he missed the tactile experience and personal energy of working with traditional materials. “I came to realize that working with metals and enamels combines both digital arts and craft, which is the art form I’ve become known for—taking my illustrations and turning them into really unique pieces with many colors and rich lines.” Controlling metal material with a laser engraver is a method Grant honed while working with multi-media arts at the Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts in Tennessee, during his last residency. Grant has also enjoyed learning about the history of the school. “Literally, Gatlinburg was built around this school,” Grant shares. “It is what is known as a settlement school.”
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WHEN THE BODY SPOKE: Seizure Alert
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After completing his final undergraduate show, Grant moved back to his parents’ home in Wapakoneta, Ohio. As he began preparing to apply for residencies and continue with his life plans, an unexpected medical diagnosis stopped Grant and his family in their tracks.
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After multiple emergency room visits, hospital stays, and specialist testing, Grant’s neurological care moved to the Cleveland Clinic. “We have learned that I have unconscious seizures known as focal epilepsy,” Grant says. “They happen in my sleep. One of the first ways my family knew I was having a seizure is that my sister’s dog, Lou started throwing herself against my closed bedroom door.” Though she is a beloved family pet and not a trained medical alert dog, Lou and Grant have become closer after she demonstrated such a surprise. “We’re besties now,” Grant laughs. Grant has since learned that a specific hormone is released in people who experience seizures — something dogs can detect long before humans can.
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LIGHTNING STRIKES: Too Much To Shoulder
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Another significant night Grant learned he was having severe seizures—as there were no other indicators—he woke up with his shoulder dislocated, backwards. The injury had occurred in his sleep. At the hospital Grant was told that there are only two ways to dislocate a shoulder backward. You’re either struck by lightning, or you’re having seizures. He was sent home and the next night, experienced another seizure and dislocated his shoulder backwards, again. This time he was transferred to Columbus, and his serious medical journey began.
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EMT GABBY: A Fist Bump in the ER
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During one of his ambulance rides, Grant regained consciousness and was surprised to see a familiar face — his dear friend from high school, Gabby Dulebohn. “I had a seizure and I woke up in an ambulance and I was so surprised to see Gabby,” Grant recalls. “We played football together and were friends in high school. I was so thrilled. I said, ‘Gabby, it’s so good to see you!’ and she said, ‘Grant, you had a seizure!’ It’s a good memory for me. I still smile when I think of Gabby.”
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Gabby shares her perspective in her own words: "Grant and I were very good friends throughout high school. We played football together and could many times be found joking around when standing on the sidelines. We would lift together during workouts and were always laughing. We both had a little bit of a nerd in us and loved going to Comic Con together. We dressed up in Dr. Who attire one year and had a blast. I got Grant interested in theater and he started doing plays with me. Grant and I kept in touch after I left for the army for a while, always going out to eat when I’d come home but my trips home became less and we lost touch.
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"The next time I would see Grant would be after we received a 911 call for a male having a seizure. When we arrived I recognized Mrs. Turner. When I came to the door and saw Grant my heart dropped. This was someone I cared for deeply and even though we hadn’t seen each other in many years, I still considered him my friend. I attempted to gain his attention by repeating his name and saying, ‘Hey Grant, it’s Gabby, do you remember me?’ He was in a post-ictal (after a seizure) state where the body is recovering from the event. Many times this causes an altered mental state where people can’t talk and do not recall events.
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"I drove Grant to the hospital and the entire time was worried for him. Upon arriving to the hospital I opened the back doors to see him back to himself. The weight on my heart lifted when I saw him focus on my face and say, 'Gabby is that you?' A smile came across my face as I knew my friend was still there. We dropped him off in his assigned room, we gave each other a fist bump and made our exit. I later learned that Grant was in the process of receiving a service dog from my Uncle. My Uncle Jeremy is an amazing trainer, from that moment I knew he was going to be in good hands.”
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HELD IN FAMILY and COMMUNITY: Carried By Love
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Grant’s life began to shift in many ways, and his independence was suddenly diminished just as he was ready for more of it. Right before the holidays in 2024, Grant received a six-month driver’s license suspension due to his medical condition. Six months later, the suspension was refreshed again, making daily life — especially in Gatlinburg, where he lived — far more challenging.
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Of course, his family worried. Grant’s parents, Scott and Traci Turner, along with his sister Sydni and her husband, Zac, have remained close and attentive through every change. “I know it was hard for my Mom at first,” Grant shares. “Especially when I lived away from home. My parents have always been super supportive of my art career and everything I do.”
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With his new medical diagnosis, what a blessing it has been for Grant to learn about a solution right here in his own hometown. Those who know the quieter, more tender parts of this story, understand just how much love surrounds the Turners.
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A MOTHER’S LOVE: Winter, Spring, Summer, or Fall
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Traci Turner, a teacher at Wapakoneta Middle School, clearly remembers December 20th, the last day of school before Christmas break in 2024. “He had probably four seizures that day,” Traci shares. Her students had already been informed about Grant and his condition in case she had to leave abruptly and when exactly that moment happened, the concern in the classroom was immediate and sincere. When school resumed, Amelya Eckert asked how Grant was feeling.
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For me, as the author of this story — and Amelya’s NanaMel — witnessing this moment was precious and meaningful. For many of us close to the world of service dogs, every story of a person receiving their beloved life-saving companion, is a collection of breathtaking miracles. Amelya’s curiosity made sense. By this time, she had become an unofficial “junior trainer,” having helped train and socialize three service puppy fosters. During this same period, Amelya was receiving rides to school, holding our current three-month old service puppy in training every morning.
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As “Foster Trainers” for Dulebohn Service Dogs, Amelya’s Grandpa Ted and I have shared our love for these dogs with our grandchildren for a few years now. Amelya continued asking Mrs. Turner about Grant, praying with her, gently suggesting the idea of a service dog, and eventually handing her a Post-it note with my phone number — inviting her to call or text with any questions.
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HOW MANY SIGNS DO YOU NEED? Aligned With Breathtaking Miracles
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In April, amidst her busy season coaching track, Traci began seriously considering the possibility of acquiring a service dog for Grant. As she sorted her thoughts, the path became more clear on the Saturday before Mother’s Day in 2025. That was the day Amelya, her family, and their current foster service puppy, delivered flowers ordered by Traci through a church fundraiser. In a sweet encounter sitting on the pavement of her driveway, Traci found herself overwhelmed with emotion. When she learned the puppy’s name, she melted: Sedona Grace
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Traci then revealed a tattoo on her wrist that reads, “Grace” — the middle name of her dear friend, the sister she never had, Shannan Peachey Albers. Shannan, now a loved one in spirit, was a beloved member of the Wapakoneta community. Her family owned LaGrande’s Pizza, a local favorite for decades.
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When Traci later shared this story with Jeremy Dulebohn, he listened and then quietly asked her, “How many signs do you need?”
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Grant’s parents submitted an application for a service dog while Grant was still living in Gatlinburg. Soon after, Traci began having conversations with Jen and Jeremy, owners and round-the-clock operators of Dulebohn Service Dogs located in rural Wapakoneta.“They’re literally only several blocks away from where we live.” She also remembered having one of their sons, Colby, as a middle school student.
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SERVING THE NEXT GENERATION: A Family Legacy Continues
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Many in our area are unaware of the powerful work that is happening right here in Wapakoneta. Affecting lives all over the United States and beyond, Jeremy has been training dogs for 33 years, and is now placing a number of next generation service dogs for families who have either lost or retired their child’s first dog trained by Jeremy. Early in his career, Jeremy earned his certification as a Master Dog Trainer and later served as the Director of Training at 4 Paws 4 Ability in Xenia, Ohio. During that time, he developed a highly effective and widely respected training method. When he went on to establish his own facility in 2020, Jeremy continued refining and applying this same approach—building the foundation for what is now Dulebohn Service Dogs.
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Jenn & Jeremy’s sons, Zak, Tyler, and Colby grew up immersed in raising and training dogs. Dulebohns have been breeding, training, and placing service dogs for over 25 years. They have provided over 1600 service dog matches. Their entire family contributes to their nonprofit organization, Dulebohn Service Dogs, and to their businesses that help support the financial need of the nonprofit: Dulebohn Dog Training, and Dulebohn German Shepherds. With one additional staff member, Nicole Kidwell, their groomer, Ashley Copeland, the Dulebohn Family works 24/7. They also deeply appreciate a long list of volunteers.
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When Grant learned about the Dulebohn Family, he found that he could watch Jeremy’s training in action in a 2021 documentary on Netflix series simply called, ‘Dogs.’ In Episode One of Season One, ‘The Kid With a Dog,’ Grant noticed that there was a sibling who felt left out when her sister received a service dog. She was upset when she learned that the dog would not be a family pet, and that “Rory” would be a working service dog. Keeping a healthy sense of humor, Grant jokingly called his sister, Sydni and told her he was sorry he was getting more attention than she was. She replied with, “That’s how it’s always been,” and just like a true brother and sister relationship, Grant had to remind her, “I’m sorry I’m cooler.”
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THE PORCH SWING MIRACLE: Where Community Still Shows Up
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Kay & Rollin Wellington have always enjoyed Grant and his family. Until recently, his Grandma Judy and Grandpa Mike Cossel lived next door to Wellingtons in rural Wapakoneta, where many conversations unfolded on Cossel’s porch swing. One day, Judy told Kay about Grant’s new diagnosis of adult onset epilepsy. “As she shared this with me, it really touched my heart. We’ve known Grant since he was a toddler,” shared Kay. “We’ve watched him grow up.” Learning more about how a medical alert service dog could give Grant the independence anyone desires in their early twenties, the Wellingtons soon found themselves in a perfect position to offer help.
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“I woke up the next morning and was getting a signal to have a garage sale, but not sell anything,” says Kay. “We were already preparing for a move to be closer to family. The idea was to give it all away and ask people to make a donation, and that’s exactly what we did.” Even though the Wellingtons had never heard of anything like this being done and had no idea how it would turn out, everything about the plan felt right, including reducing the amount of treasures in their home. Soon the date was set and plans for a garage sale were underway.
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When Kay called the Wapakoneta Daily News, she asked if they could provide front page coverage for their fundraiser and they were happy to do so. “They were wonderful to us,” Kay says. They ran the story the week of the garage sale in July of 2025. The day of the event brought both hope and uncertainty. Many have had the experience of people arriving early to their sale before the garage door is even open. When Wellingtons opened at 9 a.m., there were no customers to be found. “I don’t know what’s going to happen here,” said Rollin. Fifteen minutes later, cars started arriving and by 4 PM that afternoon, the garage was almost empty. “We had two little piles to donate to Agape in St. Marys,” says Kay. “The rest was gone, and our garage had been packed when we opened. It was just more than I could have imagined cleaning out of our house, and it was gone. When we added the checks and money up at the end of the afternoon, we had collected over $8,000 for Grant’s service dog.”
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Who could have envisioned that downsizing a home they built 29 years ago, an idea to give it all away, and the generous love and support from friends and neighbors, would lead to what felt like 'It's A Wonderful Life' in real life? “It was miraculous, really,” laughs Kay. “There were people who just walked up the driveway and handed us $500 checks! Friends were handing us cash and checks and Rollin would say, ‘Oh no! Wait! You have to take something out of here!’ We were able to get so many things cleaned out. And we know who has some of our fondest things.” As one of Kay’s friends handed her a $100 bill, she told her how they give to the Red Cross, to their church, and to other charities. She expressed her happiness this time, in knowing exactly where this money is going.
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Kay then sent a ‘thank you’ letter to the Wapakoneta Daily News, which they published. She credits the incredible success of this effort to our generous community, the WDN’s great coverage, our small town’s sweet, positive, word-of-mouth advertising, and the fact that this event kicked off even more fundraising for such a beloved family.
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Thanks to Kay and Rollin, who quickly followed their wonderful intuition to initiate their garage sale fundraiser, even more momentum took hold after that. “It’s just nice to be a small part of getting things going,” Kay shared. “Everybody loves Grant. It’s just perfect and this was all God’s idea. I cannot take any credit for this. It was led by God. The doors were open and we just had to walk through and make things happen here.” When Grant thinks of the Wellingtons, his eyes shine. “They are the brightest lights with the biggest smiles.”
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GRACE CONTINUES: A Hometown Legacy
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If they have ever wondered, the Turner Family can certainly now see how much they are loved. A long history with friends who have owned and worked at LaGrande Pizza in Wapakoneta, turned into another successful benefit for Grant’s service dog. A cooler was filled with awesome prizes and raffle tickets sold by the Turner Family’s friends at LaGrande’s. “My Mom’s friend Shannan Albers was a family friend of ours who gave so much to this community,” shares Grant. Grant had designed special t-shirts with the phrase ‘Cancer Don’t Want a Pizza Me’ in support of fundraising for Shannan during her illness. Grant’s fundraiser also received a blessing donation from “Shannan and Megan,” the Peachey sisters, a breathtaking surprise for he and his family. This amazing community of support — both seen and unseen — continues to uplift the Turner Family and Dulebohn Service Dogs. And the miracles just keep showing up.
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“To this day, I don’t have words to describe the feeling of that kind of support. I really am stunned,” Grant smiles. “There is so much more support than the fundraisers we’re mentioning here. All of this is because of this community and the beauty of a small town. People think of their life as being in a line, though it’s not. It’s a spiral. These things that bring you back full circle, even things that could be considered bad. Epilepsy isn’t something I ever expected. It brings me back to home and community in a way I couldn’t have predicted.” As for his opinion of his experience with Dulebohn Service Dogs so far, “They are doing God’s work. I don’t know how else to describe this.”
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After a few more significant donations in a relatively short period of time, all of the money was raised for Grant’s service dog. Any reluctancy to receive the generosity shown to Grant was soon eclipsed by his vision to pay it forward as soon as possible. “It’s important to let yourself receive and yet it can be even more important to give. I am an adult with epilepsy, so I can take care of myself. There are people in this world who can’t necessarily take care of something like this for themselves.”
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SKILLFULLY TRAINED, GUIDED BY PURPOSE: 24/7 Life’s Work
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Jen and Jeremy, owners of Dulebohn Service Dogs receive plenty of questions about the cost of acquiring a service dog from their organization. Even before a decision is made to apply for a service dog, the cost can seem overwhelming to families. The quotes they give vary by task, the type of dog, and whether their organization provides the dog, or the client does. The length of time each dog is in training also varies, and is an important and significant investment for the organization. Most service dogs are in training for 12-18 months.
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Multiple families who have received service dogs from Dulebohns, quickly learn how supportive their friends, family, and communities can be, and have been blessed with all of their funds raised in a short period of time. Most families who acquire a service dog hold successful fundraising, as the cost for one is significant and necessary.
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GIVING FORWARD: Two Sides of the Same Coin • A FurEver Investment
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When Grant learned that his family would be helping him proceed with fundraising to provide him with a service dog, he had an idea for holding an art raffle fundraiser even before the money was raised for this service dog. His desire to raise as much money as possible — as soon as possible — for Dulebohn’s this season, has been the perfect way for him to share his appreciation for all that was done for him. Thus, Grant’s ART RUF*FLE was born. When he and his art colleagues discussed it initially, they began offering art pieces to Grant for his raffle. One friend suggested that this is a beautiful way to impact a lot of people.
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For Grant’s ART RUF*FLE, 25 artists have donated pieces that will be raffled. “They are all great pieces,” shares Grant. “I feel good about this being successful. I have personal connections with, and I’m friends with every single one of the artists. If we do this again in the future, I am looking forward to more artists joining the fundraiser. My Mom and I think this could be an annual or every other year fundraiser as well. My parents encouraged me to allow the initial fundraising to happen. It was just a lot to comprehend. My parents really helped me accept the fact that the community wants to help. Family helped me understand that an important part of community is helping others and receiving help. They are two sides of the same coin.”
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ART RUF*FLE: A Community of Creators • All Grace and No Bite
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Ticket entries for Grant’s ART RUF*FLE are $15 each and are eligible for one entry into a drawing to be held on February 28th, 2026. Art items for the raffle may be viewed in this online event link: ART RUFF*LE 2025
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Additional donations are welcome, and the nonprofit organization, Dulebohn Service Dogs, directly receives all funds with this safe, efficient and secure fundraising link: GiveButter.com/ArtRuffle
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Using GiveButter has resolved many concerns for Dulebohn Service Dogs. This secure online payment system has become their avenue of choice for receiving donations. Donors may remain anonymous and/or receive a receipt for tax deduction purposes.
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Grant has come a long way since making pottery at WHS and even since this past season in Gatlinburg. While reminiscing about his time in Tennessee, Grant recalls a fun memory of a woman at Arrowmont who socializes services puppies. “She had a dog named Moon Pie,” laughs Grant, “My memory of Moon Pie is that he peed on the dance floor.” In the Spring of 2026, Grant will welcome his very own Dulebohn Service Dog into his life, fully potty trained, of course.
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This story has been written with love and intention for the highest and best for all.
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© 2025 Melanie Fullenkamp • All rights reserved.
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No part of this publication may be reproduced or distributed without permission from the author.
