Billy Palmer is a regular outside Ford Field before most home games, wearing a Detroit Lions jersey, mane and his own K9 sunglasses.
The eye-catching golden retriever looks more like a lion than a dog in his costume prompting a string of fans — sometimes dozens at a time — to stop, snap pictures and pose with Billy as he revels in the pregame buzz.
“He loves the attention,” said owner Mike Gould, 59, of Brighton, who plans to bring Billy downtown tonight to interact with fans gathered near the stadium before the Lions play the Baltimore Ravens.
Gould and his wife, Kathy Gould, have had Billy since her mother, Mary Lou Palmer, died in October 2012. Before her death, she asked them to take care of Billy, who she referred to as her fifth son.
“He made my mom happy,” said Kathy Gould, 55. “He made her truly happy.”
Now Billy is doing the same for others and has a way with people, including those in hospital beds and wheelchairs, his owners said. He often attends community events and also visits people in nursing homes, bringing smiles to their faces.
Beth Wilkinson, 39, of Lansing spotted him when she came to a Lions game in Detroit last month and got permission to pet him.
“I reached underneath his little mane, and I petted his ears, and he came up and gave me a big hug,” she said. “He put his head right up on my shoulder.”
At first, some people thought Mike Gould was looking for donations.
“He wasn’t,” Wilkinson said. “His remark was, ‘Please keep an eye out for your local Humane Societies and other organizations that support animals.’ ”
The more places Billy goes, the more people ask about him when he’s not around. That’s what happened when the Goulds went to America’s Thanksgiving Parade this year.
“So many people asked Mike, ‘Hey, where’s Billy?’ ” Kathy Gould said. “I had never met these people, but these people sure knew our dog.”
Palmer instantly connected with the 8-week-old pup and paid $1,800 for him at a church auction early last year. She named him after her late husband, William Palmer, who died in 2007 after 58 years of marriage.
When Palmer bought the puppy, she was sick and using a walker, then she got sicker, eventually becoming bedridden with brain cancer.
Billy stayed by her side, day and night.
“This dog just absolutely adored her,” Kathy Gould recalled. “He would come over to her and sit by her hospital bed and lay his head on her, on the bed, and just stare. … Every once and awhile, he’d put a paw up just to touch to her hands.”
Palmer knew Billy would outlive her and wanted to make sure he was well-cared for when she died.
“She loved him to death,” Mike Gould said. “She said, ‘I would take him with me if I could ... but I can’t.’ ”
When she died, her obituary mentioned she was survived by her “loving companion, Billy the dog.”
The 94-pound animal has been with the Goulds since then and quickly became treasured in their household.
Billy acts as a protector, so much so that Kathy Gould, who lives near Fonda Lake, bought him a life jacket.
“If I go out in the middle of the lake on a raft ... he will never leave me,” Kathy Gould said. “He swims completely around me the whole time I’m out there.”
He began wearing the Lions costume before the first game of this season and has hung out near Ford Field before almost every home game this season, gaining fans of his own.
“He’s become a real regular down there,” Mike Gould said. “This is just me letting people enjoy him as much as I’m enjoying everybody enjoying him.”
Billy, who turns 2 on Dec. 27, will only let Kathy Gould dress him, she said. Then her husband, who is a huge Lions fan and, along with her, works for Ford, takes him down to mingle with fans before the game.
“He’s one in a million,” Mike Gould said.
He said he wishes he could bring Billy into a game, but was told by a Lions official that only service dogs are allowed, so he usually heads back home before kickoff and catches it on TV.
“People find him truly amazing, and so do I,” Kathy Gould said.
/www.freep.com/article/20131216/NEWS05/312160024/Billy-dog-lion-Detroit
The eye-catching golden retriever looks more like a lion than a dog in his costume prompting a string of fans — sometimes dozens at a time — to stop, snap pictures and pose with Billy as he revels in the pregame buzz.
“He loves the attention,” said owner Mike Gould, 59, of Brighton, who plans to bring Billy downtown tonight to interact with fans gathered near the stadium before the Lions play the Baltimore Ravens.
Gould and his wife, Kathy Gould, have had Billy since her mother, Mary Lou Palmer, died in October 2012. Before her death, she asked them to take care of Billy, who she referred to as her fifth son.
“He made my mom happy,” said Kathy Gould, 55. “He made her truly happy.”
Now Billy is doing the same for others and has a way with people, including those in hospital beds and wheelchairs, his owners said. He often attends community events and also visits people in nursing homes, bringing smiles to their faces.
Beth Wilkinson, 39, of Lansing spotted him when she came to a Lions game in Detroit last month and got permission to pet him.
“I reached underneath his little mane, and I petted his ears, and he came up and gave me a big hug,” she said. “He put his head right up on my shoulder.”
At first, some people thought Mike Gould was looking for donations.
“He wasn’t,” Wilkinson said. “His remark was, ‘Please keep an eye out for your local Humane Societies and other organizations that support animals.’ ”
The more places Billy goes, the more people ask about him when he’s not around. That’s what happened when the Goulds went to America’s Thanksgiving Parade this year.
“So many people asked Mike, ‘Hey, where’s Billy?’ ” Kathy Gould said. “I had never met these people, but these people sure knew our dog.”
Palmer instantly connected with the 8-week-old pup and paid $1,800 for him at a church auction early last year. She named him after her late husband, William Palmer, who died in 2007 after 58 years of marriage.
When Palmer bought the puppy, she was sick and using a walker, then she got sicker, eventually becoming bedridden with brain cancer.
Billy stayed by her side, day and night.
“This dog just absolutely adored her,” Kathy Gould recalled. “He would come over to her and sit by her hospital bed and lay his head on her, on the bed, and just stare. … Every once and awhile, he’d put a paw up just to touch to her hands.”
Palmer knew Billy would outlive her and wanted to make sure he was well-cared for when she died.
“She loved him to death,” Mike Gould said. “She said, ‘I would take him with me if I could ... but I can’t.’ ”
When she died, her obituary mentioned she was survived by her “loving companion, Billy the dog.”
The 94-pound animal has been with the Goulds since then and quickly became treasured in their household.
Billy acts as a protector, so much so that Kathy Gould, who lives near Fonda Lake, bought him a life jacket.
“If I go out in the middle of the lake on a raft ... he will never leave me,” Kathy Gould said. “He swims completely around me the whole time I’m out there.”
He began wearing the Lions costume before the first game of this season and has hung out near Ford Field before almost every home game this season, gaining fans of his own.
“He’s become a real regular down there,” Mike Gould said. “This is just me letting people enjoy him as much as I’m enjoying everybody enjoying him.”
Billy, who turns 2 on Dec. 27, will only let Kathy Gould dress him, she said. Then her husband, who is a huge Lions fan and, along with her, works for Ford, takes him down to mingle with fans before the game.
“He’s one in a million,” Mike Gould said.
He said he wishes he could bring Billy into a game, but was told by a Lions official that only service dogs are allowed, so he usually heads back home before kickoff and catches it on TV.
“People find him truly amazing, and so do I,” Kathy Gould said.
/www.freep.com/article/20131216/NEWS05/312160024/Billy-dog-lion-Detroit
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