Wherever Jimmy Thomas goes, his golden retriever Boots is usually close by.

“Time to go to work,” said Thomas, speaking to his service dog as they head into the backyard of a Schenectady home.

The two have been paired up for the last three years, and they do just about everything together. As the Army veteran restores and paints a home on Lowell Road, Boots is there watching every stroke.

For a while, Thomas says he had seizures, which was the catalyst for getting a service dog. He got Boots through the organization Mountains to Miracles, and Boots was then trained by Woofs for Warriors. Since having a service dog, Thomas says Boots has helped relieve his stress.

“Like everybody’s dog, they keep you grounded and mellow; makes it fun,” Thomas said. “At the end of each day, all he wants to do is wrestle and play each time.”

Two years ago, Thomas wanted to give back. So, he cycled from Oregon to Albany to raise money for Woofs for Warriors. It’s an organization that trains rescue dogs and pairs them with veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.

While Thomas himself doesn’t have PTSD, he knows the impact of having someone like Boots by their side can have, which is what brought him to the southern end of Otsego Lake on a windy Saturday morning.

“I was hoping for 80 and sunshine, golden gumdrops. Not going to happen,” said Thomas, as rain continued to fall with the temperatures in the 40s.

He’s about to launch another lengthy fundraiser. This time, Thomas is kayaking more than 400 miles on the Susquehanna River from Cooperstown down to Maryland. His goal is to raise $18,000.

“A lot of veterans have a lot worse struggles than this, so this is nothing,” Thomas said. “I’m not going to compare this to what other people go through, so I feel like it’s worth it.”

Just like his cross-country biking expedition, not much training went into this. But Thomas is optimistic he’ll just kayak himself into shape again. The trip is expected to take about a month, and this time, he’ll have Boots by his side at every stroke along the way.

“It gives me pleasure to be able to help other veterans,” Thomas said. “I appreciate what they have done.”