The Fabulous Therapy Dog.

Chance says, " I love to go and visit people. I kinda know when they are sad or sick, and I just lick their hands, and they seem to do something funny with their mouth, it turns up at the corners." " My mom says that is a smile."

Hello again. I want to talk about a great service that is provided to area nursing homes and hospitals and area shut-ins. This service is Therapy Dogs. These wonderful animals and their owners/handlers are one of a kind. There are several areas of service work that dogs can do, but the therapy work is so, so rewarding.

Not only do you get to interact with people whom, in most cases, don't get a lot of visitors, but you get to spend quality time with your dog. They are so receptive to our dogs. Even the few that are afraid at first, come around so quickly to the love that our dogs provide. Dogs are extremely loyal and dedicated, and can tell when someone is weak or sad. If you looked through the archives of this blog, you will see that I have a post on my old therapy dog, her name was Madam Kallee.

This dog found me. The minute I saw her that foggy morning outside my house, I knew she was so, so special. We did our obedience work and then I certified her for Therapy with Therapy Dogs International. By doing that, she was able to go to anywhere that requested Therapy dogs. I was grooming at the time, so Kallee would go everyday with me to wherever I was grooming and then we would go home. We were literally together 24 hrs. a day. She was such a sweet dog.

She worked the patients she visited like she was some kind of magic dog. If someone was afraid of her, she would soften her facial expressions, sit at their feet(in front of the wheelchair, usually) and just look at them. This would win them over every single time. She passed away in May of 2005 at 14 yrs. old. I now have the lab you see on this blog named Major B Chance, He is a 2 yr. old yellow Labrador out of Sunnyburke's Major General B and Heringo's Autumn Angel.

He is fabulous, too. I certified him for therapy, too. For an intact male, he is so sweet. I am for neutering and spaying, but I am in the process of finding the right female so I can get a puppy from his line. His temperament is so special. But, this is not something that I am taking lightly. I have looked for almost a year. My friend, Tim Childers, is helping me find the right girl. Since I have never bred a dog, I wanted the expertise of Tim to help me in this important task. Chance was supposed to be my husband and step-sons dog, and I was just going to love him, but I started in training with him and realized just how smart he was, so I continued on with him. Now, he is mommy's dog. Thanks for reading my blog.