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Likes: Being out and about, laying in the sun.
Pet-Peeves: When there's nothing to do. Strange cats in her yard.
Favorite Toy: Squeeky Man
Favorite Food: Her Flint River Ranch kibble, pig ears, crispy steak fat, BBQ salmon skin, bacon, raw carrots. Pretty much everything except plain lettuce.
Favorite Walk: Anywhere outside the front door.
Best Tricks: Ignoring the kitchen garbage can. The ability to get her big head entirely into a ground squirrel hole. Passing her Canine Good Citizen test. Becoming a Registered Therapy Dog.
Arrival Story: I was looking for a German Shepherd puppy, when I stumbled across a local rescue's web site. The pictures of all the dogs were great, but when Dutch's picture popped up, I could not get this dog out of my head. I printed off the picture and taped it up over my desk. Something in her eyes said, "Me, pick me!" If I picked her, this would be her Forever Home, so I took about five days to mull it over. I filled out the online application and crossed my fingers...the rest, as they say, is history. Let the spoiling begin.
Forums Motto: Hey Big Dog! Dogster Local Spots I've Marked: Rosewin Doggy Wash, Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, High Desert Obedience Club Thoughts and Quotations: He is your friend, your partner, your defender, your dog. You are his life, his love, his leader. He will be yours, faithful and true, to the last beat of his heart. You owe it to him to be worthy of such devotion. ~Unknown Author
I talk to him when I'm lonesome like; and I'm sure he understands. When he looks at me so attentively, and gently licks my hands; then he rubs his nose on my tailored clothes, but I never say naught thereat. For the good Lord knows I can buy more clothes, but never a friend like that. ~W Dayton Wedgefarth
The most affectionate creature in the world is a wet dog. ~Ambrose Bierce
You can say any foolish thing to a dog, and the dog will give you a look that says, 'My God, you're right! I never would've thought of that!' ~Dave Barry
I mean basically having a dog is a responsibility, just like having a child is a responsibility and yet do you look upon having a child as a burden, as something that is sort of a pain in the neck? Well, the same way you don't look upon the dog as an inconvenience, as a nuisance, in spite of the fact that it's going to...require that you make some sacrifices in your life. Thinking of a relationship in terms of being a burden, I think is an entirely bad way to think about...a dog-human relationship. ~Monks of New Skete
Dutch's Book Recomendations: "Greyfriars Bobby" by Eleanor Atkinson ~ "Seabiscuit, An American Legend" by Linda Hillenbrand ~ "All Creatures Great and Small" collection by James Herriot
Mom is just bustin' with pride because today I did my last observed Therapy Dog visit ~ I passed! That means that I am now a Registered Therapy Dog and as soon as my tags come I am free to spread the GSD love around. I am looking forward to working with 2nd graders this fall in the local Read-To-Me Program.
Today's visit was to a senior care center. I worked the halls, meeting and greeting. Mom tried my new "wave" trick. I had a little stage fright and I did a little tiny wave. Mom saw I was trying, and gave me a cookie and a head scratch for encouragement. I'll do better next time.
It just does my furry little heart good to see people light up when they see me coming. I makes Mom all warm and fuzzy too.
I have to thank a few people for helping me get here. I must thank my Foster Mom Suzanne, who never gave up trying to find a home for the dog with the teddy bear ears. I want to thank Carole and Janice, who helped Mom train me and who encouraged her to keep training. I also owe a debt to the Central Coast Hound Pack who taught me how balanced dogs are supposed to act. I can't forget Sherry, who said "when are you gonna' test that dog?" and started the wheels turning in Mom's head. And Mom, who always believed in me, even when I sometimes didn't give her reason to. She loves me no matter what.
Yes I do. I was just trying to see over the fence to see what the neighbor's Shitzu mix was barking about. Unfortunately, the path to that fence lays through Mom's herb garden. I got up to the fence and stood up but still couldn't see anything, so I decided to try going upstairs and looking out Mom's office window.
Just as I worked my way through the sage and the rosemary and the basil and the thyme, Sebastian let loose with a barking tirade probably because the leaves are falling from the apple tree, or maybe it's a butterfly, or maybe the mockingbirds are in sight... Anyway, I turned to look, stopped paying attention to where my feet were landing, and stepped on Mom's new Cinnamon basil plants squashing them flat. Then I tried to make a quick hop out of the planter bed before anyone saw. On the way out I must have scraped the top off the calus on my back foot, on the cinder blocks because I left a blood and hair transfer. (Mom put the whole scenario together, she watches too much CSI: Las Vegas.)
It looked worse than it was and Mom was glad to see that as it healed, it was just a scratch. But she was a little unhappy that my Therapy Dog career is on hold until my foot heals completely. An open wound on the foot like that can be a doorway to all kinds of nasty bacteria.
Mom must also need practice with her bandaging skills because she has my foot wrapped up like a mummy in gauze. She said it's to protect the boo-boo from getting scratched open again and has to stay on until it's completely healed. I think it's part of my punishment for squashing the new basil plant, even though Mom stood it back up and put a little stake next to it, and it seems fine now. I have decided not to push matters and am leaving the bandage alone.
Today was my second training visit. Mom took me to an adult day care center. There are people who are old, and some are wheelchair bound, and some who have other disabilities, and some who have Alzheimer's. But almost everyone seemed very happy to see me.
Mom did some last minute grooming touch ups before we left home and ran a lint roller over me when we got to the facility. Then she put on my flag bandana and we trotted in. I'm getting very good at sitting quietly for petting and I do like to rest at people's feet. One man said my name over and over again, I could tell he liked me by the gentle way he stroked my head and he told Mom all about the German Shepherd he used to have.
I was the hit of the Bingo room for a while, but then the game started back up and those people got very serious about their Bingo and forgot all about me.
The evaluator said we made a good team, Mom and me.
Can't wait until the next one!
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