Dogster

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My hard life

how cool is it ..

yesterday at the Hospital when I was doing my TD visit for Hospice a gentleman came into teh nurses station to talk to the nurses about how they liked his treat he made for them ,fresh homemade banana bread. At first he didn't see me just sitting there patiently and then when he did his face just lit up he was so happy to see me. Then he went on to say how he has told his bible study group and different people at his church how Alex the cute little white dog stops by Hospice to lift up sad people and what a difference i make. I couldn't believe my little doggie ears somebody i don't even know is spreading the word about me. I didn't knwo I was that special but I guess i am. I just don't want people to be sad is all. If that means rubbing my head or just talking to me and then they don't feel as bad that`s fine with me. I'm a good at listening to people . Mommy says if this keeps up she won't be surprised if I get asked to go more places. BOL I do get a weekend away this weekend i get to go camping but mommy says she won't be surprised if I end up making somebody happy over the weekend. BOL

Awards for being a TD

In my last entry I furgot to say that so far within a year and half time I have gotten an award for being a TD it is the TDIA award or Therapy Dogs International Award active that means I had to have 50 documented visits well I did that b/f Christmas now my next award I am working toward is the outstanding Active I need another 100 visits on top of the 50 I already have. My long term goal is to get the gold award which at the rate I'm going shouldn't be too long. BOL I also was nominated along with mommy for an outstanding volunteer award for Hospice of Cincinnati, we didn't win but WOW what an honor just to be nominated. When we found out my first words were who me ? I'm just a therapy dog i love going and making people happy I don't do nothing special. Then it was explained to me that being a TD is something special in and of itself. That not all dogs can be TD. Well that is ok but I still don't understand what i did that was so special to have me nominated for an award. Mommy says I'm just a special dog is all.

Life as a Therapy dog

Little did I know that when mommy signed em up and took me to training class to be a Therapy dog that my life would change for the better. I passed all my classes and test with flying colors and had fun doing it too. See mommy found out that Hospice of Cincinnati over here on the west side could use a Therapy dog she thought about me and how laid back and good i am. You can do just about anything to me and i just don't care. Well mommy thought I would be perfect for the job and I am. I have been doing this job for about a year and half now and i love every minute of it. I started off with just going to the Hospital to the Inpatient Unit (IPU) for Hospice but then since grandma does filing on Thursdays for Hospice mommy was asked to bring me to the office to help relieve the stress of the workers so naturally she said of course she would. then came my 3rd assignment and that is going to an assisted living place about 15 min from home. Boy was a hit there from day 1. They all love me there and i go visit the Alzheimer's unit. Mostly tho I concentrate on the assisted living people. I was invited to the Halloween party in October and mommy got to go by "default" since I can't drive. I am also considered part of the "family" at hospice and the assisted living place. everyone looks forward to my weekly visits even the nurses. I go to Hospice IPU every Monday, to the Hospice west side office every Thursday and to the assisted living place twice a month on Wed. Mommy has been asked several times if I go to Children's Hospital and she has said no not yet. I guess that will be my next place to go. Gosh am I a busy pup but i love it. Some people might think that starting off as a 6 year old doing therapy dog work is a bit late in a furs life but I say it is never too late. I was doing Therapy Dog work b/f I was a certified TD. Being a TD is very rewarding esp to see how the people cheer up when I come around. It can be hard but it is fun too. I have started to keep a journal of all my visits on our computer mommy has been told that I should write a book, I'm not sure about that one.