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Harley's New Adventures

Harley's Hi-Lites - Adapted Super Kids Day

Well last night mom picks me up and sits me in the sink for a bath! I say to her, momma, I don't get a bath until Sunday night! She smiles and as she soaps me up she tells me a story. Harley, tomorrow you are going to a special celebration for some children who have profound disabilities. The school decided to have a special day to celebrate what wonderful and special children they are. So, we gets up real early and mom gets my stuff together, brushes me, sprays me with stinky stuff and puts my vest on. It seems we were in the car a day or a week or something like that and then finally we were there. Three of my other therapy dog buddies came too and we were taken into the classroom to meet the kids. They all have multiple disabilities so mom would hold me or I could put my paws on the knees cause they couldn't see very well and she would take their hands and then they could feel my fur. There were all kinds of wheelchairs and walkers and they had the gym and 3 classrooms set up so the kids could do different activities. I went in the gym and there was this little toot on the floor and I went right up to him and gave him a good ol' sniff and he got to laughing and he made funny sounds. At first it kind of scared me but mom kept telling me, its OK Harley and you know what? It was! I would sniff him and then he would pet me and laugh. Later on they had him in a little walker and he didn't want to walk but when he saw me, he started using his walker. It was a good morning for everyone and everyfurry. The pups made the little ones smile and they would stretch their little arms out to pet all of us. I got a Certificate and a bag of dog cookies too! The teachers want to have us back on a regular basis as they could see what a difference Animal Assisted Therapy can do. Well, I slept all the way home and mom said she was real proud of me today and you know, I was real proud of me too!

Harley's Hi-Lites -

Well yesterday morning momma took me to the barbershop and I told her we were just there two weeks ago! She told me I had to have a "touch up", don't know what that means, and she said you got a TV interview tonight little guy.

Well mom and I take off for the TV station and she tells me that I am going to be "Dog of the Week" on the show called "Dog Talk". They film 3 shows at a time and when we got there we went to the green room, It wasn't green at all, HD shakes his head, peoples sometimes don't make any sense. Anyhow, pretty soon they put a mic on mom and we got to meet Pat Becker the host of the show. We also got to meet the chef who was going to cook some "chucker" for dogs. I sat on mom's lap as they talked and then Miss Becker gave mom a big bag of goodies and a $100.00 gift certificate for me to spend at A-1 Pet Emporium! She asked us to stay around for a little bit and we sat and watched her interview some other peoples. Then she said, come on Harley, lets go help the Chef! THEY SAT ME ON THE KITCHEN COUNTER! I never been on a kitchen counter my whole life. Well I got to watch the Chef as he was cooking this Chucker stuff and it had venison, broccoli, cauliflower and brown rice, and my nose was twitching and I was sniffing, it smell delicious and all of a sudden Chef Bill fills a little bowl, sits it in front of me and said "there you go Harley". Let me tell you, it was delicious and I cleaned my bowl and everyone laughed and said it must be good! I will see if I can get a link when it comes on. It is scheduled for June 16 at 10:00 am. For my Okie furiends it is KSBI-TV in Oklahoma City. I slept all the way home and if Sophie Claire plays her cards right, I might just share my toys and treats that I got!!!! Thats all for now folks.

Harley's Hi-Lites- Animal Assisted Therapy at Northwood

When Terri first approached me about working with 4 students with emotional disabilities, I was not really sure if this would be a good fit for myself and Harley Davidson. Terri said, just give it a try and it doesn’t work than you can drop out. Today was the last visit for myself and Harley as we have been alternating with Derald and Sunshine. The students were able to have their time on “stage” as the rest of us watched them. One little girl was truly having a struggle and when she called Harley over and he responded you could absolutely see her face change and she felt confident and she told us she felt safe with Harley. From our first visit to today, the change in the behavior of these children has been a real eye-opener for me personally to see what animal assisted therapy can accomplish. They each took their turn in saying goodbye to Harley and to see them hug and kiss him and then tell him that he will be in their hearts was just so emotional for me. All 4 children led him out of the room together and then said their final farewells. A big thank you to Terri for taking us out of our comfort zone and having the foresight and trust that Harley and I would find another avenue for us to pursue on the road of animal assisted therapy.