Opinion

Although English Setters have been at the center of my life for the past twenty-four years, I have a strong attraction to Greyhounds.  They posess such an elegant grace.  So gentle, sweet, and affectionate.  I love the way a Greyhound will ever-so-quietly sidle up against me and lean in to be petted and hugged.  I love to look into the face of a Greyhound, holding its head in my hand.  The large, dark doe-like eyes so expressive looking up at me. This breed of dog speaks to me…  It seems to be saying I want to be loved by you, and love you back in return…

Each October, I simply can’t resist heading to the Greyhound Options Annual Octoberfest Rally held at Dufresne Park in Granby, Massachusetts.  I am drawn there, no matter what the weather, where my eyes can feast upon as many as 75-100 of these special dogs, all retired racing Greyhounds, who have been adopted into their forever homes where they receive as much love back as they give.  The expression on their faces seems to be that of thanks… thankful for being adopted by these caring people.  It’s a special group of people who work hard at retrieving the dogs from the track, placing them in foster homes to acclimate to homelike, then finding them caring, loving homes.

So yesterday, regardless of unseasonably cold temperatures, a few snow flakes, and a nagging cold I had been nursing all week, I found myself in the company of these gracious canines…  their short seal-like fur in a variety of color patterns, many sporting fleece  coats custom made to keep Greyhounds warm.  Each year, I see one or two I’d love to take home with me (some are there to be adopted).  But – my English Setters, Annie, Lily, and King are much relieved when I return home empty-handed!  For now, these three beloved dogs of mine keep me very busy – and much-loved.

We read about and hear about Therapy Dogs so much these days.  We watch YouTube videos of these wonderful dogs in action.  I write posts every week on Say Hello Spot highlighting the meaningful work these special dogs perform.  But, what about the Therapy Dog’s handler (in most cases, his or her owner)?  Truth be had, not much is said about the other end of the lead.

Granted, some dogs seem to be born Therapy Dogs.  They’re pure naturals.  I’ve seen this through the years.  Along with the wonderful, outgoing personality required of all Therapy Dogs, the born-to-be-Therapy Dog, has an innate set of good manners.  The requirement that the dog wear a collar that is attached to a lead seems totally unnecessary.  The born-to-be-Therapy Dog could make rounds of a facility on his/her own, it appears.  But, how did the Therapy Dog get to his/her visiting location?

I’ve seen relatively few of these ready-to-go dogs.  My first Therapy Dog, Beatrice, was one of these naturals, but my other six were not.  And, to answer the question above, as terrific as that dog may be, he simply can’t drive himself to his volunteer site.  It takes a dedicated woman or man.  I call these folks exceptional people.  They believe in the power of the human-canine bond and, knowing they have dogs with wonderful temperaments, they work hard at developing the skills needed to perform this meaningful work.  They sometimes work several years before their particular dog is ready to begin actual Therapy Dog training.

The making of a Therapy Dog is not a quick-fix kind of thing.  It’s not for everyone.  It takes a true dog-lover.  A person who is willing to take the time, often carving out large amounts of time from what seems like an already much-too-busy schedule to work on Therapy Dog development.  For those bitten by the passion one feels when one believes in the power of the human-canine bond, making time isn’t adding on more work, it’s enjoying a full relationship with one’s dog and receiving great satisfaction from sharing him or her with those in need.  They train after work, before work, on weekends, on lunch breaks. Some travel great distances to obtain the required training. Don’t we always find time to fit in the things we truly love doing?

Who are these extraordinary people?  They come from all walks of life.  Some are teachers, school principals and guidance counselors, social workers, therapists, physicians, and nurses, postal workers, accountants, computer programmers, college professors, bankers, religious leaders, veterinarians, dog trainers, retired business people, career community volunteers, and so many more.  They dedicate their time to the training and relationship-building it takes to become a certified Therapy Dog Team.  They set aside time in their busy schedules to take their well-trained, sweet, gentle Therapy Dogs to visit folks on hospice care, those afflicted with Alzheimer’s disease, residents of a nursing home, those suffering with mental illness, or our soldiers at the Veterans’ Administration Hospital and the Soldiers Home.  To volunteer in schools, both public and private, helping children at risk both socially and academically.  These extraordinary people, those at the other end of the lead, often put aside personal invitations to social events, to fulfill their commitment to providing comfort and caring to those in need through the human-canine bond.  Through my 23 years of working with Therapy Dogs, I have had the pleasure of meeting hundreds of these special people.  It is in honor of them that I write this post today.

You and your dog have finished your therapy dog training.  You’ve passed your evaluation, and the two of you have earned the title of certified therapy dog team.  Now – where will you visit?  Too often people jump into visiting a facility without giving much thought to where they and their dogs would best fit in.

A word of advice:  choose wisely.  To insure a successful visiting experience for you and your dog, as well as the person or persons you visit, BOTH ends of the leash must fit the chosen environment.

When my first therapy dog Beatrice and I started visiting as a therapy dog team back in 1992, we had no choices available to us.  Today, a myriad of possibilities exist, and visiting therapy dog teams are in great demand. Nursing homes were the norm when Beatrice and I first visited.  Fortunately, Beatrice was a perfect nursing home visitor, and I was immediately drawn to visiting the elderly.  Many of them had to relinquish their beloved dog to a shelter, or if lucky, to a relative, when their health required they enter a nursing home.  Many, we soon learned, had no other visitors during the week except Beatrice and me.  Watching their faces light up when Bea arrived each Friday afternoon at 1:00, filled me with great joy.  Beatrice was their dog every Friday for nine years, just weeks before her passing from a brain tumor.

Doors to more healthcare environments began to open at the turn of the decade, and it was my second therapy dog Trudi who piloted the first therapy dog program at the Cooley Dickinson Hospital in Northampton, Massachusetts.  Trudi proved to be the perfect hospital visitor – with all the hustle-and-bustle that occurs in hospital corridors that are lined with all finds of medical equipment.  Hospitals provide an entirely different environment from that found in a nursing home.  A hospital therapy dog must be extremely even-keeled.  Trudi was a retired show dog who had spent a great deal of time in the show ring.  She remained unruffled by strange sights and sounds.  Her experience prepared her well for the hospital environment.

The very exuberant dog that likes to be in constant motion isn’t suited for the hospital environment.  That said, a therapy dog with this type of personality is perfect, and well-received, in a locked psychiatric facility.  This was my therapy dog Julia.  She was a happy-go-lucky girl who would work her way around the lounge of the special locked unit we visited together for five years.  She was a dog that always had a smile on her face and a skip in her step.  She’d spend a little time with one patient, then move to the next.  She seemed to sense when a patient needed more time with her. Folks often remarked about her out-going personality.  She lifted their troubled spirits.  It was a great thing to watch.

Julia’s brother James was my special hospice therapy dog.  James was the opposite of his sister.  He would lay for hours along side a hospice patient in bed, his head resting gently on her chest.  He was there to be comforter and quiet listener.  He was there to be touched.  His calming presence offering relief from pain.

Recently, more and more schools are realizing the benefit a therapy dog can be to a student struggling with academic or social and emotional issues.  It’s in the school setting where my two current therapy dogs King and Lily work.  They love interacting with kids.  They eat up all the attention they get from them.  In turn, they provide a friendly, non-judgmental, non-threatening listener.  It’s very rewarding to learn that your dog has been instrumental in the academic and emotional advancement of the students he/she has interacted with.

I can’t stress enough the importance of finding your team’s special niche.  Definitely for the dog, but equally so for the human component of the team.  I once told a volunteer that her dog would be perfect for hospice work.  She looked at me like I had two heads, saying, OH NO!  We couldn’t do that.  Surely, there’s some other place we could visit.  I quickly shifted gears by telling her about all the different types of visiting environments we have on our list of visiting opportunities for Bright Spot certified therapy dog teams.  These include:  adult daycare, assisted living/retirement communities, group homes, nursing homes and rehabilitiation centers, pubic libraries, public and private schools both day and residential, psychiatric units, alzheimer’s units, and schools for learning and behavioral disabilities.  And, within these categories, we have over 85 facilities requesting our visiting therapy dog teams.

So many choices.  So many opportunities to provide comfort and caring through the human-canine bond.  Take your time in making your choice.  It will make the difference in getting hooked on this meaningful work, or doing it for a year, then giving it up.  I’ve been hooked since the very first day Beatrice and I made our first visit!  It’s a wonderful feeling.

To me, sunflowers radiate happiness and sunshine.  They are my favorite flower.  My daughter Jeanne always gives me a bouquet of sunflowers each Mother’s Day.  This beautiful bunch has filled our kitchen window with a golden glow for two full weeks.  So nice, especially right now when a heavy cloud cover has blanketed the sky for days.

Wishing everyone a special holiday weekend.  Safe travels to those of you taking to the highways, airways, and waterways.  For those stoking up the backyard barbecue, be sure to cook those hamburgs well.  E-coli contamination is nothing to take lightly.

It’s an at-home relaxing holiday weekend at our house.  I’m looking forward to doing nothing!  The dogs are thrilled.  Lots of time will be spent with them.

I have to admit, I am not one for cooking for people, let alone dogs.  I don’t like to spend time in the kitchen, especially when the weather is nice.  I want to spend as much time as I can outside.  Therefore, as much as I adore my dogs, the thought of cooking for them never really entered my mind.  I have been feeding all my Setters the same dried food my breeder recommended to me back in 1992 when we got our first English Setter.  They have been healthy and have had beautiful coats.  Our elderly dog Trudi lived a wonderful long life reaching 16 years, 2 months.

Well – that has all changed now!  I have just finished reading Carlotta Cooper’s book Canine Cuisine that offers 101 natural dog food and treat recipes promising to keep my dogs healthy and happy.  Carlotta’s book is well-researched, detailing the history of dog food, and citing alarming facts about commercial dog food today.  Carlotta, herself, has fed a homemade diet to her dogs since the 1980’s.  She presents a strong case in favor of canine home cooking and backs it up with numerous yummy recipes for meals and treats your dog will love.  Along with all the tempting recipes included in Canine Cuisine, you will find tips on foods that help with things like diarrhea and foods to avoid for dogs with joint or arthritis problems, important information on vitamin supplements, portions, and storage.

To be fair to those who simply won’t or can’t convert to home cooking for their dogs, Carlotta does provide information on the best commercial dog foods available.  These do exist, but it is up to the wise consumer to READ THE LABELS CLOSELY.  There is no getting around it, advertising makes any commercial dog food sound great.  Don’t be fooled.  Your dog’s health and well-being are in your hands.  It’s hard to ignore these facts after reading the information provided in Carlotta’s book.

Okay.  Again, I will confess, as I read with horror the startling facts she presented on the commercial foods we so freely give to our beloved canine family members to fill them up, I still kept thinking of my disinterest in culinary arts and looked over the list she provides of commercial dog foods considered to be the best, hoping to find a good excuse to overlook the hard, cold facts I was reading.  When the book moved on to the recipe section, I became intrigued.  Yow!  These recipes sound delicious!  And, they’re quick and simple to make!  Just what I like!  And, they sound just like the meals I like to eat myself.  I read on and on.  Simple.  Easy.  Yummy.  All of us could benefit from eating these recipes.  So many different ones to choose from.  Such variety.  The recipes left me with no reason not to cook these home cooked meals.

My plan:  Don’t start cold turkey.  Go with one meal that sounds great, like Cheese Omelet, containing cheddar cheese, sweet potato, fresh spinach, and plain whole milk yogurt.  I love a meal like this!  Starting with one home cooked meal a week and building up to a completely home cooked diet, or even 1/2 and 1/2, helped me feel I could ease into this whole idea of spending time in the kitchen.  After all:  Anything for my dogs!  I highly recommend Carlotta Cooper’s book as a knowledgable resource on home cooking that every dog lover should have on his or her cookbook shelf.

At the Bay Path College Writers’ Day, I attended a talk on memoir writing  given by author Kate Whouley.  It was an excellent talk, and very helpful to me in writing my memoir BEYOND WORDS, The Bond Between People and Dogs (working title).  She used her book Cottage for Sale, Must Be Moved when describing to the group of writers in the audience how she went about writing memoir.  I was intrigued by Cottage for Sale and couldn’t wait to buy a copy of the book when the talk had ended.  Although Kate concentrated on that book during her talk, she mentioned occasionally her second book, Remembering the Music, Forgetting the Words, also a memoir, written about her mother and how she, the only child, dealt with her mother’s dementia.  When Kate’s talk ended, I purchased both books.

While on my recent vacation to Maine, I read Remembering the Music, Forgetting the Words.  I couldn’t put it down.  Rather than enjoying the lake and woods, I found myself glued to the book.  I love that feeling!  I mention this book here on my blog because many of us visiting nursing homes and assisted living facilities with our therapy dogs visit folks afflicted with Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia.  My therapy dog James and I have worked extensively with dementia patients and James has had great success in awakening memories that seemed locked away forever.  These patients have made eye contact with James, smiled, and spoken, when nothing but a blank stare is seen by family members, friends, and nursing home staff.  Family members often took the cue and started bringing in the patient’s beloved dog from home.  One woman, the daughter of a patient James was spending time with, said to me, Although  I receive no recognition from my mother, it makes me feel better seeing her smile and laugh while holding her beloved little dog in her arms.

In addition, I loved this book and write about it here, because many of my readers, I am sure, like Kate, have been the caregiver for a family member caught in the downward spiral of decline.  I was the caregiver for my father for a period of ten years, after my mother’s death.  Like Kate, our father-daughter relationship had been a lumpy, bumpy one.  As a person starts to loose all ability to reason, their surliness becomes acute.  He loved having me bring one of the dogs in to visit him in the nursing home.  In an agitated state, he would lash out at me with a caustic remark, then turn to the dog and pet her head and ears, hug her and calm right down.

I highly recommend Remembering the Music, Forgetting the Words.  You will find it helpful, uplifting, and heartwarming.  I’d love to see it made into a movie…  then, again, I’d hate to see it spoiled.  It should be on the New York Times Bestsellers List.  It’s on mine!  (Although not at all related to the subject matter of my blog, I loved reading Cottage for Sale, Must Be Moved, by Kate Whouley.  It’s light-hearted, humorous, and adventurous.  You will be taken in on the first page!)

Lily, Annie, & James like to hang out on top of their crates fitted with pieces of plywood & covered with bedding.

A dog can learn to think of his/her crate as a special place.  Believe me, my dogs love their crates.  Truly.  The secret?  Simple.  They think of their crates as a good place to be.  Why?  Because that’s where they receive FOOD – and dogs love their food!

With a new dog or pup, I place the crate in the room where I spend the most time.  For us, that’s our kitchen/sitting room combo.  I work at my laptop a lot of the time on the kitchen table.  This is where everyone hangs out.  This is the place to be in our house.  So, the dog wants to be here, too.  The crate is placed in a corner out of the way.  A nice soft bed is placed inside.  A water bowl is placed inside, as well.  The crate door is left open.  One or two of the pup’s favorite toys are placed on the bed.  Occasionally, I toss a treat inside the crate and the pup rushes in to get it.  The pup is served his/her meals in the crate.  Wow!  Yum!  I get good things in here.  This is not so bad, says the pup.  Keep throwing in treats.  In fact, make that the only place the pup gets a treat for a few days.

Annie shows off her Special Room

Once you see that the pup is enjoying his crate, when he goes in to get the treat you tossed in, casually close the crate door for 2-3 minutes, being careful not to bang it closed.  Open it again after this short time.  Slowly increase the amount of time the door is closed (ever-so-slowly, a minute or two at a time).  Do this door closing when he’s getting something good – like his meal.  Keep increasing the value of the treat.  This is really getting good! he thinks.  When you are up to the 5-10 minutes range, try stuffing a KONG with peanut butter and treats.  This will keep your dog happy and content and allow you to make major strides in increasing the time the pup will tolerate being in a closed crate.

With the increased time the door is closed, you should now be able to move the crate out of your mainstream area.  And, again, using baby steps, you can ever-so-slowly widen the distance until the crate is in the location you’d like it to be in.

Think crating a dog is unfair?  Not so.  As I said, my dogs love their crates.  Each of our four dogs has his/her own room.  No one switches.  It’s their special space.  When I say, Time to eat! they trot into their crates and wait to be served.  I never shut the door during feeding time.  But, being in their individual rooms, prevents James from eating up everyone’s food.  Time to go to bed! they run right into their rooms and settle down to sleep.  James is terrified of thunder and finds comfort and security by hanging out, rolled into a ball, in his crate.

When I’ve had a crew of workmen fixing things in the house, my dogs are crated for safety as the men go in and out of the house, leaving the door wide open most of the time.  I’ve been witness to two dog casualties at parties of friends when the dog has gotten out during the festivities and been hit by a car.  Wouldn’t crating the dog have been better?  When a friend or relative visits who is allergic to dogs or simply doesn’t like (or fears) dogs,  your crate-trained dog can be put in his crate, happily, because you have provided him with a KONG stuffed with goodies.  I have actually put one of my dogs in her crate with 3 stuffed KONGS.  She was happy for several hours.  Crate training your dog from the start is well-worth the effort.  Time ~ and Patience ~ required!

Finished Picture This…  Loved it!  I immediately reconnected with the characters I met in Lost and Found –  just like catching up with old friends, as though no time had passed between us.  I love Tess – she’s like a person I’d enjoy being friends with.   Young Melissa is a dear – growing up and becoming a major character in the sequel.  Then there’s Natalie, a new character….  she got me turning the pages even faster…..!!!

Of course, Cooper, the black Lab, rejoins the reader right from the beginning and proves the strength and power of the human-canine bond.  I do hope Cooper gets to make up the last therapy dog training class he missed.  He’s one highly qualified dog!

I must confess, I did what I always tend to do with books I love…  books that keep me up late at night….  I become attached and don’t want them to end…  like not wanting a summer vacation to come to an end…  So – I slow down.  I stop reading the book for a few days…  just to prolong the inevitable end.  But, then I can’t stay away…  the suspense getting the most of me.  Surprise and complicated ending.

Whether you read Lost and Found or not, you’ll love reading Picture This….  BUT – don’t miss reading Lost and Found…  it’s great!  What dog lover could resist the photo of Cooper on the cover of both books!

Last night, I attended the book launch for Jacqueline Sheehan’s new novel Picture This.  Thank you, Jacqueline, for writing a sequel to your New York Times Bestseller Lost & Found, a book I devoured from cover-to-cover (what dog person wouldn’t be immediately drawn in by the wonderful black Lab, Cooper, on the front cover!).

After the book talk, held at Broadside Bookshop in Northampton, Massachusetts,  I returned home with my signed copy of Picture This – and began reading – and reading…  I was hooked on page one.  By page four, I was immersed in mystery, suspense, and romance.  I finally turned the bedside lamp off at midnight!

I first met Jacqueline about two years ago.  She contacted me to learn more about therapy dogs.  She had heard of my work with Bright Spot Therapy Dogs and wanted to find out what makes a good therapy dog, what training they need, and how they get certified.  Cooper, the wonderful black Lab in Lost and Found, would be going for therapy dog training in her sequel Picture This, she told me.  After our initial meeting, Jacqueline attended one of my therapy dog training workshops and observed an evaluation of a dog that hoped to get certified.

I can’t wait to get to the part where Cooper goes for his training…  Does he make it as a therapy dog?  I’ll be writing a full review of Picture This when I’m finished.  Thank you, Jacqueline, for mentioning Bright Spot Therapy Dogs in the Acknowledgment section of your book.

Crate training a dog takes effort on the part of the owner, but the benefits of having your dog crate trained are many…  at left,  Annie enjoys gazing out the window atop her room.

This past Saturday, we had a large gathering at our house during the afternoon.  It was a must that our four dogs (and our daughter’s dog) be safely off in their room, each one tucked into their crate with a peanut butter stuffed Kong and soft music playing.  They were happy, secure, and – yes, safe…  I repeat safe again because doors were being opened many times with people going in and out of the house.  I certainly didn’t want to be worried about the door being left open and a dog getting out on the loose.  They were safe…  and they were happy.  I will never forget being at a friend’s party with about 75 other guests.  It was a beautiful June afternoon, so we were all outside.  Suddenly, we heard screeching brakes and cries for help…  We all ran to the road to find that my friend’s dog (who had gotten through an open door) had been hit by a car.  Off to the vet ran my friend and her husband…  leaving a bunch of saddened guests behind.  Fortunately, the dog lived – but that’s not a scene that anyone wants to go through.  When it comes to the dogs, I’d rather be safe than sorry.  In the case of our party, toward the end, the dogs were allowed in to join the guests who were happy to see them.  I was very proud of their manners – all 5 of them!

Our dogs enjoy their crates.  It’s a comfort zone for them.  They each have their own room…  like each person in the household having a bedroom.  At night,  when it’s time to go to bed and they’ve gone outside one last time, they each trot right into their room which is complete with a soft dog bed.  Our dog James gets very unsettled in a thunderstorm.  The only place he feels secure is in his crate, soft music playing, shades drawn, and lights dimmed.  When we were having construction done on our house that took 3 months, I was able to crate the dogs while the men were there working and going in and out of the house.  The doors of the crates are always left open and often one of the dogs will wander in and lie down in his crate… just to relax in a quiet place (they each have their own assigned crate).

Crate time needs to be established.  Be a regular thing.  You can’t just decide to put your dog in a crate when you’re having an event or work done on your house and expect the dog to go in willingly.  Oh, no!  You’ll have a rebellion on your hands because the dog hasn’t been trained that the crate is a happy, comfortable place that he wants to go to.  Just because a dog is crate trained doesn’t mean he spends his life in a crate.  Our dogs lie by my feet all day when I’m working at my desk.  Or, they’re frolicking in the back field for hours on a warm, sunny day.  The crates are just there for us when we need them – and they’re a huge help.