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Watching kids at the park. I reflected on Izzy's progress this week and realized it really takes a village to raise a puppy to be well-socialized and to be able to become a therapy dog. This week Izzy saw her vet on Monday. He and the staff at our vet clinic have been such a big part of Izzy's journey. She is totally comfortable going into the vet's office and being examined. We have her on a diet that includes fresh-cooked food and also several supplements that her vet has w

So many people don't really understand what a therapy dog is. I've had many people think I am training an ESA or Service Dog. When I explain that a therapy dog provides comfort to others, one person actually said, "Oh good. I thought you were making one of those fake service dogs". A friend sent me this beautiful video that demonstrates perfectly what a Therapy Dog is: https://www.msn.com/en-us/video/animals/therapy-dog-surprises-a-brave-boy-fighting-leukemia/vi-AA20RCic?oci

Always watching us. Izzy turned 10 months on April 8th. She got to spend some time at her birthplace, and I don't think she missed us at all. She had two other young goldens to play with and a puppy. Check out the video. It's so cute the way she plays with Riley, the puppy. Izzy with Maeve and Pink. Izzy playing with Pink and Riley Izzy will be starting Dog 3 this week. She is really doing great with her obedience. She learns so quickly. Walking on a loose leash is still our

Izzy at the Airport. April 11th is National Dog Therapy Appreciation Day! This day honors therapy dogs, their handlers, and their contributions in providing comfort, emotional support, and healing to people in hospitals, nursing homes, and schools. Izzy and I have more work to do before she will be ready but hopefully, we will be celebrating together next year. In the meantime, I put together a slide show of Emmi working. She was so good at her work. Music Credit: Warm Light

Spending some time outside until Izzy was able to calm and follow commands. Izzy is doing great. She is 10 months old! It is crazy how fast time is flying with her. She weighs 63 pounds! She had a wellness visit and is in great health except for a mild yeast infection in one of her ears. We started her on an ear med and she just lets me put it in with out any struggle! She is just about to graduate from Dog 2 and has made great progress especially with attending to me when th

A special St. Patrick's Treat I think ideally you have a team when you get a dog and LuckyDog is an integral part of Izzy's team. She loves going to LuckyDog! She is so happy when we pull into the parking lot. She goes once a week and does Adventure Club. She and several other dogs go to a fenced in area to play and run. Izzy's half-sister, Posey, also goes on Friday. How fun is that? I also learned that they have a big, sweet pitbull that does Adventure Club. They had him tr

My 61-pound lapdog. Izzy is becoming more and more affectionate as she gets older. She has recently got up on the couch when I am there and lay on me and fallen asleep. It just warms my heart. Emmi used to do this, and I would often have her get down because I'd either get too hot or her weight was too much. I felt bad about that when we lost her and vowed to appreciate it if I was ever lucky enough to have a dog who wanted to snuggle on me. So, I am being true to my word. It

Emmi and me. I just had to put my thoughts on Kristi Noem shooting her puppy (a 14-month-old dog is not an adult. While they may look like an adult, behaviorally they still demonstrate puppy behaviors) down on "paper" so I can hopefully let it go. If you haven't heard about this, she wrote about shooting her dog in her book after it killed some chickens (and ruined a pheasant hunt by well, acting like a puppy) and thought it showed her ability to make a hard decision. She wro

I made a decision last year to change directions in my volunteer work and focus on raising and training my next therapy dog. I just couldn't continue the amount of work I was doing for Cat Rescue & Adoption Network and therapy work and the other things I have taken up like photography and line dancing and give my pets and husband the attention I wanted to. I retired from my volunteer job with Cat Rescue & Adoption Network (CRAN) and finalized everything yesterday. It was real

Working on walking calmly at a public park in Teen Social Club. Recently I was asked why I take Izzy to training when I can do it myself at home. Great question. Yes, I do know enough to do basic training with Izzy. I learned a lot from my past dogs, especially Emmi, but I think a good trainer and a group class is priceless. You really get so much from it, things that are difficult to give your dog on your own. It's so much more than "training". Puppy classes give your puppy

Izzy loves to lay on top of the couch back cushion. There is never a dull minute with Izzy. We had a busy week. She started sneezing the week before and it was increasing. No sign of illness so I was worried about a foreign body. So, into the vet we went. I appreciate that our vet always gets us in. There wasn't anything obvious so we decided to watch and if it doesn't improve or worsens, she will have to go under anesthesia so they can get a better look and possibly do a flu

She loves playing in the dirt. It is so hard to believe Izzy is now 8 months old! She weighs 58 pounds! She has graduated from Pup 3 and will be starting Dog 2. She continues to love people and dogs. The cats are slowly coming to accept her and hang out with her. She learns in just a couple of repetitions. She is definitely a crazy teen but we see glimpses of what an amazing adult she will be. This girl loves to run. Bat ears. There's our Fireball!

Izzy had so much fun! We spent two nights at the Fireside in Yachats for my birthday. This was Izzy's first time in a motel and she did incredible! She was a joy to travel with and I just have to brag about how wonderful she is! The Fireside is on the beautiful 804 trail in Yachats, Oregon. It is a beautiful location where you can watch the surf hitting the rocky shoreline. There is a great trail right in front of the motel that ends up at a long beach. You have an amazing vi

Not impressed with the graduation cap. Izzy graduated from Pup 3/Teen Social Club! It was a great class for her. We focused on being calm and walking on a loose lead in exciting places. This is definitely where we need to continue to focus. We have a week off and then Izzy starts Dog 2. Our focus for her: Walking on a loose leash/not pulling. We will work on this with games and exercises we have learned. Starting in areas that she is used to like the house, yard and our dail

Emmi and Halie I will rarely use this platform for fundraising, but this is something I feel really strongly about so I am posting it for my birthday. This is something that affects all dogs and it is heartbreaking. Hemangiosarcoma. It strikes with no warning and is always deadly. Halie walked 3 miles the day before we knew she was sick. She collapsed the next evening and was gone soon after. No warning. She had a tumor in her heart that burst. The cancer had already metastas

Look at that face! We have definitely entered the teenage phase. Izzy is the smartest girl and has learned so much, but she seems to have forgotten most of it recently. She has also decided that she has aspirations to participate in the Iditarod. Walking her is a challenge especially in new places. The class we are taking is perfect and is working on the two areas we really need to focus on: loose leash walking and calm meetings. She also weighs 58 pounds now and has gotten t

Izzy rocking waiting calmly at a busy store. We worked with Izzy at Jerry's Home Improvement on Sniff-Train-Sniff and being calm in an exciting place. We started with a sniff walk outside and rewarded when she checked in. Once she was giving us more attention, we moved inside. I think she did really well! There was lots of things going on and people walking by us. We rewarded her for looking at all the people and activities but not reacting. for walking on a loose leash and f

Another one of my favorite photos of Izzy. It's been a busy week of training, play dates and daycare. Izzy had her second Teenage Social Club class. We met near the River Park in Eugene. We first walked the dogs to park. We rewarded them whenever they gave us attention on the walk. Izzy gets really excited so I was happy to get 4 check-ins. Once at the park we practiced training (when they were calm enough to respond to commands), reinforced calm behavior when they noticed pe

For Izzy's 7-month-old photo shoot, I decided to let her do whatever she wanted in our back field. She is so much fun!

Emmi visiting the Eugene Airport. I've realized that not everyone realizes what a Certified Therapy Dog is. Some people I've talked to think a Therapy Dog is an Emotional Support Animal (ESA) and others think they are a Service Dog. I've found a lot of people get Service Dogs and ESA dogs confused. Sadly, it's gotten more confusing because a lot of people with ESA dogs either think they are the same as a Service Dog or think they have the same rights and that really makes it