This is a recent New York Times Article about how a golden retriever named Devon is helping  a returning veteran deal with post traumatic stress disorder. The power of human/animal bond in providing secure attachment and healing is rapidly becoming a hot topic that will hopefully generate more research.  Part of my internship for a Masters in Counseling will involve study in attachment theory. To my total delight, my internship sites value the healing presence of a dog in the counseling venue and I've been encouraged to  bring one of my therapy dogs - either Irei or Tess -  with me.

 I'll also be able to use my equine facilitated psychotherapy work toward  internship credit. If you are unfamiliar with the healing power of the Horse as co-facilitator in the counseling and growth/learning process, I invite you to check out the website for  my 501c3 non-profit   Work of Heart: Horse as Mentor that I share with psychiatrist, Nancy Coyne (www.workofheart.net).

I'm having some difficulty getting this article to automatically open for you, so please cut the URL and paste into your browser. 

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/29/us/loyal-companion-helps-a-veteran-with-post-traumatic-stress-disorder.html

1st Birthday 2011 Litter

                             
                                                                           

                                                                              Ava
                    
                               Many thanks to families for sharing birthday photos and thoughts!

                    Ava loves to take rides in the car, watch sports and “Dancing with the Stars” on TV and she thoroughly enjoys making up games to play. She has an amazing ability to come up with games and then teach me how to play along. There is the “roll the ball under the couch and down the hall as fast as you can so I can go tackle it” game and the “chase me upstairs and let’s bounce the exercise ball back and forth and off the walls” game – she seemed quite proud that I was so easy to train. She enjoys meeting new people and making new (canine) friends. She goes to work with me some days and bounds right up the stairs to check in with employees and patients alike as though she is the boss of the office. She seems most happy though when she sees members of her own pack. She greets us every time with a toy in her mouth and then a chorus of whimpers and growls. At night she prefers to sleep under my bed but in the mornings she jumps up in bed next to me and cuddles close – these quiet moments are my favorite. She is a wonderful girl and I am very blessed to have her in my life. Send my happy birthday wishes along to the other puppy families.

 

Happy Birthday!

     Happy 6th Birthday to Ophelia,  Isaac, Dakota, Zorba,      

                   Tess, Finnegan, Heidi, and Cooper!

                                                      Ireigold World's A Stage - Isaac

The Perfect Pet

         Isaac is the perfect pet!!!  He LOVES his family soooooo much and it’s clear that his only goal in life is to be with and please us. He has no other agenda.  Isaac loves his people and wants them to feel like they’re the best, and that makes him the best!!! He loves to sleep in bed with us. . mostly alongside dad, Dan or sister, Meri.  He loves to eat with us. . .he lies under the table, keeping everyone’s feet cozy warm and is always on patrol for a small tidbit that may hit the floor.  He loves to watch TV. . .  sports, news, Disney teeny bopper shows, the TODAY show, he loves them all!!  He loves riding in the car. . .it doesn’t matter where he’s going as long as he gets to go!!! He loves playing outdoors with the kids of his family. . .he’s always up for playing with a ball or frisbee, on the playground set, sledding, ski jouring or swimming in the pond or, playing inside. . . he LOVES playing with stuffed animals. He loves to carry stuffed animals everywhere, two, three, four, he can always fit another in his mouth.  Which brings up the point that Isaac also loves to be helpful. . . constantly cleaning up around house.  He’s a very good housekeeper as he vacuums crumbs continuously and is constantly picking up discarded shoes, socks, underwear and toys.

         Isaac loves other animals, too, and is such a nice citizen as he interacts with ALL the creatures great and small within the community we call our farm. The kittens in the barn love him without question and rub their little bodies against “Uncle Ikey Poo” as he lies down and makes himself comfortable in the aisle as someone is feeding or brushing a horse. Now this is in contrast to our Aussie, Sweep, who is Isaac’s BEST friend and farm dog partner, who the kittens are forced to keep a wary eye on as she may choose to chase them at any minute forcing them to literally run for their lives. Isaac is always up for a game with Sweep and the best is when she chases him around the yard, pretending he is a white tailed deer, grabbing his collar and taking him down(he dramatically flops).  The game ends as he permanently flops down pretending to be dead as she tugs him by his invisible collar(we’ve gone through 3) like a carcass across the lawn.  He always has a BIG smile on his face when they play this game.  Finally, the chicks in the downstairs bathtub even love Isaac.  Since we brought them in the house at 3 days old, he has taken to parking himself outside the bathroom door and when he come into the bathroom, they stretch their necks over the edge and when they see him greet him with enthusiastic peeps calling up to him because instinctively they know that he would NEVER hurt them in a million years.

Isaac is the perfect pet. . .a golden boy.

Heidi &  Finn, Ophelia, Tess, Skidder( from a later litter) & Zorba

                                                         

Daisy, The Four Legged Heroine

James Crane worked on the 101st floor of Tower 1 of the World Trade Center.  He is blind so he has a golden retriever named Daisy.  After the plane hit 20 stories below, James knew that he was doomed, so he let Daisy go, out of an act of love.  She darted away into the darkened hallway.

Choking on the fumes of the jet fuel and the smoke James was just waiting to die. About 30 minutes later, Daisy comes back along with James' boss, who Daisy just happened to pick up on floor 112.

On her first run of the building, she leads James, James' boss, and about 300 more people out of the doomed building.  But she wasn't through yet, she knew there were others who were trapped.  So, highly against James' wishes she ran back in the building.
 
On her second run, she saved 392 lives.  Again she went back in.  During this run, the building collapses.  James hears about this and falls on his knees into tears.  Against all known odds, Daisy makes it out alive, but this time she is carried by a firefighter.  "She led us right to the people, before she got injured" the fireman explained.
 
Her final run saved another 273 lives.  She suffered acute smoke inhalation, severe burns on all four paws, and a broken leg, but she saved 967 lives.  Daisy is the first civilian Canine to win the Medal of Honor of New York City.

New Moet 2011 Litter Photos

I'm finally starting Facebook albums by litters - Moet's 2011 litter is the first!  These are the most recent photos of Bailey.

Agility Trial Success!!

This past weekend I competed with Moet in a CPE (Canine Performance Events) trial in Portland, ME. We entered 8 classes and earned 8 qualifying scores, 7 of which were 1st and 2nd places!  What that translates into was that my dog was able to shift from  handler or  obstacle focus  as I  asked her to,  and she read  my cues ( that I gave accurately)  with ease.  We had speed,  no faults,  a couple close calls that required more information from me for her to complete her weaves. I played with her  in an exuberant, goofy way following each run  so she learns that a job well done yields fun time with me. She ran joyfully and with confidence,  and we both had a great time  being in the company of the other.

                                                     It just doesn't get much better than this. 

New York Times Article - Wonder Dog

This is an incredible and poignant article  that dramatically illustrates the power of the human/animal bond, in this case, between a boy with autism whose parents were desperate for viable  treatment options  and his beloved golden retriever therapy dog.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/05/magazine/wonder-dog.html?_r=1&emc=eta1