Beau: From rescued dog to therapy dog

Caroline and Beau

This is a beautiful story about a rescued dog who is making the most of his second chance.

Beau spent his early years neglected and tied up outside until he was taken by Animal Control. He sat alone in the shelter and was facing euthanasia. Beau’s life was spared and his next chapter as a Pet Partners team with handler Caroline Loevner is remarkable.

Four years ago, when Caroline Loevner brought Beau, her newly acquired Siberian Husky, to the vet, she was told that the dog had an unusually friendly temperament for his breed. The vet asked Loevner if she knew about therapy pets. She didn’t, but she quickly learned.

The vet’s question gave Loevner, a Pittsburgh native who lives in Manhattan and works as a brand manager at Macy’s, a new direction. Every week, Beau, now 5, and Loevner bring a human-and-canine touch to people at several local institutions, including a Ronald McDonald House, a day-care facility for people with HIV, and an inpatient drug rehab center.

Click the following link to read the rest of this wonderful story: Beau: From rescued dog, to therapy dog

Pet Partners Remembers Miss Divinity

I saved this post for Divinity’s third month passing date, as it is a fitting remembrance of my little lady.

Occasionally, to recognize the passing of a noteworthy therapy animal, the Pet Partners therapy animal organization publishes a special notice, or call-out about their passing.

 

It was with Pet Partners (fka Delta Society) that Divinity & I were tested, and registered as a therapy dog team.

Having heard about Divinity’s passing, and after reviewing Divinity’s blog, Pet Partners asked me to submit a short write-up on Divinity. Pet Partners kindly published this obituary in the latest issue of their magazine, Interactions.

To view the Interactions magazine page featuring Divinity, click the following link:
Interactions – Winter 2015 – Page 16

Note: Divinity was not only a therapy dog for people, she also took it upon herself to act as a therapy dog for several injured pets. Divinity had a calming effect on nearly everyone, and everything.

Update: The Col. Potter Cairn Rescue from whom I adopted Divinity, posted a nice remembrance of my little lady on their Post Adoption Blog.

To read this post, click the following link Divinity Remembered

Your Dog Is Never Too Old for Training

There was a nice article written by Mikkel Becker, and published by VetStreet.com on training older dogs.

 

The following two paragraphs are excerpts from this article:

“It’s never too late to train a dog. Adult and senior dogs who have never had any formal, structured training can still grasp the idea of following instructions in order to obtain a reward. The trick to training an older dog (who may have picked up some bad manners over the years) is to teach him to think about what behaviors he should do to earn a reward and how to respond when he is asked to perform that behavior. The bigger reward of training, for both dog and human, is increased communication and bonding between pet and owner.”

“Recently, Moxie, a newly adopted 10-year-old Boston Terrier, came into my training class. She had no prior training and growly manners with other dogs. Moxie’s pet parent, Cheryl, was a first-time small dog owner and she wanted to start their relationship off right. Moxie quickly learned the basics, such as sit, down, stand and heel, and very soon began to outperform her younger peers with tricks, such as shake and spin. Despite all of the other dogs in class being years younger than Moxie, she rose to class stardom and unabashedly became the teacher’s pet, stepping up as my demo dog for most of the exercises we learned.”

Divinity was nearly 10-years old when she began her training. Divinity quickly passed her Canine Good Citizen test, and followed that up a month later by passing the Pet Partners therapy dog evaluation test. Divinity was the third oldest dog in our area to become a therapy dog.

To read the complete article on training older dogs, click HERE

Divinity meets with her Home Inspector

Five years ago, after I had applied to adopt Divinity, Patti, at the request of the Col. Potter Cairn Rescue, performed my home inspection. Patti is also the senior Therapy Dog trainer for the Golden Valley Humane Society, and was the person who judged Divinity’s Therapy Dog test in April, 2010.

Patti and her husband Bob, have visited several times during the past five years. Patti said she needed a “Divinity fix.” Patti and Bob don’t often get out my way, so they decided they needed to visit Divinity, for what may possibly be the last time.