Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Just thought I would post about Richelieu, who is an 8 year old champion Belgian Tervuren, neutered 2 years ago. He has a home with my breeder, but is "on loan" to keep me company until the right dog comes for my next assistance dog. I want a Belgian Tervuren, and they are not plentiful!

Richelieu has lovely mannners, but some limitations that make him not a good candidate to learn helping skills for my mobility needs. Still, it is GREAT having him here for company. And it allows me to keep my hand in and myself ready when my own dog comes along. My husband enjoys Richelieu, too, and is great about helping with him.

Richelieu is dark colored and big! He can be totally polite, but no one is interested in testing his protectiveness! So he's fantastic to have here while hubby makes some business trips. And he's having fun, getting some extra attention, getting combed out everyday (he looks GORGEOUS!), and being a good friend to us.

Just thought I'd post about Richelieu, since he's been with me 4 whole weeks now!
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Kathy Diamond Davis, author, "Therapy Dogs: Training Your Dog to Reach Others," 2nd edition, and the free Canine Behavior Series articles at http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=SRC&S=1&SourceID=47

Kathy... Richelieu sounds like a wonderful dog. That's pretty nice that your breeder has him on loan to you. So it sounds like there would be no chance for him to become your assistance dog? I'm just asking because you and your DH seem so fond of him. Is your new dog coming from your breeder or she is working with someone else to find you a dog?
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Bob

If there are no dogs in Heaven, then when I die I want to go where they went.

>>Kathy... Richelieu sounds like a wonderful dog. That's pretty nice that your breeder has him on loan to you. So it sounds like there would be no chance for him to become your assistance dog? I'm just asking because you and your DH seem so fond of him. Is your new dog coming from your breeder or she is working with someone else to find you a dog?
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>>Bob

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I'm trying very hard not to get too attached to Richelieu, because keeping him would make it much more complicated training my assistance dog when one come along.

My breeder is working on finding me one, yes. Tervs are scarce, and since they are sensitive, we really have to choose carefully. I have had 5 Tervs from her over a period of 20 years or so, and she knows the genetics better than I ever could.

I could get a Golden or a Lab much sooner, and I may be crazy not to. But there are some things that really fit me about Tervuren, and I'm trying hard to wait!

Richelieu has more than one limitation for assistance work, but one of the most serious is that he is afraid of walking on smooth floors. At eight years of age, it could be arthritis or some injury that isn't showing in any other way. I'm not going to try to overcome that fear, because I could really be hurting him and not know it.

We added two more rubber backed rugs to our house, and he gets around fine now. I have a diagram of the rugs in the kitchen/dining area, in case they get taken up for the floor to be cleaned and there's no one but me to put them back! It is a maze! But it works.

Working with Richelieu has been good for me, and after not having a dog here for a few months, it has reminded me of all the ways dogs help. Even though he doesn't do any assistance work for me, he helps. It's pretty awesome.
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Kathy Diamond Davis, author, "Therapy Dogs: Training Your Dog to Reach Others," 2nd edition, and the free Canine Behavior Series articles at http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=SRC&S=1&SourceID=47

Glad you are getting some fur therapy even though you don't tecnically have an assistance dog. The stars will line up for you soon I hope and when they do- watchout. It will be a great ride!
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Chelle and the rest of the crew including, but not limited to Kita and Taiko (the shiba inu wrestle maniacs), Adi (reserved and dignified tabby cat), and all 28 reptiles

>>Glad you are getting some fur therapy even though you don't tecnically have an assistance dog. The stars will line up for you soon I hope and when they do- watchout. It will be a great ride!
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>>Chelle and the rest of the crew including, but not limited to Kita and Taiko (the shiba inu wrestle maniacs), Adi (reserved and dignified tabby cat), and all 28 reptiles

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What a nice post! Thank you so much! Richelieu has finally gotten into a pattern on eating, eating promptly when fed and not throwing up from keeping an empty stomach too long. I'm also giving him probiotics to help him keep "regular" in spite of his nerves. He doesn't like it when we take a shower! He doesn't like us to watch the TV in the living room! He avoids like the plague walking on smooth floors. And he is terrified of thunder.

He is a good friend, though, and thank God for finally being able to get him into a routine on eating. He was used to just nibbling his food whenever he was in the mood, in a dog run, and now he is in the house. He likes that! And he does look gorgeous. When he leaves here, things will go well for him, I know.

If I kept him when I get a new dog to train as my assistance dog, she could very easily pick up his fears, and that would be very bad for her assistance work. I say "her," because it would have to be a female. If I do not keep him, my new assistance dog can be either sex. And he/she can have the focused attention from me--and from hubby--to learn great things!

So, Richelieu is a wonderful guest. I will always remember him, I know. We bought him a couple of new toys last night at Petsmart. He likes them!
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Kathy Diamond Davis, author, "Therapy Dogs: Training Your Dog to Reach Others," 2nd edition, and the free Canine Behavior Series articles at http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=SRC&S=1&SourceID=47