Reptile & Amphibian Forums

One year ago today, on Valentine's Day, Barbara Lewis of A New Leash on Life brought Worthy to our house. He was 10 1/2 months old, and wonderful. His name was Tee (for T. Boone Pickens--his brothers were Boone and Pickens!), but Barbara had no worries about my changing his name.

We've had a good year, lots of grooming and training! She has certified him as my assistance/service dog. That is not required by federal law, which specifies that to have public access rights the dog must be working with a disabled person (me) and not causing a disruption. So we are very careful not to take him places he is not ready for yet! Training is, after all, forever! You either keep getting better, or oops, you slip backwards.

I love Worthy. And he loves to tell me jokes!
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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 it is hard to believe that a year has gone already! I have been enjoying reading your posts about Worthy and his progress and you both have a lot to be proud of. Here is wishing you both many more wonderful years such as this one!
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If there are no dogs in Heaven, then when I die I want to go where they went.

For Valentine's Day, we went shopping at Hobby Lobby. Worthy was wonderful!
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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

It's so great to have everything working out with Worthy. I'm sure as he matures things will continue to get better and better. There's nothing like a working relationship with a dog. It's impossible to describe, yet somethign to be treasured.
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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 www.freewebs.com/performanceshibas

>>There's nothing like a working relationship with a dog. It's impossible to describe, yet somethign to be treasured.
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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 www.freewebs.com/performanceshibas

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

That is so true. I considered, briefly, also doing obedience events with him, but then I remembered just how different--totally different, really--that work is from the work I need him to do. It is better to "specialize," in this case, especially since life sends lots of variety to his work anyway. And there is all the grooming required by his breed that he has to live with, too.

I think we've got the grooming set pretty well. Still, it takes an hour or more a day. Keeps me on my toes!
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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