Pet therapy?
This is really a caregivee issue instead of a caregiver issue, but this seems like the best place to discuss this anyway.
One of the things that Diane discussed in her presentation was the importance of us getting Taffy, a golden lab puppy. My daughter did a 4-h project, raising a service puppy. We got taffy about 9 months before my surgery... so it was the worst of times... I was pretty severely disabled and depressed. There is NO QUESTION that my life improved dramatically when we got Taffy. I now had something I had to take care of and something that made me laugh and smile frequently. Lauren was in middle school, and really rose to the occasion, taking care of our little pissing machine through the difficult puppy stages.
It was great that, as a service puppy, she came with an instruction manual to help insure that we raised a properly trained, well behaved dog. (I wish our children came with such a manual.)
In any case, having Taffy really improved my life. I was heartbroken that we had to give her up, but it was for a great cause. I has happy that we'd be in Germany for my surgery when she had to go back... I was afraid of how emotional I'd be giving her away. Fortunatlely, about a month after we got back, I got the call... Taffy washed out of the program so we could have her back.
I think it was because she was too young... only 10 months old when she went for advanced training. She had been the alpha dog in her litter and was now one of many alpha docs that had to sort themselves out in the big advanced training group. She is no longer in charge of anything and at the dog beach, the wimpiest dogs will have her bearing her jugular. Our kittens have always dominated her.
Diane thinks that Taffy washed out of the program because she already had a job... she was MY service dog. I think she may be right. Taffy is over 7 now and is an integral part of our family. However... she's been upstaged by Zoey. Better than pet therapy is grandchild therapy.
Taffy was great for the whole family... but in no small part because she put a smile on my face and that was all too rare during those times.
Comments?
All the best,
Mark
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