Day 119
9/10/22
My first Therapy Dog was Arthur. When I retired from my “day job of teaching elementary students,” I knew I wanted to write AND I also wanted to train my six-year-old golden to be a Therapy Dog!
The writing was a natural flow into semi-retirement. Training Arthur took a bit more effort!
This huge, red dog (weighing in well over 100 pounds) had not had much training in obedience. I decided to start with an eight-week course of training, which led into another advanced obedience course for the following eight weeks. After we had those classes under our belt, we took one called Canine Good Citizen. He passed all three and I was so proud of that boy! It turns out you can teach an old dog new tricks!
Finally, we signed up for the Therapy Dog International class and testing. Eight more weeks of exposure to wheelchairs, loud noises (balloons popping, doors slamming, etc.), walkers and other surprises. Our beloved trainer, Pat, would sprinkle treats along the courses we were asked to follow. “Leave it!” became Arthur’s biggest challenge!
For the test, we did obedience, a three-minute sit/stay with other dogs and owners in the next room, entering doorways with MANY distractions and many more tests! The final hurdle involved a raw steak! I thought we were doomed!
Approaching that hunk of meat with Arthur on a loose leash spelled disaster on many levels! I looked that big dog right in the eye and said, “You can do this! I know you can! I believe in you!” I remember those amazing liquid pools of brown looking back at me as if to say, “I don’t think so!”
It was our turn. A couple of the dogs had failed already. We took off, loose leash in my hand, Arthur at my side and The Temptation about 20 feet ahead. As we approached the slab, I called his name and told him what a good boy he was and how much I loved him. Those of you who don’t know goldens might have thought that would not be enough, but that big heart and soul drank those words in, and we passed the meat like it was a big rock.
He chose love over temptation! We had passed the test and now he was a certified Therapy Dog. I was so very proud of that boy!
Arthur went on to be an amazing Therapy Dog and touched many,many lives…I know he touched mine. The biggest lesson I learned from that wonderful dog was to always choose love. You just can’t go wrong with that choice!
