Thursday, November 27, 2008

Thankful AND Proud!

Early on in the life of this blog, I had Billy living with me . . . the one and only puppy born at my house. I kept him until he was 14 months old, showed him to 8 Canadian points, and took him through some puppy classes. Billy told me (in no uncertain terms!) that he wanted more out of life, so I placed him with a wonderful woman and her family, and he hasn't looked back since. I got this email from Billy's owner this morning, and almost cried with happiness and pride. How could I ever ask for more???? I have found puppy-owner utopia!

Billy and I had a job interview yesterday and he was hired!!

Billy will be a therapy dog at St. Francis Country House, a nursing home in my old home town..... He did so well that we were offered the Dementia Wing..... Most of the folks are pretty lucid and were so excited to have a Puppy Visit..... Our new boss, the volunteer coordinator, told me that they get few visitors and that they had other dog visitors who never came back after the first visit..... I told her any place that I can take Billy where he'll be welcomed is a place that we'll come back to..... It was really pretty fulfilling..... A few of them reminded me of my Dad so it was really nice to be able to visit with someone who enjoyed the company and didn't have many visitors.

Billy was so sweet and gentle and wasn't put off by the wheelchairs or walkers or walking canes..... He had his first elevator ride with me and was so brave, he only flinched once and then just looked up at me..... We "tested" with one man who was very grumpy and said that he didn't want company..... Billy just walked in front of me and looked up at Sam (the grumpy guy) and wagged his tail..... After about 30 seconds Sam offered him his hand to sniff..... Another lady spoke to me non-stop for 5 minutes, barely taking a breath..... Only problem was that she was speaking Italian..... I kept telling her "No Cap-Eesh" and she kept laughing and talking and pointing to Billy and talking some more..... Maybe he speaks Italian?

We'll go every Wednesday (since I'm working a 4-day week and have off every Wednesday) and spend a few hours.

Fate put Billy's owner in my path when I was looking for a home - well, Fate and a very, very good and special person. I may never find a puppy home as good as the one Billy has gone to, but I'm sure gonna keep looking!

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Awww... that is so sweet! I am glad Billy has found his "place"

Visichy said...

That's so great :) I'm sure Billy will touch many hearts in his new job.

Anonymous said...

I have tears of happiness for you and for Billy. He really enjoys his new job!!