This week has encouraged me to make a decision about Red and his future. I am going bring him into therapy work. Saturday I am taking him for a test and certificate with a non-profit therapy testing and training service in Vermont and I hope to do some hospice work with him, and also bring into nursing homes and some private homes where there are house-bound elderly people or some who are chronically ill.

My experience since I was diagnosed with Lyme Disease Monday and driven to bed for the better part of three days – I am close to breaking the fever – and watching his response to me, his focus and attentiveness and the comfort he brought me has convinced me that this is his true destiny, as is his wonderful work with sheep, which will continue. I feel it would be a crime to not permit this dog to fulfill his destiny and selfish to confine his gifts to me. Dogs ought to get the chance to live their lives, not just ours.  I have been on the receiving end of his great affection and sensitivity all week and others deserve to feel it also.

Beyond that, I owe this to Karen Thompson as well, it was this quality in Red that made her think he ought to come to me, she hoped this was where he would lead me, and she was, as usual, correct.  As many of you know, I did hospice volunteer work with my border collie Izzy almost up to the point where he died last year. I worked for the county hospice service which is being sold to a private company by the county government. Not the place for me any longer.

I want to undergo the training and certificate with a respected organization and go through it just like everyone else and they can help us find the appropriate outlets for his work in Vermont and in New York State, where I live. I know there are many therapy dogs, in some places there are more dogs than people who need them and nursing home managers tell me dogs are wonderful, but they wish they would see families more. I don’t need the vests and jackets or bumper stickers.

Still, I know from my experience with Izzy that the presence of a dog can light up a sick or lonely person’s face in a minute and I know watching Red with others as well as me that he has a powerful effect on people. So I want to move ahead with it. Working in hospice was wonderful, but at the end, we saw a lot of people die in a short time, and I burned out and so did Izzy. I will be careful with Red, and with me.

Red is a rare gift, and gifts should be honored.

I’ll keep you posted on the process.