For Red, for me also, another chapter unfolds. I have always said about Red that he is one of those dogs who take you places, and today, we began another phase of his remarkable adventure, his wonderful story. We are completing the next phase of Red’s  training as a therapy dog under the supervision of Vermont Therapy Dogs. When I joined hospice as a volunteer with Izzy, we didn’t need any therapy certificate, all I needed was  a note from the vet. I wanted a more formal program this time, and a certificate that would open up all the options for Red, from work in residences and nursing homes to the more complex work in hospice. Even since Izzy’s time,  regulations and insurance restrictions require a certification progress, and it’s a good idea. I want to be sure as well.

We spent several hours going through a lot of tests and challenges and today we went into a nursing home in Manchester, Vt., for the first of three supervised visits. We visited lobbies, walked down hallways, went into private rooms. Karen Thompson was right about Red, he is a natural, he visited more than a dozen patients, and like Izzy, he made eye contact, bonded with five or six people. Red was a bit anxious, he had never been in a building like this with many people in wheelchairs. He kept looking at me for encouragement and reassurance and when the hour was up, he was exhausted.

But he did beautifully, he is even calmer than Izzy, some of the patients had cats and Red found himself nose-to-nose with some hissing animals and didn’t blink. Like Izzy he needs some direction, mostly to understand what the work is. When border collies enter new spaces, they start looking around for the work, for the sheep or their equivalent. When Red put his head on a patient’s knew and allowed his neck to be massaged, he turned to look at me and I nodded and praised him He got it.

I’m not sure where we go from here, once the evaluations are done. I am drawn to hospice work, yet there are some reservations. I’ve done that, and I am not partial to repeating experiences, I like to move forward not back. There is urgent work for therapy dogs in Veteran’s Hospitals helping new and old veterans who are traumatized or disabled. That is calling out to me. I like nursing home work, but there are plenty of therapy dogs out there doing that work, and I think Red has an extraordinary ability to connect with people, to bond with them and calm them. I am very conscious of the vets returning from Iraq and Afghanistan to a country that loves to go to war and then forget the people who fought in them. Men connect with Red very strongly. So do many women.

And then, there are other issues. I’m very busy now, managing an enormous transition in my creative life, not to mention moving, writing e-books and paper books, managing the blog and the photos and trying to sell our other farm. Therapy work is a commitment, if people expect us we need to be there. When Karen Thompson gave Red to me, she said he was a special dog, she hoped he might end up in therapy work, and getting to know him, I see what she saw. He is a special dog with special gifts and it seems to me it is my obligation – this is loving a dog for me – to see that those gifts are used.  I haven’t figure it out yet, I think I will have to make this decision by the Fall. Perhaps it will be clear to me by then. Next Saturday, Red and I will go back to Vermont for our final two evaluations. Watching him will help make it clearer what the next chapter might be for us.