Red’s therapy tag came in the mail yesterday and it was good to get it, the nurses and staff at hospitals look for it, and it gives some meaning and symbolism to Red’s work.

For one thing, it honors my commitment to Dr. Karen Thompson to give Red the best possible life when she gave him to me more than a year ago.

Also, it certifies that we have done the work – the training and evaluation – to do therapy work. Red earned it, he has the potential to be a great therapy dog.

More importantly, it helps me take the work seriously. It is easy enough for me to walk a dog through a nursing home corridor, harder to work with hospice and dementia patients. I was shocked at the surprises Izzy and I encountered in our hospice work – noisy machines, screaming patients, wires and cables, hissing cats. No two visits were ever the same, we always encountered things we didn’t expect.

Izzy was a wonderful therapy dog, Red has already taken our work to a different level. Some of the people we see are disconnected from the world, withdrawn into themselves, and Red brings them back, touches their memories and emotions.

My philosophy of this therapy work is a zero tolerance for mistakes. People at the edge of life do not need disturbances or disappointments, a dog’s temperament and grounding is critically important. Red brings the same professionalism to therapy work that he does to herding sheep. Red, like many border collies, has the ability to make and keep eye contact and hold it for long times. He is also comfortable being touched and hugged, even grabbed.

I don’t need bandannas or vests or bumper stickers, but the tag does mean something to me. It is a symbol of this next chapter for Red and me. I said when he came that this was a dog who would take my places, and so he has and is. Symbols are important, they mark the passages of our lives.

Next week at the Bedlam Farm Open House, I hope to do a demonstration of how I am training Red to do this therapy work, all I’ll need is a volunteer.