Through the Eyes of the Owners Others called Candy a one in a million dog. We called her family. Candy touched more hearts during her 15 years of life than most people do in a lifetime. She achieved an amazing record of 13 continuous years of pet therapy (336 visits) at the same facility, Wolfson Children’s Hospital, Jacksonville, Florida. Simultaneously, she provided five years of uninterrupted recreational therapy at Brooks Rehabilitation Hospital, Jacksonville, Florida. Ironically, Candy performed her last three years of pet therapy rounds under the shadow of an aggressive cancer, but her positive attitude never wavered.
Through the Eyes of Candy the Labrador Retriever I met my parents when they saw a poorly lettered cardboard advertisement half-hidden behind the front curtain of a tiny pizza joint. Finding me in this eating place could only mean I’d need many fast food trips in the future. While fast foods have sustained me, my true life mission of service began at two years of age, when I was accepted into a pet therapy program at the local children’s hospital. Here is my story of how I touched lives throughout my local community, and how I lived on love in return.
Puppy Adventures As a young puppy, I was “trouble” waiting to happen. One would never have believed I could serve as a mature, in-control, therapy dog in the future.
The Beginning I was born in Gainesville, Florida on July 11, 1993, and my mother’s name was Blondie. I did not remember much until my eight-week birthday. On that day, I clearly remembered that an unfamiliar man came to look at me. He did all sorts of unusual things like flap my ears, pinch my toes, clap his hands, put his wrist in my mouth, and pick me up. I did not know why he was doing these strange tricks. About two weeks later, this same strange man came back to my house and took me away from my mother to travel with him. On the 90-minute trip back to Jacksonville, Florida, my new dad told me that we were going to start an adventure together that we would never forget; and he was right. I was about to enter a 15-year journey of giving love and affection to any animal, child, or adult that would come into my life. Looking back after 15 years, I have had a special life, one that any animal would love to have.
Puppyhood When I first arrived home, I surprised the whole family. Dad had kept my purchase to himself. He even kept this secret from my eleven-year-old brother, Brad. After recovering from the initial shock, my mom declared, “I don’t do dog!” Brad was elated but I could tell Mom was going to be a challenge. On my first day home, I chewed right through the phone cord in one bite – how fun! The only problem was that my mom was talking on the phone when I did it. I was off to a great start. I became even more amused to watch Mom and Dad’s faces when I ate dust pans, pool thermometers, rocks, dog bowls, video game controllers, and welcoming mats. I was enjoying life. I also loved to dig holes in the back yard. This was a serious challenge to my dad, who covered the yard in red pepper and garlic in an effort to make me stop. My finest stunt was swallowing my mother’s underpants – whole. This underwear thing resulted in the first of many trips to the doggy emergency room. My mother was not at all pleased, but I redeemed myself by throwing them up whole after two weeks in my stomach. Even the attending veterinarian was astounded by that trick. It was becoming more and more clear, at least in my parent’s eyes, that I would require doggie training. So at the young age of 5 months, my parents hired a personal trainer to teach me doggie obedience – five days a week. My well-experienced trainer told everyone that I was one of his most challenging clients ever. We had many trials for nine weeks, but in the end, I let him win with his “positive reinforcement method.” Reflecting back, I am glad I received this personal training, because later in life, I used this same technique to train my parents with human obedience such as car rides on demand, fast food whenever I was hungry, sleeping wherever I wanted, and human food instead of dog food. It works well on humans.
Footnote At the end of my first year (1994), my trainer fees, in conjunction with my “accidents” and normal vet bills, amounted to a whopping $2,800. I knew then that I’d better learn to earn my keep. I was on shaky ground, especially with my mom. Thankfully, sometime in my second year, she and I became the best of friends.
The Children’s Hospital In the late summer of 1995, my dad found a spot to audition for the Pet Therapy Program at Wolfson Children’s Hospital (WCH). This program, a service of the WCH Auxiliary, was designed to screen dogs for therapeutic visits to children in the hospital. I passed the obedience tests with flying colors; but because I was a bit excitable, I made it through the “reserved personality test” only by the skin of my tail. I was too eager to please the testers with my kissing, nuzzling, and wagging. Little did the testers and I know that I would go on to be the longest serving dog in the program’s history. I’d be there 12 years and 9 months. After passing these first tests, I had very hard training sessions at the hospital. At first, my dad was a little bit bumbly, since he was working hard to follow all the hospital regulations. The Auxiliary had many strict policies and procedures which had to be followed. All the smells, noises, machines, and people were new to me.
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