Just had to tell you how very much I enjoyed Patricia McConnell’s “Lending a Helping Paw [3].” What dog person doesn’t love everything this woman has to say? She is certainly on the mark with this article.

My Skye girl came to me five years ago as a pup. It was always my hope that we could work our way to being a therapy-dog team, but that depended more on her than on me. She was such a handful—always in one’s face, independent as the day is long, knew her manners but not dependable about them.

We are fortunate to have a most marvelous canine facilitator in our area. Chris Moe-Herlick encouraged and mentored Skye and me. We started with basic classes, progressed to agility (not competition, just for fun) and I took her to several of the children’s programs at our small local library. She achieved her CGC, and miraculously, this past summer, we became a certifi ed, registered therapy-dog team. We continue with our child-oriented program participation and are now also doing twice-weekly visits to a nearby assisted-living/nursing-home facility. I couldn’t be more proud of Skye.

I wasn’t sure we would ever get to this point, but with time, patience and understanding, Skye’s personality has come together. I cannot imagine trying to force this type of interaction with a dog who did not love it.