We walked through the parking lot, past the big yellow buses, and approached the red brick building. Pushed the buzzer to be allowed in. Then we knocked on the principal's office door.

"Hello. This is Ernest. We're here to visit the first grade today."


The principal smiled and jumped out of her seat to greet Ernest. "The boys and girls will be so excited," she said. She led us down the hall to the room. All along the way teachers and students stopped to pat Ernest. He sure enjoyed that!

 The kids in first grade were all smiles and wide eyes. The teacher had everything organized and ready for us. Ernest laid down on a quilt and the kids sat beside him one at a time and read him their stories--they'd written original Halloween stories all by themselves!

The Mummy who Lost his Bandages.


The Vampire who Lost His Teeth.


The Ghost That Wasn't White.


 The Witch Who Couldn't Fly.  These kids could write!


Ernest listened attentively while they read. Some of the kids were a little afraid of dogs--they didn't want to get too close, but they all showed him the pictures.

Afterwards Ernest gave the kids each a trading card with his "stats."


The class gave Ernest a card they'd all signed, and two Halloween toys. He played with the spider right away.  One of the girls gave Ernest a note that said "I Love You." One of the boys asked Ernest to come back. And guess what? He will come back! We're going to visit the first grade once a month. We can't wait to hear the stories again next time.

One night last week we walked our golden retrievers past two kids riding their bikes on the other side of the street. A man stood on his porch watching over them. The little girl saw us and ran up to her dad and asked if she could pat the dogs.

"You have to ask their owners," he replied.


 We don't know very many people in our neighborhood. It's a small city, and people tend to stick to themselves. Everyone is busy and has their own problems, it seems. The most time we get to interact with the neighbors is when we are walking the dogs. We've gotten to know other dog lovers, and we also have learned who is afraid of dogs so we try to respectfully keep the dogs in close when we pass by.

The girl just looked, so I stopped. "Would you like to meet Petey and Ernest?" I asked. She nodded. My husband and I crossed over. The girl's brother stopped riding and came over too. They were a little hesitant, but soon they were happily patting the dogs and giggling as Petey wiggled and kissed them.

The man stayed on his porch for a while. Then something seemed to draw him over. At the same time something drew Ernest to him. Ernest is a therapy dog, and I've often noticed him sense when someone needs him. The man came right for him. Ernest sat still while the man patted his head, then his neck. The man told us how he had sole custody of the kids and I thought how difficult that must be, as the man was a bit older. He started telling us how much he missed his German Shepherd, Silver, named after the Lone Ranger's horse. The more he patted Ernest, the more he opened up. Ernest leaned into the man gently, and the man sunk to the ground, and tears began to flow. Whatever emotions he was holding inside him came out as Ernest poured out his love. At last the man struggled back up to his feet and gave Ernest one last hug. "God bless you," he said.

We all left feeling a bit better. Ernest is always on the job and always ready to offer his unconditional love.

Mom, tell me again the story about how you chose me.
Ernest, we chose you because you needed us, and we needed you.

I'm so excited that Ernest's adoption story is shared on Chewy.com's Pet Stories. I've been a Chewy Influencer for years, reviewing and blogging about various products, so I was delighted to contribute this story to their site as well.

Canine Cancer Survivor Becomes Therapy Dog to Man With Alzheimer’s

This post is by Chewy Influencer Peggy Frezon.

Our first senior dog rescue was 11 years old when we adopted him. I shook my head and told my husband, “He’ll break our hearts.”

My husband looked at me and said, “But he needs us.”

So, we adopted the sad, skin-and-bones Golden Retriever, named him Brooks, and fell in love with him. And sure enough, he broke our hearts—but not before filling them with love and joy.

Brooks helped us find our mission—to give a loving home to abandoned senior Goldens. We’ve loved and lost a few. Then this May, our rescue group contacted us about a 9-year-old Golden who lived in deplorable conditions. Did we want him? We’d just lost two senior dogs. Could we open our hearts up to such pain again?

The answer was clear.
See the rest of the story at Canine Cancer Survivor....

In addition to publishing the story, Chewy.com sent Ernest a box of goodies, and they also sent Peppertree  Rescue, the amazing rescue group from which we adopted Ernest, Brooks, and our other dogs, a big box of two dog beds, toys, Kongs, and treats to share with foster dogs in their care. Here's what they got:

















Thank you to Chewy.com for all they do to share stories of our love for our pets, and for recognizing the great rescue groups that help make families complete. Thank you Peppertree for helping us find Ernest, who has filled our home with so much love.
P.S. He's now 3 months cancer free!

Our first assignment.
We were both so excited, Ike and I!

Our first event was a Valentine's Day event at a local college.






















We had no idea what to expect. I know Ike is a laidback dog and I hoped he'd enjoy the experience.
We braved the 16 degrees below zero temperatures and walked the scenic pathways along the quad to the student union building. There we encountered a long line of students--this was going to be a well-attended event.
Coordinators led us into the room where crafts and refreshments were set up for the students. One other dog, a yellow lab, was there. Later, another dog joined. There were supposed to be 9 dogs at the event, but the rest didn't show up due to the cold. These three would have their paws full!
As soon as the doors opened, college students with broad smiles rushed over to greet Ike. They sat cross-legged on the cold floor and reached out to touch him.























Ike's tail wagged and before long, he flopped over for belly rubs.

















I think he was emailed to many moms at home and posted on many Facebook pages! (#ilikeike)

I asked the students if they had pets at home. They all chorused "yes" and then the stories began. I heard about the dogs, cats, and rabbits they'd left behind and missed. They showed me a pictures of their pets. One boy said that his dog would be ten years old in two days. It was sweet how, despite his busy schedule and studies and college stresses, he remembered his dog's birthday. Another boy told me that he loved dogs but his mother wouldn't let him have one, and so he kept rabbits. He also asked a lot of questions about therapy dog work and said he'd like to do it one day. I told him that rabbits could also be therapy pets.
The questions the students wanted to know most was how to train therapy dogs and if it was hard.
I told them about the classes and test we took, and told them no, it wasn't difficult, it was mostly about the dog's temperament and how well the dog and handler work together.
I was impressed with the students. They were calm, friendly, respectful and intelligent.






















By the time the evening ended, Ike and I were tired. We were given a lovely arrangement of roses and thanked for our visit.
I was left feeling very grateful that we'd become a therapy dog team.

Here is my red bandana. Mom says it's special because it identifies me as a Therapy Dog. I passed my Therapy Dog Test, submitted all my paperwork, and now I'm ready to work. Anyone need a hug?

How do you become a therapy dog?
Well, just ask Ike. Because he's proud to announce.....
We did it!

















Last Saturday was Ike's big test. Oh, and one point to make is you are testing as a team. It's not only the dog's behavior that is being tested, but both dog and handler must be of good character.  It's good to remember that we are both representing Therapy Dog International when we work.

So, for the test, Ike had to demonstrate he could do everything he learned in class. Here are some of the things he had to do to pass the test:

1. Demonstrate he was calm and even around people, other dogs, a wheelchair and a walker, sudden noises, and a child playing with a ball.

2. Demonstrate he was calm when being touched, patted, groomed, his feet touched, etc.

3. Demonstrate he was calm when left alone with a stranger, and when meeting a strange dog.

4. Demonstrate he was obedient. This included sit, stay, down, down-stay, recall. Here's Ike on his  down-stay during a practice time before the test. He is looking quite relaxed! I had butterflies.






















5. Heal nicely on lead, including about turns, right turns and left turns.

6.  Be able to "Leave it" when walking by food on the floor, or offered in hand. While this sounds difficult, it isn't that hard because they are on leash when you do this, and you just keep walking past the food on the floor real fast! lol. Most dogs look at it but they shouldn't lunge or grab.

Although Ike already passed basic obedience classes, it was helpful to have attended classes specifically for therapy dog testing. The other dogs, people, noises and especially smells were distractions all the dogs had to get used to working around.

During the test, outside Santa rode by behind a firetruck.














And then the mailman came and peeked in the windows.














I thought all the dogs would lose it right then and there! But they all did great.

Ike did great and we were so excited when the judge gave him his certificate.






















Here is Ike and his best buddy and fellow graduate Moses.

















If your dog is calm and enjoys being around other people, gets along well with other dogs, and enjoys obedience work, you might want to consider becoming a therapy dog too. We;re looking forward to going out and getting to work and hopefully putting some smiles on people's faces.

Hi. Ike here.


















If you read my post last week, you know that I'm going to school. Mom says that I'm going to be a therapy dog. I am so excited, because I know Mom and Dad were both helped by therapy dogs, and I want to help others too.

Last week there were only three dogs--me, a Bernese Mt. Dog, and a pit bull.
This week school was much more crowded--4 golden retrievers, 3 labradoodles, 1 Bernese Mt. Dog, 1 pit bull, and a partridge in a pear tree.
Just kidding about the partridge.

Here's me and my pal Moses.
















And a new friend, Dixie. She came from Tennessee.

















Things got a little crowded with the whole gang. But everyone is so focused on trying to learn, we all got along together fine. Her we are practicing our sit-stays.






















Hi Dad! (He's taking the pictures!)






















Moses is learning his recall. At first he got so excited, he bounded up to his handler, bouncing like a (HUGE!) bunny! The trainer helped him learn to calm down a bit.














I'm supposed to SIT in front of Mom when I do my recall. I forgot.






















Here I am with the trainer. She's using me to demonstrate something. I'm more interested in looking at Mom.























What do you think? Do you think I'll ever make it as a therapy dog? It's a lot of hard work. We only have 4 more classes to learn everything we're supposed to know. Then we have a TEST. Yikes! I hope I pass.
love,
Ike

Ike wanted to step in today to tell you all about his new venture, therapy dog classes. So, here he is!

Ike:






















Last week a funny thing happened. Mom and Dad brought me to a new place--a big building with lots of doggy smells. That's okay, I like new places. Especially if I'm going to get treats when I'm there. And I'm pretty sure I was going to get treats, because I could smell them in Mom's pocket.


Mom said I was going to school. Even though I'm 9, I guess I'm not too old to learn new tricks. The teacher's name is Sylvia. She looks nice. Several other dogs came into the building.


 One was a Bernese Mountain Dog named Moses. He was huge, even though his mom said he was only a year old. And there was a pit bull named Lola. I barked at her and she barked at me and Moses. Moses didn't bark at anyone. I guess we're all just trying to get to know each other. Right now, the teacher said, we're here to learn and we'll have time to meet and greet later after we get used to each other.






























































We practiced our sits, downs, stays and healing. Mom isn't very good at it yet, I guess she'll need to do some homework. I did my best, but sometimes all those smells, and little dropped training treats on the floor, distracted me. What's a golden to do?

Overall, I think I like school. Mom said when we're done, I have to take a test. If I pass the test, I'll get to be a certified therapy dog. I'm going to try my best to pass. I really want to help others, the way I know therapy dogs have helped my dad when he was in the hospital.

See you next week.
Love,
Ike