Daphne: Our Wonder Dane
Daphne: Our Wonder Dane
Daphne is my beautiful 11-month-old potential Therapy Partner-therapy dog work is my love! I teach 6-12 grade students with multiple and diverse developmental and emotional challenges, so my dogs, Nellie Belle- a big black Great Dane -and Lucy, a little red-headed Papillion-have been my Therapy partners in the classroom for several years. My Nellie Belle was lost to cancer at ten years of age about two years ago. It was so difficult to carry on without her calming presence in the classroom. She definitely left a Dane-sized hole in many hearts when she crossed over the Rainbow Bridge.
I was so bereft that I couldn’t even think about another Therapy Partner for a while. Then along came Daphne, she is Gunther and Daisy’s daughter, and she is just as sweet as both of her parents are! She is extremely sharp and eager to please, while having a lot of energy-especially for a Dane! Daphne and I had been working on basic obedience in anticipation of Therapy Dog certification when a gal contacted me and asked if I might have a dog that she could take to college with her! Alison Jackson came to visit and we decided that Daphne would be the girl to go to Texas to attend the Triple Crown Dog Training Academy with Allison. It was difficult to even think about parting with Daphne for fourteen weeks, yet the opportunity for her to experience agility training, advanced obedience training and even some search & rescue training was an opportunity we did not want her to miss. Allison is a wonderful, responsible young woman, who understands how much Daphne means to us, and who loves her like she is her own (which she is until February 2006) then she comes back home!! Yeah!!
Allison and Daphne are settled in at the Academy after Allison’s Mom and Dad traveled to Texas with them to help them move in. Allison is very good about keeping in touch! Her email this last week was funny-and I will share it with you:
hey gale,
things are going great, we started agility and
daphne is doing really well, she is soooo funny im
sure u can imagine her galloping around the course,
everyone watches her haha. we are working on sitting
and staying until i tell her to move, same with laying
down….um walking on a loose leash which has never
been a problem with her because she is attached to my
hip haha. she is doing really well and every day my
roommate and i take our dogs (she has a black lab mix)
to “the beach club” and they rip around the big yard
and play in the sand and sometimes go in the pool we
also take them to the lake prob 4-5 times a week and
they get all muddy and run in the lake, its really
funny shes having a blast and is finally EXTREMELY
comfortable. i take her to class with me in the
morning and all the dogs are barking and pacing but
daph…well she lays on the floor with her tongue
hanging out next to her pile of drool haha. last night
i did notice she was coughing and sneezing a little so
i have an appointment to take her to the vet at 4:40
today just to be on the safe side. i will call u after
to let u know whats goin on, if it is anything. well
class is going to start again so i will talk to you
later today.
~Alison
I sure do appreciate Allison’s taking such good care of our beloved girl! We are so happy that they are both enjoying their time at college. Allison will be a professional dog trainer at graduation and Daphne will definitely be a well-educated gal!