Remembering two very special girls ...


All the dogs who come into our lives are special,
some are extra special.
And some have touched the lives of more than just your own.

"Sonny" - Willowitch Songbird Sonata - 3/81 - 10/93

The last dog that I ever trained unfairly died in 1993 at the age of 12. She was the last Doberman I've owned. She retired from obedience after CVI surgery. She was the last dog I took in the ring. After her retirement at 6, she continued classroom visits and pet therapy visits and was my heart dog.

We were on a pet therapy visit to a psychiatric hospital. She said hello here and there and then seemed to be drawn to a particular patient. She rested her head in the lap of a young man strapped in a wheel chair with thick canvas belts. He was wearing a helmet and gloves to keep him from hurting himself. He gesticulated wildly, moaning and squealing, his head lolled side to side and he mostly gazed randomly toward the ceiling. She squinted her eyes as his hands hit the top of her head as they flailed, but she didn't move. I tried to encourage her to move on, but she insisted on staying.

The heavy thuds became softer and softer and finally a hand rested on her head. He focused on her briefly before his head took off on another wild roll. She leaned closer. His eyes met mine for a moment. Clearly, he spoke, "Doberman. Nice dog. Bad reputation." Profound for that instant. And then he was gone, back into his world. I will never forget that moment with her. I wish I had known about force-free training then.

We were so fortunate to have known her, and to have shared her life with the children of Spokane. Everyone knew her as Sonny - her full name was "Willowitch Songbird Sonata." Sonny was a beautiful black Doberman and SpokAnimal's very first official education mascot. Sonny enjoyed the hugs and kisses of thousands of area children in school visits, parades, and fairs. She visited nursing homes, libraries, institutions, post offices and even Spokane's juvenile hall. She helped demonstrate at obedience classes and won ribbons and trophies at dog shows. She appeared on television newscasts numerous times, appeared in a post office safety video and, even played the part of "the father of the bride" in an advertisement for the Scrapbook restaurant.

Her years were plagued by numerous surgeries including fused cervical vertebrae in her neck which proved an early end to herobedience career. But she still enjoyed the applause of crowds, not at dog shows, but in classrooms all over the Spokane area. She wiggled head to toe when the children cheered.

The appearance of a Doberman in a school hallway frequently caused raised eyebrows. In fact, we were once almost tossed out of a valley junior high. "What are you doing in here with that dog? Don't you know there are KIDS IN HERE?" asked a horrified vice principal. I had to stifle a laugh, it sounded so absurd - I wanted to say, "Of course there are kids in here, this is a SCHOOL!" He obviously believed all the "vicious Doberman" stories. I tried to reassure him that this dog was an official education mascot, a favorite of preschoolers and kindergartners, and was perfectly safe. Sonny tried to reassure him by leaning against him, begging for a pat. After several minutes of explanation and the verification of the teacher who had invited us, we were finally admitted. But the nervous vice principal remained in the back of the classroom for theduration of the presentation and quickly escorted us out when our visit was over.

Sonny won many friends over the years. The "tough guys" at Juvenile Hall sat on the floor with her sprawled in their laps. Tiny preschoolers felt less intimidated by her size, giggling when she would "get small"- crawling on her belly from child to child. Deannie Pizzillo at Garfield Elementary would always put in a special request for Sonny to visit her kindergartners. Sonny's last visit was to Morning Star Boys Ranch where she played fetch with the boys and, even though age made her a little wobbly, demonstrated her obedience skills.

Sonny seemed to instinctively know when someone needed a hug. During one visit, a sullen sixth grader tried to gain attention by turning away and refusing to acknowledge the visiting animals. But Sonny would not be ignored. She slipped her head under the girl's elbow and nuzzled her big black head onto the girl's chest, staring at her. The entire classroom fell silent for a moment ... when the girl's scowl broke into a smile, the room burst into laughter. Sonny saw to it that the girl enjoyed the rest of the presentation.

Sonny loved her work and would often sneak over, crawling on her belly, to a willing lap when she should have been allowing the other animals their turns. When verbally chided for her sneaky behavior, she would roll onto her back and gaze up into the eyes of whoever's lap she was in. Cuteness always prevailed. Everyone loved her.

We would like to thank Kathy and Scott Ferguson for allowing us the privilege of owning her; Dr. Lincoln at WSU for extending her years with us with his talents as a surgeon and his research into CVI neck surgery; the SpokAnimal vets Dr. Nancy Haugen and Sherron McKelvey for their excellent care and many surgeries over the years, and to Dr. Brown at Pet Emergency for making her last hours more comfortable. And I can't say enough about the gentleness and understanding of Dr. Linda Wood at Audubon Vet Clinic as she helped us say goodbye.


"Rio" - Sportingfield's Blame it on Rio - 10/87 - 2/00

She taught me so much in the twelve years I had the pleasure of knowing her. Were it not for her, I wouldn't be the trainer I am today and without her inspiration, we might not have been driven to take the leap in creating Diamonds in the Ruff. She taught us there was a better way.

Rio has been a special part of SpokAnimal for many years. Her footprints are in the hallways of almost every school in the Spokane area and she still lives in the memories of many children, some who have graduated high school and have their own children now. She was cuddled by tough guys in juvenile detention and sat in wheelchairs with children with disabilities. Her photo still flashes by on the SpokAnimal header page on the Cable TV Pet Report. She was a cover girl on a hospital magazine.

She was the very first dog in the city of Spokane to walk into a hospital and have her picture taken for a tag that read "Pet-Assisted Therapy." She paved the way for so many wonderful dogs after her. She opened the doors to pet therapy first at Deaconess, then Sacred Heart, and later Shriner's Children's Hospital and St. Luke's Rehabilitation Institute. She made special trips to Deaconess Medical Center following the horrible shooting at Fairchild Air force base to visit injured children in the ICU. A small girl struggling to breathe from the effects of cystic fibrosis told her doctor, "I could sleep if Rio was here." She lay quietly in the arms of a tiny boy who was dying of cancer.

Little Steven had known Rio for many months. He was an expert little trainer and gave the other children lessons in how to give her signals and commands. He ran with her up and down the hospital halls at Deaconess and she did her very best to keep up with him. As I lay on the couch with her tiny cancer ravaged body in her final hours, I remembered how she had given comfort to Steven in his final days, his tiny form curled around her in his darkened room, his arms holding her close. In her final hours she looked as frail as he had that day, and now it was me holding her. Rio left us on February 18. Rio was the official advice giver in every issue of Companion Animal News ... perhaps in the future her advice will be compiled into a booklet and sold to raise money for the animals. It would be a fitting tribute to a great little dog who changed my life and brought so many smiles to so many. We will miss you, Rio.

Thank you to Dr. Kerry Fisher and her wonderful staff for their immense compassion and understanding in her final days. What would we have done without you?

 

In memory of Eddie

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