Compassionate Dogs

I have mentioned a few times that I have a dog. She’s a Jack Russel Terrier named Sarah. Two weeks ago was the 12th anniversary of us getting her. She’s a good dog, but didn’t start out that way! As a puppy she would run away all the time. If the door was open she was out the door! She was sneaky, too. Her treats have always been carrots because she has food allergies. In order to catch her when she would get out we’d grab a carrot and try to catch her. She’d come close enough to you to grab the carrot out of your hand and take off again!

Really, the rough patch only lasted about a year. We also had to deal with her skin allergies down in South Florida. She used to have to wear baby t-shirts and socks because wherever the grass would touch her she would break out in a rash and itch. Once we moved back to Orlando we didn’t have that problem anymore. At 12, she mostly just follows me around. She has a ball that she only pulls out when we have visitors. She used to play ball tirelessly! You could play monkey in the middle with her for hours and she never tired of running back and forth. Now you can throw the ball twice and she lays down. She used to ALWAYS want to play ball. I remember when my brother in law would fall asleep in the chair in the living room; his feet would be together. Sarah would run over and place the ball on Paul’s feet and bark at him until he’d wake up and kick the ball off. I wish the kids could have known a younger Sarah so they could have seen how much fun she was.

Sarah is now my buddy. She follows me from room to room. She usually is laying on or up against my feet. When I’m sick you can find Sarah cuddled up on top of me trying to help me feel better. She’s really just a great dog. Her allergies have been flaring up something awful lately, though. I need to figure out what I can do for her to stop her itchies. She scratches and chews on herself until she bleeds. I feel so bad for her. (It’s also pretty annoying to listen to, sorry Sarah!)

You hear about how dogs are so compassionate on the news: dogs that save lives, seizure dogs, seeing eye dogs, etc. One of my favorite books growing up was Light a Single Candle. It’s about a girl that has eye surgery to correct her seeing and instead goes blind. She has to get a seeing eye dog and learn how to live as a blind girl. At that point in my life I really wanted to help train seeing eye dogs. I say now that I won’t be getting another dog after Sarah dies, but as I’ve sat here writing this post, I’m not sure that I want to spend my days without a dog. (First I need to get rid of all the kittens in my house before I think about bringing another animal in.)

Cesar believes that a relationship with a dog can truly improve every life, including people in need. Dogs are capable of lowering stress, anxiety and even blood pressure. They created the Share a Story and Share the Love initiative, a social media campaign to help support and spotlight therapy dog organizations, to ensure people in need continue to receive the powerful benefits of a dog’s unconditional love. The Share a Story and Share the Love campaign encourages dog lovers to share the heartwarming stories of therapy dogs through their social media communities such as Facebook and Twitter. In return, Cesar will share the love with three therapy dog organizations through donations that help continue the services they provide to people in need. To learn more about Cesar’s therapy program, please visit their website. Do you have a story about how your dog has helped improve your life?

I wrote this review while participating in an ambassador program by Mom Central Consulting on behalf of Cesar and received product samples and a promotional item to thank me for taking the time to participate. All opinions are my own.