Tiger, Jamey, Shawna and Cooper…..
Posted by Jennifer on September 10, 2021
I think everyone was a little nervous for this meeting, it was a big step. Tiger was going to meet Jamey’s wife, Shawna and their son Cooper for the first time. I talked with Shawna earlier that day to explain how tonight will go and I could hear the emotion in her voice. It brought out even more of the reality of this situation, and how much this affects the whole family.The best part of the conversation was that Shawna was nervous that she was going to do something that might ruin what we had already taught Tiger. Her love and determination to make this work is exactly why it will work!
Jamey met us outside when we pulled up. Tiger and Jamey went for a walk, to get reacquainted with each other before Jamey introduced him to the family. Jamey admitted when he walked away with Tiger that he was nervous, which is precisely why we wanted him to take Tiger for a walk! Joe and I went inside to talk to Shawna and Cooper as we waited for Jamey and Tiger to return. The walk did wonders….you could see it on Jamey’s face the second they came into the house. Chills ran up my arm at that moment, just visually seeing the affects Tiger is making already!
I think we all held our breathe as Tiger was set loose. Within seconds Tiger went for the balls on the floor that Cooper was playing with, Cooper was so excited to see Tiger that he was calling his name to play with him, Tiger wanted the ball, Cooper wanted the ball, Tiger had the ball waaaay in the back of hid needle-nose throat and Cooper saw the opportunity to reach allllll the way in there to grab it out…….(Shawna and I both gasped) just as Tiger released the slimy ball to Cooper! That was either going to go really good, or really bad, but within 2 minutes of meeting each other, we all sighed relief. The energy in the room changed at that exact moment, and we all relaxed! Now I am not sure who enjoyed that meeting more, Tiger? Cooper? Us? One thing is for sure, that Tiger (and Cooper) slept good last night…pure exhaustion!
Joe and I drove away last night feeling really good about Tiger, Jamey and now the whole family, well we have one more family member to meet tonight…..their dog Abbey (who has been patiently waiting)……
Tonight we are all having a dinner party celebration at the Johnson home and Tiger will spend his first night…….
Site by
2 Comments
i would like to know exactly what type of training your dog’s go thur before you give them to a family. i have been following tiger and i know that you have not had him long. so exactly what are these dog’s suppose to be doing for the soldiers. especially with such a short training time
Hi Jerilynn-
Sorry it took so long for my reply, we have been traveling back home after a long week in North Carolina (placing Tiger with Jamey).
All our dogs we place with Veterans will have passed the Canine Good Citizen test. That is pretty much the industry standard, although it is still a ‘grey’ area in the industry as to what standards are needed to qualify a Therapy Dog. Some Therapy dogs out there don’t even have that! I have attached below a link for further information for you as to what Canine Good Citizen is and what they testing requirements are.
We place Emotional Therapy Dogs, not Service Dogs. The main difference is Service dogs have further training in specific areas, such as gets medicines, answers doors, etc.
Emotional Therapy Animals are for just that, they provide companionship, encourage socialization, gives responsibility, provides benefits from physical touch, someone that doesn’t judge and listens, provides unconditional love…..to just name a few benefits. I have witnessed these myself, it is remarkable.
With a Dr’s note saying they benefit from this dog, combined with CGC certification, our dogs can have the same rights as Service Dogs too.
I work with a Certified Animal Behaviorist and Certified Animal Trainer, Donna Fourneir, She co-host a Animal Talk radio show, is a Canine Good Citizen Aviator and has much experience. She meets with our dogs and helps us train them too. I have other dogs in training now that we have been working with for over a month, one of them for two months. Tiger was an exceptional student and was able to go through the training and certification in 2 weeks! We will not place a dog until they are ready.
There is a whole process for all of this that I could go into way more detail if you would like to know more.
Thank you for your interest and questions. I hope I have answered them for you. Please feel free to call or email me back.
Regards,
Jennifer Petre
http://www.akc.org/events/cgc/training_testing.cfm