Greyhound

Samoa is a 7 year old greyhound, retired from Therapy work for health reasons. She joined our household in 1997 as a shy two year-old. She and my daughter Allison (who was 11 years old at the time) completed basic obedience and joined Fidos as a Therapy Team in 1998. They were a provisional team, meaning that they were always accompanied by a supervising adult, until Allison turned 13. At that point, she and Samoa became a full fledged Therapy team. They visited Hillhaven Nursing Home, Holy Cross Hospital and Holy Cross Nursing and Rehabilitation Center. Samoa also visited Taylor Manor and attended many dAps with Cathy (Allison's mom). The kids at the dAps all loved her costumes and tricks. She knew her left from right and was learning to spell (s-i-t, s-t-a-n-d). Samoa took a year off when we moved away from Laurel, but started visiting again in early 2002. She became ill after only a few months and has had to retire. Fortunately, we had just gotten another greyhound who was quickly able to become a Therapy Dog. The family has been able to keep visiting without missing a month.