powwow
Member
9 years ago, our son was diagnosed with incurable brain cancer. Ethan was 8 years old and was given 12-14 months to live. The doctors told us to give him the best life you can.
During radiation treatments, a dog named Peetey came in to visit with Ethan, he was a therapy dog and brightened Ethan's day every time he came to visit.
At the time, Ethan wanted a puppy even though we had 2 dogs already (both English Pointers). My wife picked out a small sized Boston Terrier which quickly became Ethan's best friend during the last months of his life. They were inseparable.
When Ethan passed away, we promised ourselves that the next dog we got, we'd train it to be a therapy dog and bring it to the children's hospital to brighten the lives of sick kids.
Last April, we got an 8 week old English Cream Golden Retriever. She's a great dog and super smart. We decided that after basic obedience, we'd continue training her and eventually, get her therapy dog certified. Today, she gets her certification and will begin brightening other people's days.
Ethan with Oreo, our English Pointer
Ethan with Izzie, our Boston Terrier
Ethan with Peetey, the therapy dog
Our new therapy dog, Ellie
So sorry for your loss as well. I've no doubt Peetey provided a great deal of comfort to Ethan during his battle with cancer.
We are also training our English Creme Golden Retriever to be a therapy dog. My wife is working with Pet Partners in Bend, OR and based on the progress Fynlee is making in the training, she should be ready for certification in early July.