The wheels were set in motion way back in 2010: I had big goals to be a therapy dog mama and change the world with this tiny merle Great Dane puppy. Little did I know, his fearfulness, reactivity, and general disposition would never allow us to become the therapy dog team I had always dreamed we’d be. This boy was Emmet. He was my first dog as an adult, my heart dog, and my best friend throughout the entirety of my twenties. He’s the inspiration and motivation behind who I am as a dog mom, and he will be part of who I am forever.
I used to feel like I had failed Emmet, and that I was the reason we couldn’t make my therapy dog dream a reality together, but I know now that he came into my life to teach me a million things I’d have never learned otherwise. My sweet, ornery little problem child set me up to be the very best dog mom to any future dog that I’ll have the honor of loving, and I’m so thankful for that.
Fast forward almost ten years, and after losing E, I brought home the sweetest, most loving and even-tempered boy I ever did meet. This is Grey (named, of course, after my original gray boy, but spelled with an E for Emmet). He was kind of totally the worst puppy in the world, but all along the way, glimmers of what an incredible boy he would grow into shone through his feisty puppy personality, and I knew that I had met my match: my perfect therapy dog, my amazing boy who I could share with the world.
I was right; Grey has proven to be an exemplary therapy dog. He’s endlessly content, sweet and easygoing, and incredibly gentle and calm in the face of chaos in any form. He’s the perfect teammate, and I am immensely grateful for every opportunity to share him with others.
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