I was born in Deb’s house and I was the most independent puppy of the lot. At 10 weeks of age I went to Laura’s house and lived there for the rest of my life. I guess you could say I had two moms.
I learned about the water when I was very young. In fact they were calling me Dock until I was about 12 weeks old. When we went to a pond I jumped in and swam to the middle while my two moms were looking very worried. Funny, after that they just called me Duck!
Deb made me look wonderful and took me all over the country for a while. People would hand her ribbons and stuff and she would be very happy. Laura taught me all the things I needed to know. I learned about walking on leash, sitting, not being too much of a nuisance in the house and all that stuff.
I was a bit of an independent adolescent and both moms had to really make sure I didn’t get into too much trouble…. Sometimes it worked!
I learned all the water trial stuff but I really never liked going to trials. My mom, Deb decided that it was more important that I enjoy her and the water. She said I taught her that our relationship was far more important than any title or ribbon. It made my life nicer and we had lots of fun together.
My mom Laura taught me all the stuff I needed to be a Delta Society™ Pet Partner and we were the first team to visit the hospital. Now that was my niche! I just loved snuggling up to some sick person and when I got done, they felt better, every time!
I also went to the Paws to Read program and the little kids would read to me. Now that was fun too. They would start off being a little uncomfortable but I would listen and soon they were more confident and having fun.
I guess I was a good ambassador for PWD’s. It was my job to help people be happy.
I had lots of fun going for walks, swimming and running in the snow. I was a champ at eating and rolling in horse poop (especially if it was really fresh!). Actually anything soft and stinky and sticky was wonderful. When you are mostly white, it sure is fun getting black, green or brown smeared on! I loved playing with the other PWD’s that I met and at night I would hop in Laura’s lap (yea, I was a bit large but it was fun anyway) on the recliner and snooze.
My life was really fun and I acted like a young dog right up to the end. I never did get old.
Duck was much loved by Laura Van Dyne of Carbondale, Colorado and Debra Keller, Scylla’s PWD’s in Glenwood Springs, Colorado
