Timshell Farm Therapy/Service Doods
Annabelle & Twinkler
Here are some pictures of "the kids". Annabelle is 13 months old and weighs 30 lbs. Her nickname is Jelly Belly. Twinkler is 5 years old and weighs 80 lbs. His nickname is Beanie Bear. Twinkler and Annabelle have been evaluated by a dog trainer that has been in the business for 40 years. He told me Twinkler was the 2nd smarted dog he has ever met……and when he met Annabelle at 10 weeks……..she was already obeying commands like "sit", "shake", and "come"………..he told us that she was very special and had real talents……..a dog like her only comes around so often! But since I got TWO dogs from the same breeder…….. hmmmmmmmmmmm, must be the breeder. : )
Twinkler at 5 years, Annabelle at 11 months
Twinkler and Annabelle today
I can't say enough about the Goldendoodles. We are so blessed with two great dogs with sparkling personalities. Linda is soooooooooooo right!! I am 62 and my husband is 66. We are not as strong as we once were. : ) We lift Twinkler in and out of the 4-Runner and the Ford 150 truck. Ugh!! He could jump but we want to protect his joints. Miss Annabelle is such an athlete but tiny enough to lift with ease. I pick her up several times a day just for fun and I love her compact size. : )
Annabelle and Twinkler go to the Ridgecrest Regional Hospital (RRH) every week on their rounds. It takes us about 2 hours to visit with all the staff and patients. Twinkler is registered with Therapy Dog Incorporated (TDInc). Annabelle is still in training and does not go into patient rooms. She will be tested with TDInc within the next few months. We have been so very lucky in our small town.
The hospital is very dog friendly so Annabelle has been able to visit since she was four months old under our own home insurance. We just needed proof of shots and a worm test. No one can believe how calm and relaxed Annabelle has always been. She watches Twinkler, if it is okay with him, then it is okay with her. He has been an excellent big brother and teacher. Both dogs wear shoes, vests, scarves, and Annabelle has several dresses. The male doctors go wild when they see Annabelle in a dress. The Pathologist sees us every week and tells us how important we are to him.
Annabelle 11 months…….
her favorite position…….belly jelly
Annabelle 12 months
The rest of the staff tells us how important their "joy" breaks are to them too. Many groups give treats….of course the dogs KNOW the routine and just love the "treat" stops! They do tricks every time we visit. One funny story about Annabelle happened just a few weeks ago. I was telling Twinkler to say "Thank You" (two barks) for a dog bone. He was slow as "boys" often are…… but, Annabelle, looked at me and then the treat and said "THANK YOU"………..she got the treat. We had about 10 staff member in the Director's office watching the whole thing…….everyone started laughing so hard……you could just see Annabelle's brain ticking…..if I say it first, I will get the treat! Twinkler ended up saying "Thank You" and got a treat too.
We have had several experiences with small children that are afraid of dogs. But, they see Annabelle and allow her to come over to them. Then they see Twinkler smiling and they pet him too. They are a perfect duo. Some like large dogs and some like small dogs. We have the best of both worlds!! I might add, one of the little girls we met in radiology was with her grandmother. The girl had been attacked a couple of years earlier by a Rottweiler. She saw the dogs and her eyes got huge. To make a long story short, Annabelle won her over. She gave her a treat, then she let Twinkler approach and she gave him a treat too. The grandmother was thrilled and thanked us over and over. That had been the first time her granddaughter had touched a dog in two years. Everyone was smiling in the end.
Twinkler at 5 years
Twinkler 5 years, and Annabelle 12 months
I didn’t include Annabelle in one of her dresses, but the staff tells me she is a "girlie girl" and she can't have enough bows or ruffles. She even has "Mary Janes" (a shoe style with ruffles). The older women just go nuts. : ) I just made Annabelle 4 new dresses. She is such a riot. She sees me coming with material and she stands up with "oh brother" in her eyes. But she will let me measure and fuss and fit until I am done. What a doll !!!!
Due to our weekly visits, the ICU has allowed the therapy dogs to visit. Here is a picture of the first TDInc dogs in the ICU with a special patient. Just last week we got special permission to take Annabelle in for a visit. One of our long time friends was in ICU and wanted to see her. So, we carried her in for 3 patients to visit with her. We held her up and their hearts just melted. Oh, Twinkler is a perfect size for patient visits in one respect…... his head just slides onto the hospital bed. And since Annabelle is small, light weight and easy to carry, we can just lift her up to visit patients in beds when she gets registered.
I did get permission from the RRH to tell you all about our being able to take the girl there for training. It's a win-win for everyone!!
Twinkler also visits the Desert Area Resource and Training (DART) Pre-School, he participated in DART's past two Autism summer camps, he visits the local skilled nursing facility (SNF), he goes to the local library "Dog Day Afternoon" activities where young children practice their reading skills by reading to the dogs and used to go to a weekly grade school reading program where children with reading problems read to the (non-judgmental) dogs. He has appeared in the TDInc Magazine, two DART Autism Day Camp Newsletters. He lets the kids read to him but I bet he could have read to them if we let him !!! : )
Sherry and Ron
CA
See Twinkler Bean's regular page HERE! ...
and read more about Twinkler the Therapy Dood HERE.
