Suzanne Stanley and Cindy

Cindy’s Story… it’s not short but it is sweet.
By Suzanne Stanley

After our Golden died of old age, we decided our lives would be simpler without at dog because we traveled so much. After a year we discovered our dog had been much more that a furry body to feed! Something was definitely missing in our household!

We started the search for a new dog. We felt it was important to get a rescued dog but our visits to the animal shelters did not present any dog that “spoke to us”. So we searched the internet for Golden Retriever Rescue groups in the area and found Gold Ribbon Rescue in Austin. After filling out the appropriate forms, (I think it would have been as easy to adopt a child) we were accepted and just waited for “the call”.

Early December we got the call, they had found two Goldens in San Antonio. They had been spayed and were being treated for fleas, ticks, intestinal parasites and started on heart worm treatment at a local vet’s clinic. When I went to pick Cindy up, she was a site… head hanging, fearful of everything, bones practically protruding from her thin body and so weak she could not get into the car unassisted. I carefully placed her in the back seat and drove home. She hung her head over the back of my seat, lying on my shoulder, all the way home. Our bond instantly formed.

My husband and I lay with her that first night on our family room carpet. She shivered so we covered her with an angel blanket. What a sight we were… two grown adults laying with a scrawny, shivering dog on the floor. A doctor and a nurse feeling helpless, not knowing what to do, we just lay with her. We knew that night, we were not just fostering this dog while she was being treated, this was OUR DOG!

Her 40 lb body, weak and still tick infested, slowly healed and filled out. She is now 70 lbs (no one stays skinny in the Stanley household) has overcome her fears… of men, big trucks, water, drains along the roads and doorways. We do not know her history but we do know what is in her future. Some serious eating and loving!

When we attended Gold Ribbon Rescue’s picnics or ranch parties, we were told, by the staff, that Cindy would make a great therapy dog because she would simply walk up to people and quietly lay her head against their leg. Everyone’s instinct was to reach down and start petting her. It worked for her!!!

After my Mother died, I had the time so decided to pursue the “dog therapy thing”. While searching the internet for a group that “spoke to me”, I found Penny’s from Heaven Foundation. We have son in the Marines so PFHF’s work with the military makes me feel closer somehow to our son, Brian, who lives in California. I felt an instant connection to Patsy and her group. My years as a nurse probably helped because I feel very comfortable in hospital situations and with the elderly or very sick people. They are just people but with more needs perhaps than us.

Through the training classes with Family Dog Obedience, Jasmine Skala helped us help Cindy overcome her fears and become a confident, happy dog. We passed our Dog Certification test and are now visiting Nursing homes, Alzheimer’s Units, Methodist Children’s Hospital and Ft. Sam’s Fisher House, Powless Guest House and The Barracks. Cindy gets so excited when I get out the bag with her essentials, signaling we are going to visit. The touch she has always searched for is present in everyone we meet. She seems to be providing therapy while recharging her batteries at the same time. I love watching the people respond to Cindy, as their hands and faces connect with her. I just sit back, take it in and smile. We both truly do look forward to those visits.