By
... narrowing our choices to include a soft coated
terrier. I just happened to mention this to one of my fellow colleagues at
school who also had a terrier. She gave me a breeders’ list
published by the MCSCWTC. We contacted a few of the breeders on the list
before we came upon Denise Daniel of Star Wheatens. She had a male who was
12 weeks old that still needed to be placed. We went to take a look at him
and feel in love with his gregarious nature and boundless energy. Webster
came home with us a week later. We thought we should call him
Webster since he was going to be smart and know a lot of words like the
dictionary. That was in March of 2001. We were eager to train Webster to
be the smartest dog ever. We have spent endless hours expanding his
repertoire of skills. He hasn’t known a time in his life where there
wasn’t "school" for him to attend. He delights in each new task we propose
to him. At that time, he also got his first taste of therapy dog visits
through the MCSCWTC Care and Share. It is hard to remember a time before
Webster, and why I didn’t want a dog sooner.
Our family has grown since that time.
We added a sister, Winnie, to his world in January of 2003. We thought
that he needed someone to keep him company when we weren’t at home
spending time with him. Too bad Webster ignored her for the first two
weeks she came to live with us. Having a little sister to share the
attention with was not quite what he had planned. His attitude to her came
around soon after and they can barely stand to be apart at this point.
During 2003, we started training Webster and Winnie in agility and therapy
dog work. Both became certified therapy dogs in 2004 and started going on
visits with Paws with a Heart therapy dog group. During 2005, we started
entering agility competitions with both of them. They have each earned
novice and open agility titles during 2005. Webster has also begun
training for the obedience ring in 2006. There lives and loves were also
changed in 2005 with the addition of their new sister Willow. Willow is
the stereotypical youngest sibling who is fun loving and demands all of
the attention. She has definitely made her presence known in our
household. As her grandma Denise says "She is perfect." We look forward to
her future in agility and therapy dog work. Luckily for us, they all get
along famously. They are our three little musketeers and life without them
could not be imagined.
I look forward to my time of service on the board
of the MCSCWTC.
Amy Martin-Crowel
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