jazzies mum
Hot Topics Subscriber
Well done! The certificate is the icing on the cake. The real pride comes from how you have made a real difference in the world, to people who wouldn't otherwise get that special Dobe loving!
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2024 goals for Katyusha
- Thread starter Katyusharocket
- Start date
Great job! To me, the title is only affirmation of your hard work on paper. The true reward is seeing those eyes light up and the jaws drop when Katyusha enters the room. I would like to have a couple of patients hooked to a heart monitor when she comes in.
Exactly!
Another "Exactly!" The certificates are the reminder that you actually reached your goal. They're just paper, but after the work & trials & tribulations they are the one thing that reminds us that we actually did something we set out to do. Those who don't do things that get you certificates, you can still celebrate all the things that you do with your dog. You know! @jazzies mum I remember some of your stories & struggles and you have the best camping partner in the world!
Of course it's just paper and fancy print. But I started hanging her "just paper" above their water, so that every time she wants a drink, she can read that she is a certified good girl, and soon there will be something beside it that she can read that she is a good girl who helps people who need it. Okay, I admit to not believing she reads, but I do tell her what it means. The THDN certificate will be framed and hung beside her CGC. It might not matter to her, but just in case it could...
I would love to know the results and what they mean.
Yesterday we went to a school where one of my best friends is a teacher. The students at this school are there because thier home school district is not equipped for the student's needs or challenges. I was nervous. My daughter was a social worker at a similar school so I had heard the stories.
Katyusha pulled me in the school door when it was opened for us an pulled me through the classroom door that we were led to and she broke every piece of ice in the room. 5 "troubled" teens sitting in a circle on the floor and she engaged them all. This was the very first therapy event we went to where I decided she was better off serving without her leash. It was also the very first time she gave therapy to a group who would throw a ball for her. My freind, the teacher, drew a slight reference to reputations, in that Dobermans have one, and the students in the room might too, and no one has to live up to thier rep. Just as Katy is a complete sweet goofball if you get past the assumptions.
I've decided I will write a thank you note to the kids in the class and thier teacher for allowing us into their day. I feel relatively certain that Katyusha and I were the ones most blessed through that whole event.
Katyusha pulled me in the school door when it was opened for us an pulled me through the classroom door that we were led to and she broke every piece of ice in the room. 5 "troubled" teens sitting in a circle on the floor and she engaged them all. This was the very first therapy event we went to where I decided she was better off serving without her leash. It was also the very first time she gave therapy to a group who would throw a ball for her. My freind, the teacher, drew a slight reference to reputations, in that Dobermans have one, and the students in the room might too, and no one has to live up to thier rep. Just as Katy is a complete sweet goofball if you get past the assumptions.
I've decided I will write a thank you note to the kids in the class and thier teacher for allowing us into their day. I feel relatively certain that Katyusha and I were the ones most blessed through that whole event.
Rits
Hot Topics Subscriber
This so far is my favorite story of hers
jazzies mum
Hot Topics Subscriber
I can imagine what delight you felt seeing Katy creating so much fun in the group!
Thanks! It was a great day! She was doing her "work" and doing it well and I was proud of what she accomplished. My Doberman has a job and has shown herself to be a contributor to society 
We went to the nursing home in our town Friday. We had 2 other dogs there this time. On our way in the Social Worker stopped me and told me that I am welcome there with any of my dogs at any time that I have a spare half hour or hour, just that I should text her so she can let staff know to expect us. This means that I can take Zastava there for social practice, and desensitizing to wheelchairs and walkers and the one over-excited staff member 
and all the things. That being said, I am not the kind of parent that thinks Z has to "play softball" because her older sister is great at it, but its at least a close place to learn where we are welcome and the dogs seem to be contributors to society.
One resident I had not yet met spoke with a thick accent and told me she is an immigrant from Czech. She loved all the dogs, but on the way out, she looked at Katyusha and said "Bye, Katherine." and it was perfect. She, in particular, wants to meet Zastava too. She told me that in her native language Zastava translates to "gold" and she wants to meet the gold puppy.
Saturday we went to the home in the next town to us. We were the only team and had 16 people in the activities room gathered for us to serve. I will try to get some more dog teams there for future visits. One of the residents previously owned a black/rust female Doberman named Kade and I think she said it lived 16 years, but the others liked listening to her stories of how wonderful Dobermans are, while interacting with Katyusha.
We need 50 visits to drop the "N" for novice in her THDN. I hadn't anticipated doing that in 2024, but at this rate, I'm not really ruling it out, either. There is demand for this, more so than I had known when we first dreamed of doing it.
and all the things. That being said, I am not the kind of parent that thinks Z has to "play softball" because her older sister is great at it, but its at least a close place to learn where we are welcome and the dogs seem to be contributors to society. One resident I had not yet met spoke with a thick accent and told me she is an immigrant from Czech. She loved all the dogs, but on the way out, she looked at Katyusha and said "Bye, Katherine." and it was perfect. She, in particular, wants to meet Zastava too. She told me that in her native language Zastava translates to "gold" and she wants to meet the gold puppy.
Saturday we went to the home in the next town to us. We were the only team and had 16 people in the activities room gathered for us to serve. I will try to get some more dog teams there for future visits. One of the residents previously owned a black/rust female Doberman named Kade and I think she said it lived 16 years, but the others liked listening to her stories of how wonderful Dobermans are, while interacting with Katyusha.
We need 50 visits to drop the "N" for novice in her THDN. I hadn't anticipated doing that in 2024, but at this rate, I'm not really ruling it out, either. There is demand for this, more so than I had known when we first dreamed of doing it.
You are knocking your goals out of the ballpark! Better than that, as @Two Dobes said, you're making life better for others!
jazzies mum
Hot Topics Subscriber
Once again you have made my heart warm! I think you and Katy are warming so many hearts, and not just those that you visit! 
We worked in a nursing home 40 or so minutes away this afternoon. It was fun! The home gave me permission to use anything they put on Facebook. I made a Katyusha_the_therapy_Doberman Instagram I just have nothing on it yet. So now I have permission to use the photos they take. 
This arrived in our mail today. It was nice of them to send it. I wasn't expecting it, never asked for it or really had any contact with DPCA.
remy
Active Member
That’s awesome, congrats!
