I would like to introduce my "older and wiser" brother, Trouble to each of you. Some of you have met him. He goes on some of my therapy visits. He is a 10 year old toy poodle and weighs 10 pounds. He has some back problems. Mom is very particular about where we take him. She says, "He is too fragile to be handled by unpredictable patients." He is much better with elderly patients. He loves to ride in their wheel chairs.
Trouble came into our family almost 6 years before I was born. Dad was leaving for work one morning and found him in the culvert pipe at the end of our drive way. It was a cold February morning and Trouble was a "baby" at the time. He only weighed a few pounds. Dad asked our neighbors to take him for the day. He thought someone had lost him and would come for him. After checking with local veterinarians and other places, Dad realized someone had thrown him out.
Initially, Dad planned to find him a home. Trouble had found a home, it just took Dad a few days to realize it. He was given his name, because he loved ripping up the bathroom trash. I know, it sounds really yucky, but he did it.
When Dad and Mom went to Blacksburg, Virginia to get me, Trouble came along. Trouble was not happy about my arrival in the family in the beginning, but we have become quite close. He lays up against me, especially when he is cold.
Trouble is very special. He sleeps with Mom and Dad and basically has the freedom to do as he chooses. Mom says, "he has earned these privileges, because he knows how to obey." He is so smart, he soared through his obedience classes and has a PHD in Dog Therapy and Obedience from Dog Lovers Obedience School, Richmond, Virginia. Trouble would never brag about himself, so I must do it for him.
Woofs and Wags,
Sitka