Hobbes

"Hi Mary,

Thank you for inviting us into your home on Saturday. It was a great adventure and quite an educational experience for us! Charles and Hobbes have completely bonded. Thank you for the opportunity to adopt Hobbes. He is indeed a sweet boy, and we all love him. I think he'll make a great therapy dog- he makes easy eye contact and being so soft to touch won't hurt either! Once he learns what his work is in a therapy setting I am sure he'll bring lots of smiles and connection."

"Hobbes is doing wonderfully. We cannot believe how sweet, gentle and laid back he is! All of us have bonded with him. Of course Charles and he are great buddies, nearly inseparable. We have been to the dog park three times and go for a long walk at least once a day. He always tries to initiate play and really loves to chase and be chased. He has acquired quite a few new toys as you might imagine."

"We have been all over, he comes with us many places, nearly every day he gets to the dog park to run and play, and every day he gets at least one walk. Charles' room is his room now, and now we just refer to them as one entity- "Where are Charles and Hobbes?"

Thanks again for such a wonderful dog."

"You will find a photos of Hobbes on Charles' couch. After reading Charles' AP World History text together, Hobbes was (understandably) tired/bored and went to sleep. Charles put a pillow under his head and covered him with a blanket because "the windows were open and I thought it was too chilly for him."

"We are all busy loving Hobbes to pieces! He goes everywhere with us and gets to the dog park daily. Today we took a 4.5 mile trail hike. Hobbes still has a tendency to pull on the leash so we bought a backpack for him and he carries our water, keys and cell phone. It really helps him focus and slow down!"

"Hi Mary,

I hope you and your family of people and poodles are well!

Hobbes is still a joy and I think we keep each other on our toes!

I tell my "kids" (are 16 and 18 still kids? ) that Hobbes' early training for kids with autism was prescient because they too have problems maintaining personal space- but only with Hobbes! Seriously, one or the other of them is constantly touching, hugging, or laying on him. He never gets any peace! Charles loudly proclaims at least once a day "I LOVE YOU HOBBES!". Charles and Hobbes are alike in so many ways. They both wear their hearts on their sleeve, are both very sweet and not demanding, they both like to sleep and eat, and they both are still growing!

Next week we begin agility class. I think he will enjoy it. I take him to playgrounds and he has lots of fun running up and down the steps, across the wobbly bridges, and on all the different surfaces. Sometimes he even leaps over parts of the equipment while playing on it. It should be a blast!

As far as therapy work, I think I mentioned that we have been certified as a therapy dog team. We have visited schools, participated in the reading to dogs program for kids in libraries, and visited nursing homes. Lately, we have been visiting a residential facility for adults who have Prader Willi Syndrome. PWS typically causes low muscle tone, short stature , incomplete sexual development, and a chronic feeling of hunger that, coupled with a metabolism that utilizes drastically fewer calories than normal, can lead to excessive eating and life-threatening obesity. The food compulsion makes constant supervision necessary. Average IQ is 70, but even those with normal IQs almost all have learning issues. Social and motor deficits also exist.

I came away from our last visit at the Prader Willi facility with Hobbes so impressed with his ability to remain calm and well behaved in a very high energy environment with all completely unfamiliar people and unpredictable situations.

When we entered the facility he was immediately swarmed with people wanting to say hi, there were many hands on him petting and touching and hugging him all over and from all different angles, and lots of excitement in the room. I am always very careful to watch Hobbes' reaction and body language to make sure he feels comfortable and he always does.

We then went into a small gym with about 15 residents. The activity director asked if Hobbes could be off leash so they could throw a ball for him and have him "fetch". I don't think this person had any experience with dogs and could anticipate the variety of issues involved with the dog and the people, but... Hobbes loves sticks, but is not much of a ball chaser, and when we do play with sticks, he would rather bring it to me, tease me with it, and try to engage me in a game of tug-of-war than drop it for me to throw again. With all the people and activity in the room, I did not want him getting overstimulated and jumping up on people, or lunging for balls, etc. They were all so excited to see him do this, though, and I trusted Hobbes' and my ability to handle the situation, so I set down some ground rules such as I am the only one to throw the ball, no chasing Hobbes, only the person who threw the ball can run at a time, etc. and gave it a try.

I let him off his leash and he of course he was in heaven running around the gym. All the residents stood and watched him and thought it was great to see him run like he does. They then took turns throwing a tennis ball. That is, they took turns for about 1 minute. Then the tennis balls starting flying! Soon we were in a gym with all kinds of people throwing balls for Hobbes to catch, and calling his name. He was having the time of his life! What I was unprepared for was the fact that the people did not give a second thought about grabbing the ball right out of his mouth. Of course in our family we don't hesitate to take things from Hobbes, he never has been possessive or reacted negatively, but as this was a completely different situation I was glad to see he took it all in stride and did not react in the least.

After our time in the gym, we walked through a few other rooms where residents were doing quiet activities like puzzles and paperwork. By this time Hobbes was obviously exhausted and was very happy to receive some calm attention and petting and the residents were happy to have him sit next to them while they worked. Needless to say he was all too ready to sleep the rest of the afternoon away!

You recommended the book "The Golden Bridge" which I read and was very informative.

Thanks again for all the information you have provided about Hobbes, and keep doing what you are doing with those poodles!

Lori"