Comfort Canines For Christ
"It's Not About The Dogs"
Canine Ambassador
Gandy
“GANDY Rose” is a 50 pound cafe au lait Standard Poodle. Puppy Gandy had a stunning brown coat and blue eyes and transitioned to her present color at age 3. She adored Goose and Goose adored her even with the 5-year age difference. Gandy was a bundle of love and joy, and she truly is the Love Poodle. It was Gandy’s destiny to become a therapy dog like Goose, but her training path was non-standard due to a long move.
Born on 16 Jun 2013, Gandy, at over 10 years 9 months, is still an active senior therapy dog. She now has over 1080 visits during her bright career. Concerning therapy dog training, Gandy completed all obedience training through intermediate. At that point her family moved creating a 1-year pause in training. Once that passed, John reset Gandy’s training from beginner obedience as a thorough review and reinforcement of fundamentals. She sailed through intermediate and advanced obedience classes, completed therapy dog training, and completed the requirements for the American Kennel Club Canine Good Citizen course. Gandy trained up to the intermediate levels in a variety of canine sports just for fun. John and Cindy adapted these sports into therapy dog activities. Even as a senior dog, Gandy still enjoys formal and informal classes, the most recent being PetSmart’s Brain Games class when she was nearly 8. After that, Gandy learned how to paint with her friends and to play old school schoolyard games with them. Gandy has mastered all 12 of the weekly activity themes
John and Cindy do with her and their friends during group visits. Currently, her favorite activity themes are obedience, rally, and tricks. She also loves being a reading support dog. John and Cindy strongly believe that training is for life. It strengthens the human-canine bond, provides mental stimulation for the dog, and provides different exercise challenges.
Weekly Activity Themes
1. Obedience 5. Puzzles 9. Old School Schoolyard Games
2. Rally 6. Scenting 10. Cavaletti (Cones & Noodles)
3. Tricks 7. Hula Hoops 11. Brain Games
4. Shell Games 8. Tunnels 12. Painting with the Pups
Gandy’s journey into her senior years has been a blessing and an inspiration for John and Cindy, and especially for friends in long term healthcare facilities. Team Gandy’s calling is to those having intellectual and developmental disabilities; and those residing in memory care, 24/7 skilled nursing care, and rehabilitative care facilities. In 2016, John, Cindy, Goose, and Gandy were honored by the Florida Health Care Association as its Group Volunteer of the Year.
Gandy is known as the mama dog because she loves “her” people and her canine friends with whom she serves. While there is a Gandy Bridge, a Gandy Causeway, and a Gandy Boulevard in the area, none are named after her, but they should have been. Gandy lives the motto of a former organization by “Spreading Joy Through a Wet Nose and Wagging Tail.” She simply brightens any room she enters and brings smiles to all who see her.
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