DempseysPage

Dempsey AKA Dempsey Doodle Puss

$Description: C:\Users\Carls\hlprdogsjh-1-22-11\d4.jpg$

Dempsey came to live with me in 1995 to be a pet companion for me. She was the typical nutsy Boxer puppy always wanting to play until she dropped. I taught her basic manners of how to fit correctly into a family home. Only after that did we begin working towards more serious basic AKC obedience exercises in a group environment. By this time she was a year old and knew all the basics: come, sit, down, how to heel on and off a leash and automatically sit when ever I stopped walking. To this we added group sits and downs. Of course 'stay' was a basic part of her vocabulary.

Dempsey has earned her AKC "CGC" (American Kennel Club Canine Good Citizen) award, her AKC "CD" (Companion Dog) award, and learned all the exercises for the "CDX" (Companion Dog Excellent) but has not yet had the opportunity to earn the award at AKC trials because we are busy working at Service Dog stuff! She also passed the test to be a Pets On Wheels (Maryland organization for therapy dogs) dog but has too much to do right now to be active in their program.

Since RockyToo (see his page!) announced his willingness to be a Service Dog for me, Dempsey also started learning all the Service Dog tasks that RockyToo and I work on together. Although she is small at 22" tall and 55 lb.s she is very strong. She can work in harness for me helping me to walk because I loose my balance and my energy and if she walks along with me she keeps me going. She picks up (retrieves) almost anything I drop and will 'brace' for me to lean on her if I want to pick something up myself but am not sure how balanced I am. She works calmly and steadily next to me when I shop using a motorized seat/cart at the stores or during the rare times I've needed to use my wheel chair.

Dempsey learned quickly how to carry something from me to another person or from another person to me. She knows how to find my husband and bring him to me if I need help. She is learning now how to get a cordless phone from another room bringing it to me when I need it and many other things to help mitigate my disabilities.

Dempsey is a Service Dog and goes anywhere with me I need her to in order to live an independent life. In addition, she is a wonderful companion and friend always here to play and have fun with me. One of the most wonderful things about her is that she is always willing to help RockyToo out if I have been running around too much OR she is willing to stay home watching the house while we are gone. Most importantly aside from being willing to have good manners and help me, Dempsey is a lover: kissing and cuddling. She has no idea at all how big she is and thinks she is a lap dog!

Established 1998