Taffy

by Lesley

Taffy is not a show girl but, like all Irish Setters, she is pretty — or so everyone tells her!   Her qualifications for a career as a pet therapy dog are her deep serious brown eyes, and her brains.  And she is passionate about her work. Put on her scarf, and she is on the job. She stands a little taller, her head is held a little higher, her step a bit more deliberate but mostly those eyes become focused in a very human way. Taffy doesn’t sit and wait for someone to pet her, she seems to know it’s her job to be more than a soft coat. Taffy assesses her situation and the people and then goes to work on them!

Taffy was born to one of Canada’s top Irish Setter breeders of show and pet dogs.  But she didn’t get her champion parents’ looks. Her teeth came in crooked, her tail was too short for her body. People came to see the puppies and select the one to whom they would offer a wonderful life with a loving family. But ‘Octavia’ didn’t measure up in looks compared to her siblings. Years went by, but no one wanted the homely girl. Her best looking siblings were headed to the show ring, after hours of special attention and grooming, but, of course, not Octavia. However, what she lacked in looks, she made up for in brains and she used them. She figured out what humans like and they don’t like being jumped on! She figured out what the other dogs liked, and being playful and non-threatening and kind to others worked so she got along quite nicely.

Taffy was almost five years old when a middle aged couple arrived to take one of her cousins home. Taffy didn’t know that. She just saw an opportunity to have her own people, her own home, and not share attention! So while the other dogs jumped all over the couple, she quietly gently rubbed against their legs. It worked. The couple decided maybe they should take two dogs! They left a few days later with uncle Rowan, but came back a few months later and took Octavia, calling her Taffy instead!

She arrived at her new home to find Rowan was there, along with another smaller Gordon Setter, Ghillie, who was boss dog. Oh well, Taffy knew how to compete for attention but she also knew to submit to the older female, even if she was smaller! 
Taffy had never met a child before she left her breeders’ home, but her first experience with two young sisters in a campground was all it took. Taffy was hooked.

She soon became pet therapy dog number three in her new home. She visited a senior’s home in a small town with Rowan, who had replaced his brother. Together they did tricks to entertain the residents. Individually they would visit with the residents one on one, snuggling on the bed or putting a head on a lap that might need some soft fur to pet.

Taffy and Rowan enjoyed doing public relations too, and eventually Taffy attracted media attention and, like Rowan and Abban before her, got her photo in the local newspaper, then even the local TV station came on a visiting day and she was the star of well-watched human interest story.  She liked to pose and smile for cameras, since that obviously impressed humans. 
For three years Taffy worked hard to understand her role — what worked, what didn’t — but she loved kids more than adults and, by year three, she did her job but her heart really wasn’t in it any more. Rowan had retired and she was doing all the work herself now and while she still enjoyed special challenging new clients, she was ready for something new. And new came with a family move to the Ottawa area where the big city offered more employment opportunities — and the chance to fulfill her dream — working with children and those whose minds were still childlike.

Taffy at 8 years old is happiest with people around. When Rowan, now 13, seems bothered by the bit of arthritis in his hips, Taffy gently grooms his face to make him feel better. And that same patience and love comes through with every child and adult too whom she comes across on the street or in an official facility.

Intuitively, she knows many people do not like to be licked or jumped on but, sometimes, a human just needs a hand to hold and Taffy always gently offers a paw.  Her eyes seem almost human when she is working as she focuses her attention on whoever is in front of her, trying to read what this human wants and needs and meet both perfectly.

Hey, it’s a therapy dog’s life, and she loves it!