Karen and Omri
Member Since:
2015
Pet's Breed:
Terrier Mix
I adopted Omri from a shelter in 2015 when he was just three months old and very quickly recognized that he was born to be a therapy dog. He loves people and never meets a stranger! When he was about four months old, I took him to a “puppy social” class where the owners sat around the perimeter of the training area and let the puppies play. Omri went and greeted all of the people and ignored the other puppies! I checked into therapy dog organizations and found Faithful Paws. We started class when he was a 4 ½ month-old rambunctious terrier puppy. We worked hard in class, and he was able to take the CGC test at six months old. He was seven months old when he made his first therapy visit.
Where We Visit:
Elison Senior Living at Willowbrook, Cypress Creek Hospital, Harvest Home & Inwood Crossing, Spring Creek Village
Omri is a born entertainer! Although he already knew a number of tricks, during the summer of 2020 when all of our visits stopped, we went in tricks training overdrive! Omri earned all five of the trick dog titles offered by AKC and now knows nearly 70 tricks (and is still learning more). When he walks into visits, we are often greeted by “oh, that’s the dog that does all the tricks!” and he is immediately in his element. He puts his whole heart into every visit and is never happier than when he is doing his job.
His sensitivity to how people are feeling is still amazing to me. Time and time again, he has randomly approached someone (on visits as well as out in public), and as they are petting and interacting with him, they start talking. The encounter invariably ends with something like, “I was having a really rough day/week/etc. and this is exactly what I needed.”
One of our favorite visits is seeing the adolescents at the psychiatric hospital. Each time we visit, I hear, “I was sad and now I’m happy,” or “I was just in my room crying, and now I’m happy,” or simply, “You made my day!”
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