Gatehouse Van D Dryvs Lyk A Dream, RN, CGC, TT, TDI
May 10, 2007 - July 26, 2010
Breeders: Shannon and Nick Van Duren and Carrie Klaiber
Owner and Therapy Partner: Carrie Klaiber
Pictured above is Parker with one of his friends, Terry. Terry was a great athlete when he was in high school with my mom, but he had some sort of accident that caused permanent brain damage when he was in his 20s. No longer able to communicate with words, only grunts and strange noises, he still could understand what other people were saying to him. Whenever he saw Parker out in the hallway he always started yelling so we would go in for a visit. I would walk in with Parker and say, "Terry, do you want to hold the puppy on your lap?" and Terry would giggle and laugh like crazy.
Although Terry was mostly paralyzed, he did have limited use of his left arm. I usually had Parker put his front paws up on the arm of Terry's chair and Terry would grab onto one of Parker's paws, hold it and laugh. Often, when Terry was holding Parker's paw, there was a steady stream of nurse's aids, RNs and housekeepers coming in to see them and smile. :)
Parker sometimes climbed up onto Terry's roommate's empty bed and Terry especially loved that. You could almost make out that he was saying "BAD! BAD!" while he was roaring with laughter.
In the picture above, Terry was laughing because I had been trying to get Parker's attention and he was ignoring me, so I tried something different. I said "Say Cookies!" and Parker snapped to attention and looked right at me with his ears all perked up. :)
Parker was doing therapy work before he was even a year old, and eventually became a "real" therapy dog like his big sister T'kila.
Note from Louise
Parker died suddenly at a young age and will be loved and missed by many for a long, long time.
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