Articles
Tess Nightingale
Denargan Cottontail AZ Cl.1 Ex. commenced life with Karen
Ballantyne approximately six years ago. She was destined for a
career in the show ring and a satisfying life of being a mum. But
it seems Tess, as she is now known, had greater aspirations in
life than mere shows and litters!After a couple of years with Karen and Blackie, an excellent rating and one litter, Tess decided she wanted to move to the healthy environs of Ballarat. She was eventually placed in the capable hands of Sue Molloy and began enjoying life at Lal Lal about 25 kms. south of Ballarat where she produced her second litter of pups.
Unfortunately when it came time to feed the family Tess didn't have enough petrol in the tank. So it was decided that two litters was enough and Tess was retired.
Tess thoroughly enjoyed the life of a retired mum but decided to take up the enjoyable exercise of bush walking. To do this all she had to do was leap over the six feet fence surrounding her yard and the yonder world was hers. This she began doing on a regular basis. Going up the fence was easy, but the coming down was jarring to say the least. It was feared that if Tess kept this up she would be a cripple in no time. Also unlimited visitation rights to neighbouring farms was not welcome either!
As luck would have it Gayle Stuart, who trains at Ballarat branch,
was looking for an older dog to fuss over and spoil. So she approached Sue to
see if she could assist. Within minutes of meeting, Gayle and Tess were soul mates and
Tess very happily trotted off to the Geelong area to spend the rest of her days as a
couch potato and advisor to Gayle."Tess has a marvellous temperament and is a brilliant companion dog", says Gayle. Tess was equally complimentary and the two settled down to a happy life with Tess regularly visiting Ballarat branch to say hello and have a chat to anyone who wanted to listen.
A few months ago Gayle noticed a small advert in a local paper for the Delta organisation looking for suitable dog/owner combinations to visit local hospitals, etc.
Gayle, who has a nursing background, felt that Tess would be ideal and promptly made enquiries. After several discussions, interviews and medical tests Gayle and Tess found themselves at the final testing day along with sixteen other various breeds of dogs. The high standards required of the dogs eventually saw Tess admitted at level three, which enables her to visit hospitals including childrens wards. As Gayle says, "Tess is just an outstandingly friendly dog".
The combination has now been visiting all areas of hospitals for about two months and Gayle reports that it almost brings a tear to her eye as she watches Tess, very gently and calmly, offer a paw to shake or her head to be patted, to a patient. Gayle says, "Tess gives her total focus to the patient whether the patient be eight or eighty and regardless of how long we stay with them."
If you happen to be in a Geelong hospital and spy a very beautiful, happy, &
contented German Shepherd wearing a bright red coat accompanied by a
very proud, happy and utterly amazed lady, please say hello. Oh, by the way,
Gayle is the taller one! Well, you certainly can't tell them apart by their smiles.Congratulations to all involved. To Karen, Sue and Gayle who have all contributed to the very positive development of this dog - well done. Thanks for being a CHAMPION DOG Tess!