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Heath, the Successor Paws Dog
by: Ann Manning, MI
 I felt an instant bond the day I met Heath. At the Paws with a Cause Headquarters, I gazed across the training room, our eyes met and he responded to my jubilant voice with joy in every part of his furry being. Seated in my wheelchair, he greeted me enthusiastically by leaping on my lap and planting a big, wet kiss on my face. Once he gathered his composure, he eagerly demonstrated the many tasks that he could do for me. After a couple of hours of working with my new partner, he was taken to his kennel and I gathered my things for the journey home without him. Knowing that it would be a few months before he came home, my heart encouraged me to give one last pet before I left the building. He received my gestures hungrily. As I turned to leave, he started jumping higher and higher as if he was trying to say “Wait a minute. Aren’t you forgetting something?” I can only imagine how he must have felt. Abandoned by his former owner due to financial hardship and now I was leaving. I was really struggling at that point too. The gaping hole in my heart that I had felt for the last month seemed to be getting bigger. Dempsey, my former service dog of nine glorious years, had died after a tough battle with leukemia. We parted none the less anticipating the excruciating wait time that lay before us.
It had been four grueling months without a furry assistant and at last I got the call. Heath, my successor dog, was finally coming home. We were reunited at my office. I was greeted with a kiss and wiggles of anticipation. He was so eager, full of promise and anxious to please. We loaded into my truck and drove off with big smiles on our faces anxious to begin our new life together.
I truly believe that Heath knew that he had big paws to fill. We rigorously began our training schedule with Pat Dolowy, as our field trainer, taking the lead. Heath has been absolutely amazing. He carries my briefcase daily, opens and closes doors at my home, helps with laundry, retrieves everything under the sun including my purse and the phone, braces me on stairs and getting up from the ground, performs a messenger service at the office, pulls my wheelchair and gets help for me when I need it. He is such a quick study, I think we might be a certified team within the minimum requirements, but that decision is totally up to Pat. When he is off duty, he is the most playful, energetic pup I have ever had. He loves to fetch tennis balls. He is so obsessed that he cannot go to sleep without “ball” cuddled up beside him. I think he will be in hog heaven when I start playing tennis again.
Dogs like Heath and Dempsey provide for the independence that many people with disabilities long for allowing us to reach for the stars and realize our dreams. Plus life in general is just more fun. As an example, when Dempsey was alive, he performed most of the tasks that Heath does plus he empowered me to go places and do things that I would have felt too vulnerable to experience on my own. One year into our partnership, we traveled independently to Alaska on a cruise ship. We experienced its majesty by taking a helicopter to a sled dog community on top of a mountain, commissioned a seaplane ride that included a tour of a salmon cannery, rafted through a bald eagle preserve and canoed to a glacier. Heath and I are planning to go international. Look for us in Scotland and Ireland in 2009. The adventure continues thanks to Paws with a Cause.
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