"There's a rigorous training, but it seemed just the thing for a retired health care provider. So, two years ago we adopted what we thought would be a medium-sized dog, but she's currently sixty pounds and as strong as a dray horse. A standard poodle, she's affectionate, smart, and I'm pretty sure she speaks three languages: English, French, and ASL."
"The difference between having a cat and having a dog companion is significant. Felines are kind of private beings; most urban cats don't go outside or interact with cats not of their household and are fairly content to entertain themselves. Dogs, being pack animals, require company. So, our dog gets to play with her "cousins," the dogs of my sister-in-law who lives nearby. And, since my spouse and I are in our seventies not our twenties, she also goes to the Dog Social Club Collective"
A retired healthcare couple who had long kept cats adopted a standard poodle intended for therapy-dog work in hospitals after deciding to pursue rigorous training. The dog is large, affectionate, intelligent, and energetic, requiring regular socialization and outdoor play. The couple enrolls the dog in a local nonprofit Dog Social Club and arranges play with nearby relatives' dogs to satisfy pack instincts. One spouse is a retired health care provider training the dog for hospital visits. Prior negative experiences and televised images of police dogs had created skittishness toward large dogs.
Read at San Francisco Bay Times
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