Honor Roll

  Service and Therapy Dogs

There is a small community of people who are dependent upon others. Some of these people need people to help them. Others are fortunate enough that they can depend on the help of a service dog and not require assistance from another person. This page is written to honor those dogs from our kennel who are either Service Dogs and/or Therapy Dogs.

Though both service dogs and therapy dogs both help people, their work and legal status is very different.

A service dog is an assistance dog the is specifically trained to help people who have disabilities of varying degree and types and is owned by and lives with the person who has the disability. The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) defines a Service Animal as: any dog that is individually trained to do work or perform tasks for the benefit of an individual with a disability, including a physical, sensory, psychiatric, intellectual, or other mental disability. The law is specific. This law is a Federal law To learn more go to the link below:   http://www.ada.gov/service_animals_2010.htm

Therapy Dogs are typically well-trained, sweet-natured, friendly dogs who are, first and foremost, pets. Their family trains them and has them certified via a therapy organization, and therapy dog teams are most often volunteers. Therapy Dogs do NOT have public access, with or without their handler, and they may only enter buildings (that don’t allow all pets to enter) with a direct invitation to the dog and handler or to the therapy dog organization.

Below you will find photos of the dogs bred here at Abalee that are service dogs or therapy dogs.

All of this with VERY limited breeding.

Service & Therapy Dogs Bred by Us Honored Below

These Dogs Give So Much

The paw that you see in the photo is that of OTCH Trialfast's Meant To Be Mine, UDX2, RN, TDI (aka: Maia) . She is the girl that started all this in 1992. She is pictured below at the age of 15. She lived a nice long healthy life. She blessed us with her love and her kindness. Maia gave of herself each and every day. It was an honor to have been able to share my life with her.

Trialfast's Meant To Be Mine. Maia was my foundation bitch. We did it all together. We went everywhere together. Maia was my first Obedience Trial Champion and she was my first Service Dog. She trained very easily and was faithful to the end. Maia lived with me for 15 1/2 years.

Maia also was a Therapy Dog Certified by Therapy Dogs Incorporated. She is the only dog I have had that could work both as a service and therapy dog. Maia is Lily's grand dam.

Abalee's Pure Sweet Lily. She has been able to work as both my obedience competition dog and my service dog. Lily has been my Service Dog since 2005. She began her career when she was just a year old. She has given me the freedom to go out of my house without assistance.

When we are out in public she ignores everyone and is serious about keeping me safe. At a restaurant she quietly lays down under the table and most of the time the wait staff is surprised to see her upon our leaving. At home she is a normal dog that enjoys the company of the other dogs, my students, friends, relatives and she just adores children.

Lily has contributed greatly to our breeding program as she has produced several outstanding service dogs and therapy dogs. Lastly, Lily has been a very good working dog. She earned obedience and rally titles and had a lot of fun doing so. Lily was never out of the ribbon when earning her titles and has multiple High In Trial awards. Lily is now retired as my service dog. She is enjoying the life of liesure and pretty much does whatever it is that her heart desires.

Ruby (Abalee's Emeralds N' Rubies, CD, RN ). Is not my primary service dog but she does fill in for her daughter Luna from time to time. She has learned the ropes very quickly. Her job is that of a mobility dog. She is Abby's daughter and Lily's grand daughter. She came to this job a little later than most but her desire and drive to work is clearly evident. She is one of the few dogs that can be both a service dog and a partner in the obedience ring.

Luna (Abalee's Heart Of A Blue Moon, TKN, RN), is Ruby's daughter and Lily's great granddaughter. Luna is a Medical Alert dog.
But the thing that astounds me the most is her intuitive abilities. She just knows what I need, does what I need of her without being asked. She owns my heart and I owe her everything. In short, she keeps me safe.

Java (Abalee's Light N' Sweet, RN) seems to be able to do it all. She alerts for migraines and doubles as a mobility dog. I am truly blessed to have her as part of my breeding program and so a partner in obedience, service work, and show dog. She is truly an amazing individual.

Abalee's Simply Bea N' Me (aka: Abby) Abby is a Lily daughter and is a Therapy Dog who is registered with and certified by Bright & Beautiful Therapy Dogs, Inc. Abby loves people and especially loves children.
I have often had people refer to Abby as a healer. She gravitates to people who are in need of emotional healing. Abby is a kind, wonderful soul who loves everyone that she meets.

Abalee's Chance To Dance (aka Aysha) is a Therapy Dog registered by Therapy Dogs International. She has been working as a Therapy Dog for the last four years in the Charlestown, SC area and also in CT. She is also a certified READ dog.
Aysha loves wearing her costumes and loves making people smile. She is our red headed dynamo. Aysha and Lily are half sisters.

HUDSON

He is Maddie's son and as you can see he is wearing his therapy dog vest. This boy brings a lot of smiles wherever he goes.

Therapy dogs can provide comfort and love for people far from home, college students, and people who are grieving.

Please consider sharing your Abalee golden with people who might have a need for some unconditional love.

Abalee's Madison N' Lexington (aka: Maddie)
Maddie is a Service Dog who helps her owner who has visual disabilities. Maddie is also a competitive obedience dog who loves her work.

Maddie is a Lily daughter.

This is Salty is another service dog. His owner loves him and they make a great team. His main problem seems to be that he gets very distracted when he sees children. Very typically a golden trait. I expect he will be certified by the end of spring 2014.

Salty is a Maddie son.

This is Kear (Henry x Maddie) son and brother to both Bree and Kai riding a train. He is a full fledged service dog for his owner. Kear has been in training since he was an 8 week old puppy and was one of 2 puppies chosen for service work out of that litter.

Three more from that litter are in training for therapy dog work.

This was our magic litter and I think the magic really happened.

This is Bree. She is Maddie's daughter, Lily's Grand daughter, and Kai's sister. A family affair. She is a certified therapy dog with Therapy Dogs International.Bree is a very calm and Sweet Natured girl. She is a typical Abalee girl who just loves to be loved.

This is Kai who is another sibling from the Magic litter.

She is a service dog who knows her job inside and out. Primarily used in work for PTSD she is also trained to aid inmobility and she is also an alert dog.

Kai is very gentle and sweet and though she takes her job very seriously, she is fun to be around.

This is Ceilidh. She is a full sister to both Bree and Kai and Kear. She is a registered therapy dog with Alliance of Therapy Dogs passing her test with flying colors.

Her name is pronounce 'kay-lee' and the meaning of her name in Gaelic is Dance. True to her name, she makes everyone's heart dance when she greets them. She is an absolute angel.

Show Dogs

Dogs Bred by us and/or Trained by us

Recognized Below

The sport of Canine Obedience is a sport that requires team effort. Dog and handler work as an extension of the other and their combined efforts are judged. As an instructor in this sport, I stress the importance of keeping the fun in the training. If the dog and/or the handler are not having fun, if the handler’s ego is placed above the comfort level of the dog, if the ribbons and placements become the motivating factor for competing, then there is something very wrong. The main reason people usually enter into this sport is because of the love they have for their dogs. It is wise to keep this thought in our everyday training.

I have had the pleasure of working with these wonderful people and their dogs for many years. These individuals are dedicated to the happiness and welfare of their companions. A few of these wonderful dogs were either rescue dogs or dogs that were re-homed.