Welcome to our little acre on the ‘Net where we have been blogging since 2014 about a pet therapy team living in the Mile High City. I’m Monika and the 4-legged fur-iend shown above was Sam, an adorably sweet but knuckleheaded Standard Poodle for whom this blog was created. We visited patients & staff at a local hospital/hospice center and shared our pawsome adventures.
In 2016, Sam ‘rescued’ a puppy mill Standard Poodle who developed epilepsy shortly thereafter. Sometimes referred to as the “Ninja” (otherwise known as Elsa) we share stories about her as well. Shortly before Sam earned his angel wings, “Stormin’ Norman,” a rescued Old English Sheepdog arrived and took over the pet therapy mantel. So grab a beverage of your choice and sniff around the ‘Ranch’ to see what urban living, pet therapy, pet rescue and canine epilepsy are all about.
As the upright of the Ranch Hands, we live near downtown Denver in a 1950’s style ranch house. Sadly, my precious Norman joined Sam at the Rainbow Bridge so there won’t be ongoing pet therapy posts for a while. Meanwhile Ninja Elsa will share her thoughts on life, the loss of a beloved companion along with tips and stories about living with a puppy mill survivor who has epilepsy but is living her best life, her way.
Thank you for stopping by and feel free to leave your ‘mark.’ We 💙 visitors.
Bark at us: tailsaroundtheranch@gmail.com
Live, love, bark! 🐾
Fates weave in unexpected ways… a comment at WP news became a thread and here we are.
I will only say, Monika, ( I am Nick ) that you had me from the start of your About section, as healing ( have been treating patients with neurological diseases for over 30 years) and 4-legged angels have been a huge part of my life.
Wishing you and your angels all the best.
Many thanks, Nick. And thanks for the follow. We visitors. Wilson, the Old English Sheepdog recently became a hospital therapy dog. He is my 3rd dog in the program. It’s always a treat to watch the magic they provide for humans, be they patients or nurses. Wilson is fast becoming a hospital favorite and has come a long way from his rescue last January. Hugs and tails wags from all us Ranch Hands. 😉 ~Monika
🐬A daily stop🐬Always a fun read. 🐬 Warmly Appreciated 🐬 🐬
Hi Monika, oh wow I just love what you guys are doing!! Animals have such healing and love energy within…How wonderful that you share that with people in need! And that´s such an adorable picture, irradiating positivity and beauty! Happy to be connected, Maria Elena
Thank you. And thanks for stopping by again. You’re completely right-dogs are amazing healers and seem to inherently know how to touch the human heart.
Yes, I totally agree. I grew up around two gorgeous cairn-terriers and still remember this, amongst other many things, about them. Dogs and animals in general are great healers and teachers 🙂
Pure love on 4 paws.
What a beautiful photo of you and Sam! Mom says he is just adorable and it’s always great meeting people who love furries just as we do. Elsa is so lucky to have found you and I think I will have lots of fun on your ‘ranch’. 😀
Thanks so much for the kind words and thanks for swinging by. We 💙 visitors and fellow pupster-lovers.
You are very welcome and the same here. 😊
Thanks so much for the sweet words. I was really lucky to find Elsa, she’s quite the pup and with each passing day a new layer of her personality blooms.
You are so welcome and Mom and I are also so glad for her. It’s really wonderful to see them bloom with people who really love them. I wish all rescues would get awesome parents like you. 😀
nice blog, you’re welcome:
http://gifimage.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/cheers-animated-gif-5.gif
<3 <3 <3
Owning 8 rescue dogs and 2 horses, we can relate ☺🐶
Thanks for swinging by the Ranch and for the follow…we 💖 visitors.
My pleasure ☺
I work in a school that, far more progressive than almost all, welcomes a “therapy” poodle to meander around and do her good deeds. I use “” because her person says that although she has been trained, her therapy is much more of an organic sort. She just makes one feel better about oneself and things when she wanders up and checks you out, making sure everything’s okay. She definitely improves the quality of life of everyone in the building.
Thanks for swinging by the Ranch. As you can imagine, I’m a huge fan of any organization that ’employs’ therapy pets who can provide help to humans. Kudos to your school for recognizing that poodle’s special energy to provide such relief. 😍
hi monika and sam,
nice to meet you. you know my guestbook for you and sam?
What a great way to help others!! Dogs are awesome.
Thanks, and thanks for swinging by the Ranch. We 💖 visitors.
Love that you do this. I have a miniature poodle, Buddy, that I sometimes bring in for sessions with my therapy clients. But he tends to prefer to sit with me haha. Looking forward to following along
Many thanks for swinging by the Ranch. We ❤️ visitors. Perhaps your Buddy is providing therapy for you while you provide therapy for your clients 😍
So glad to have found your blog. I grew up in Denver :-).
We LOVE Denverites. 😍
Lovely blog. Keep it up!
Thank you! Such a lovely thing to say. Stop by anytime. We truly 💖 visitors.
Sure. Have a glorious day!
And to you as well.
Hi Monika. I’ve nominated you for the One Lovely Blog Award. As one of my favorites you, Sam, and Elsa were the first I thought of for my list of nominees. As you know (because I wasn’t the only one who nominated you) participation is not mandatory but if you are so inclined you can get more information about the guidelines from my recent post: https://goldenkali.com/2017/08/08/one-lovely-blog-award/ Take care and enjoy your down time.
Many thanks, Michael. We were nominated recently by Lexi the Schnauzer but I haven’t put up a post yet. Last week kind of got in the way and I just didn’t feel right posting about awards but appreciate your thinking of us. I hope you know how much I adore your blogs and the girls. It’s always a lovely respite visiting the Golden K and you most certainly deserve the recognition. All best wishes❣️
Hi Sam (and Monika)–I’ve nominated you for the One Lovely Blog Award. (You can read about it here: https://thek9harperlee.wordpress.com/2017/08/04/isnt-she-lovely/.) You’re under no obligation to follow the award rules. I just wanted to let you know how much I love your blog and how much I’ve enjoyed getting to know you, your sweet mom, and Elsa. Hugs and kisses to all of you, and have a wonderful weekend!
Dogs are cool. Adopted dogs are the coolest. We’ve had eight dogs in 30 years – all adopted – including the three we now have. We didn’t understand dogs with the first three and learned some hard lessons that we put to work with our fourth dog and the rest. They truly are family. It wouldn’t be a home without dogs.
It certainly wouldn’t be a home without my dogs. We all are blessed that they make for a ‘pawsome’ family. 😉
Oh, how I miss my yellow lab. Gone 31 years. Not pets ever again. If there is an afterlife I would care that at least two “people” were there: that dog and my first granddaughter. I understand that pet therapy has been introduced to inmates in some prisons with remarkable results.
Pet therapy has all sorts of ‘pawsitive’ applications. Our focus has been strictly in medical facilities but some universities bring them in to alleviate test anxiety.
Hi Monika,
I saw you’d commented on my blog (Bringing French Country Home) and linked to yours. What a surprise to see you live in the Mile High City too. I live in the Wash Park area. What part of town are you in? I love that you are involved in pet therapy. I’ve often thought our dogs and cats are angels sent to protect and comfort us. Maybe we’ll bump into each other sometime walking our pooches. Pat (p.s. FYI..your email contact address isn’t working).
Love your place. Found as a direct result of your recent decision to follow Learning from Dogs. Thank you. Hey, if you ever fancy writing a guest post for my side then it would be most welcomed by me and all the readers.
Blush, blush. Why I’d love to! Thank YOU!
Thanks for finding us. Mom says your fur person is absolutely adorable. She can see lots of personality in that picture!! We just see a dog but that’s okay ‘cuz we like dogs and actually think that’s what we are. So nice to find your little ranch and we look forward to hearing more. By the way, we are buried in snow as well!
Giant purrs…….Hemingway
Tiny purrs…….Steinbeck
Why thank you, guys. Appreciate the kind words. Sam isn’t quite sure about cats but loves the idea of them, so long as they don’t swat at him! LOL Have fun digging out this weekend and stay warm.
Love the header painting!
Blush, blush. Why, thank you! 😉
I just saw that you liked my comment on Choppy’s place and noticed your wonderful photo: you and Sam. I had to stop by to let you know it made me smile. Also I love the painting top of your blog page; I’m assuming it’s featuring Sam?
Have a great Sunday. 🙂 Paulette
Yup, that’s Sam in the front of the ‘Ranch’ (house). Thank you for swinging by, we 💞 visitors.
Your work with Sam as a therapy dog is very inspiring. My daughter worked with our previous golden retriever girl, as a therapy dog. However, even at 7 years old, Mongo is still a bit too energetic for working in closed quarters. Even his tail has been classified as a weapon of mass destruction, able to clear an entire coffee table in one sweep.
Your work with Sam as a therapy dog is very inspiring. My daughter worked with our previous golden retriever girl as a therapy dog, but Mongo, though 7 years old, is still a little too energetic to be in a hospital-type setting. His tail alone has been classified as a weapon of mass destruction, able to sweep an entire coffee table bare in one swipe.
Haha, ah yes those massively lovely tails. No doubt patients would love it! Thanks for the kind words. 😉
Yes the tail of woe. Woe to whomever gets bonked on the knees with it. As we say, “Cry Havoc and Let Slip the Dogs of Water!”
How wonderful Monika, what you & Sam do! I just found your blog. I am very curious about what you guys do for pet therapy. Sam looks very happy and content with his head on your shoulder, what a magnificent picture! God Bless you guys for what you do. I love that there are wonderful people out there, like you, caring for animals instead of hurting them (and in your case, animals helping care for others too). My blog is advocating against animal abuse. There are so many people doing that too, unfortunately.
You have such a delightful blog, really makes me happy to read your posts! Keep writing, its also great to see how many people you have touched with your posts 🙂
I’ve been writing a blog on health and fitness http://buffbanana.com/
i hope in anyway you can gain some useful knowledge and stay happy and healthy.
Best wishes!
Thank you for the kind words…and thanks for swinging by the “Ranch” and for the follow!
Lovely blog and awesome work you do! I look forward to see more! Cheers from Ohio, Johanna
Many thanks for the kind words and for checking us out. Loved your blog too!
Oh my Dog! What a great blog you and Sam having going here. It is inspiring me to work on my blog, coming soon, which is about writing, poetry and relationships (not necessarily in that order)! Thanks for all of your efforts! Lu
Thanks for the kind words, Lu and thanks for stopping by the ‘Ranch.’ ღ
Hi Monika – I have to ask! Is your Blog pic an actual water color … or is it a photo after having some creative treatment? Just curious! 🙂 Colin.
Both. It started out as a photo and then went transformed in an app to become the header. I have tried my hand at water color but the app did a much better job. Watercolor painting is so unforgiving 😉
I just nominated you and Sam a pawsome award. <3
https://harmonyspearls.wordpress.com/
Awww, thank you so much. We totally appreciate it! <3
Hi!
I am very happy to nominate you for The Sunshine Award. Please find the link below.
https://simplemomentsoflife.wordpress.com/2015/06/01/the-sunshine-award/
Best,
Nimi
You are too kind! Thank you.
My pleasure entirely
Monika! I LOVE THAT PICTURE!! You are both so adorable, and clearly Sam love you!
*loves*
I saw your comment on No dog About It blog and came to check out your blog. Absolutely love it! Such an inspiration for my new blog, good job x
Many thanks for dropping by and the kind words. We 💙 visitors and love the No Dog About It blog! Good luck with your blog 🙂
What a pawesome thing to be able to do with your human.
~Lowryder~
I am unable to find a newsletter link for your blog and would love to follow!!!
You can follow through WordPress Reader or subscribe via email and get notices of posts. My technical abilities with blog settings is still evolving but am grateful you want to follow-thank you!. 🙂
Hi Monika & Sam,
Just wanted you to know that I’ve nominated you both for the Very Inspiring Blogger Award. I have been touched by reading about how you touch people’s hearts at such a difficult time and provide a bit of light, soft fur and love. To find out the details, click here: https://beyondtheflow.wordpress.com/2015/02/13/accepting-the-very-inspiring-bloggers-award/
I think you will probably connect with many of the other blogs I have nominated too. I have only come across some of them recently and they are amazing. Hope you are both well and it’s not too cold. I have heard that the first signs of spring are starting to appear in some parts xx Rowena
PS Bilbo will be getting clipped tomorrow and he could use a therapy dog to get through that. He hates the clippers. His fur went all nasty when he moulted and we had intended to get him clipped before Christmas but…Stay tuned for that post and I hope the dog groomer survives the ordeal xx Rowena
I was visiting Max today on yet another hot, sweltering Sydney day and found your blog and came to say hello from Sydney, Australia. It’s summer here at the moment and we’re enjoying water sports and watching the sunset over the water. We have two dogs: Bilbo an 8 year old Border Collie and Lady, a 2 year old Border Collie cross Cavalier King Charles Spaniel. We’ve had Bilbo since a pup and had Lady for about 3 months. I used to be terrified of dogs as a child but have become such a dog lover now!! Looking forward to reading more of your posts,
Thanks for stopping by and leave us a paw print. We love visitors from Australia. 🙂 I’ve been hearing all about the undogly temps and humidity ‘down under.’ That can be really tough of the pooches.
Glad you’ve gotten over your fear of dogs-some days I like them better than people! 😉
Summer is pretty hard on our dogs. They’re squeezing into any shady spots they can find. We do try to give Bilbo the Border Collie a clip but money gets a bit tight around Christmas too. I also get blamed for not getting it clipped as I am rather partial to his fluffy coat but not in this heat. He comes out looking light grey when it’s done. Take care and good luck with the cold xx Rowena
Monika! What a great site you have here. “aDOGable”! Thanks for stumbling onto Gail and my blog, and for the follow. Loving your watercolor header. Did you paint it? So charming. Cheers, Margie
Thanks for the kind words. The header is the product of a ‘pawsome’ app called Waterlogue which takes a photo and converts it to a watercolor. I do paint (at least I like to think I do 🙂 ) but that wasn’t one of my paintings. Glad you stopped by. <3
Hi Monika, Claudia from Campari and Sofa here. Sue and I were wondering if you would be interested in participating in a little writing exercise. A friend of ours from NZ mentioned our blog in his and passed us on a few questions we are supposed to answer in a blog post and, in turn, pass on to a blog we like. We don’t typically do any of these things (or accept those prizes that do the blog rounds) but this is short, it’s about writing and the blog and we thought, why not?
Take a look at the attachment and let us know. You can e-mail us at campariandsofa@gmail.com.
If you are game, we would publish our post this week-end, pass the baton to you and then you are free to do your bit whenever you like. We love your dedication to canines (like ours) and feel you are a kindred spirit.
http://thegisbornegourmet.wordpress.com/2014/07/08/why-i-write/
Wooohooowoooooo! Sisfur Nalle is a therapy pup toowoowooooooo! She blogs with Mama here: http://healingwithanimals.wordpress.com/2014/04/22/i-graduated-wooooooowooooooo/
Monika, I’ve nominated you (and Sam) for your amazing work in blogging. You deserve the distinction. Please see my blog page. Let me know how you feel. Thanks so much! B.
Oh my gosh, I’m stunned and speechless. Thank you so much!
Thanks for stopping by our blog! We look forward to following Sam’s exploits too. We’re big Denver fans – the city as well as the football team. When Max lived in southern Utah we’d often escape the summer heat by taking the truck and trailer and setting up camp in Golden Gate State Park near Golden.
It truly is a wonderful state and city. Looking forward to tales/tails about Max! 🙂