Curabitur felis erat tempus?
Bringing Light
to Tough Subjects
Asthma and allergy alert service dogs aid mold sensitive people
Dogs have long been known as man’s best friend. They curl up at our feet, fetch
our newspapers and magazines, and test the threading count in our socks. We envisioned
these types of heart-
For those of you who are dog lovers, we’ll regress a bit and share how we slowly came to realize that Freida, although a dog, was capable of being not only our companion, loyal friend, and protector, but she was also able to provide incredible “scent” services.
The discovery of her extraordinary scent talents began innocently enough. One evening, in the crazy, mad rush that often occurs before dinnertime when kids converge on the kitchen grabbing bites of dinner prep, a kitchen towel slid onto a hot stovetop burner. Unbeknownst to me, I busied myself across the room. Before the towel even began to smoke, Freida stationed herself in front of the stove. Although she hadn’t as of yet been one to beg for food, I told her to go lay down, thinking she was begging. We hadn’t had her long enough to realize when she was trying to tell us something. But when she remained steadfast at the stove, in spite of my instruction, we all began to gather around to see why she was being (what we thought at the time) stubborn. Lo and behold, we noticed the towel snuggled next to the pan slowly starting to smoke. It was only then that she went and lay down, quite pleased with herself.
Overtime, several other incidences occurred in which Freida, the amazing Bouvier, forewarned us of potential looming dangers. Even though we began to learn to “listen” to her when she was trying to tell us something, we didn’t fully realize how valuable her scent talents would become to our family until one day... It was the peak of summer when the days are hot, sticky, and humid. We opened the door to take her for what would no doubt be a sweltering walk. But instead, Freida had ideas of her own. She ran around the outside of our house in an agitated fashion, smelling one foundation vent after