2011 Dog of the Year Winner
Penny Gipps
Penny joined our family in April 2007. It had been a long time since we had a dog, but there on the website was our pretty red headed girl, with a face that melted your heart. For three years she provided her owners with puppies to sell and lived in a small outside pen. We were ready to drive right up to get her, but she had tumors that needed testing. We didn’t care what the results were, just wanted her in our family. Thankfully the tumors were benign and home she came!
Our first year together was filled with many “firsts”, first dog for my husband, first inside home for Penny complete with toys, dog beds and treats. We became best friends, enjoyed many walks and swims at the lake. We also realized that she was afraid of the garden hose, very reserved with new people, men who wore baseball hats, brooms, rakes, raised voices and thunderstorms. And that she loved kids, cats, cuddling on the couch, going for rides in the car and the drive thru at Dunkin Donuts.
She shines as therapy dog with a natural love of kids. She is a regular at the local hospitals on the children’s floors, putting smiles on their faces with her antics and tricks (dancing, rolling over and tons of kisses). And there are quiet times; just lying right next to the withdrawn child who needs comforting that only a dog can give. She received the Community Pillar Award (from two hospitals) for her outstanding work as a volunteer. Penny is the therapy dog that is on-call for those nights when a child just can’t seem to settle down.
We also go to private homes to work with physical therapists treating children with cerebral palsy. It brings tears to my eyes to watch her gentleness with them. They have fun, rolling over, crawling, doing pushups to help strengthen the children’s bodies. And when all is said and done she flashes them her big Aussie smile as if to say “I did good, let’s do it again”!
DOY Runner Up #1
Company Courtney
September 25, 2009 A father moves out.
Father’s Day, 2010 An Aussie is saved.
ARPH pulled a skinny, pregnant stray off “death row” at an Indiana shelter. Given her poor health, the pregnancy was terminated, and Gracie went into foster care—with Lyme disease, stomach staples, wild hormones, and bottomless fear.
Gracie spent three months with Cori Bodeman. While there, Gracie began to really live but also earned her nickname: Invisible Gracie. She’d use Cori as a cloak—hiding behind her, hoping others would pass her by.
September 18, 2010 A girl is found.
At an ARPH picnic, I sat on the ground to meet Invisible Gracie, but she sunk into the grass and wouldn’t make eye contact with me. Soon, however, my daughter and Gracie were sitting nose-to-nose. Gracie had made her choice.
Before Gracie came home, I tried to impress upon my daughter that Gracie would need a lot of help. I said, “She needs you to show her that even though the world can be scary sometimes, she’ll be okay and there are people to help her.” With profound simplicity, my daughter said, “That’s like what I went through with Daddy yelling at me.” I knew then that we had all made the right choices.
September 25, 2010 Company moves in.
We decided our new dog needed a new name, a name of belonging. We declared September 25 her birthday and baptized her “Company.”
In the months since her baptism, Company’s fears of light switches, men, loud noises have faded. Far from invisible, Company earned the nickname “Nose Bully” by thumping people with her nose until she gets petting. Her other title is “Homework Hound,” earned by guarding her girl during homework. Her favorite game is “Sliding into Home”: running from person to person to get petting with such enthusiasm that she ends up off her feet and sliding on one hip into the lap of the waiting petter.
April 2011 Company moves on.
Company passed her Therapy Dog exam on the first try and will be participating in a Read to Rover program at her girl’s school.
It’s been an amazing year for Company and her girl. They’ve survived to have their stories told. It would be an honor for Company to be named “Dog of the Year,” but regardless of the DOY result, Company and her girl have already won.
DOY Runner Up #2
Tala Clarkson
Ambassador - Tala is all Aussie -smart, loyal, and funny, with a great temperament.
Resilience - Adversity is Tala’s middle name... She was picked up by animal control in a rural county in northern South Carolina, bone thin and having obviously just finished weaning a litter of puppies. Upon vet examination, they determined Tala to be around nine years old, 26 pounds; with every bone protruding from her body, feet so matted she walked on layers of fur instead of her pads. Her top and bottom incisors, as well as her bottom canines, had been broken off, and her legs bowed - probably from growing up in a cage. Despite all of this, Tala is one of the sweetest, most loyal Aussies I have ever experienced. Once she came into my home, we fought weeks of bacterial infections, anemia and other issues. It took eight months to put the seven pounds on her necessary before heartworm treatment. Today Tala weighs 35 pounds, has a shiny full double coat, and runs and plays with dogs half her age. She sleeps by my bed every night, curled up with my cat and personal Aussie.
Personality - Tala reminds me of Betty White in canine form. She’s little and spunky, with an independent attitude and the energy of a dog much younger. At rescue fundraising events, she was the “greeter”, standing the walkway of everyone who passed, just smiling and waiting for head scratches. She has a way of always getting what she wants - she stares at you with her big blue eyes and just waits... and waits... until you can’t take it any longer and you have to pet her. Despite her years of ill treatment, she is trusting and loyal, and loves every person she meets.
Humor - It took a long while for Tala to understand what toys were. Typically, she would just wrestle with the other dogs to play. Then she found a ball. She ran around the yard, picking the ball up and tossing it in the air, then running after it again. Then, she would plop on her back, rolling and wiggling, four feet in the air and the ball in her mouth. Ever since then, every toy, especially stuffed animals, are hers to play with. She doesn’t need anyone else, though she does sometimes go get her teddy bear and drop it on her foster brother’s head for laughs. Again with the Betty White reference - Tala is kooky and witty, and if she could talk, I guarantee she would make the SNL A-list.
Thank you to the following entries that were also winners in their own rights but we could only vote for three. All of these wonderful dogs bios and pictures are featured in the Sept/Oct 2011 Aussie Times publication.
Bindi Lidbury, Orangeville, ON
Louise Michener, St. Catherine, ON
Lacey Bell McBride, Franklin, MA
Mac Vlad/Marotta, Arlington, MA
Maggie Rogers, Marquette, MI
Mandy Mae Silvey, Clearwater, FL
Missy McCutcheon, Camden, SC
Nicki Lukes, Plant City, FL
Sundae Reinhold, Milford, MI
Sydney Jenkins, West Linn, OR