The Willow Award and It’s History

The American Whippet Club presents an annual award to the therapy whippet of the year at the AWC National Specialty Award Banquet. This award is named after FC Warburton Song Sung Blue CGC, CD, TT, FCh, CR, TRP, Delta Therapy Dog Complex. Willow is the only whippet to receive the American Kennel Club Award of Canine Excellence in the Therapy Division.

Past Recipients of the Willow Award

2004 Dr. Whippet loved by Holly Wells

2005 Maya (Lake's Hurricane Gabrielle) loved by Jo Dee Bucki

2006 Willow Award

Team Nominations: TAJA & Michael Small; SNICKERS & Rhonda Gold

Submitted by: Rhonda M. Gold

TAJA (Artemis in the Garden SC, FCh, CGC) has been visiting patients, residents, and children for over 5 years. She has lots of experience with the old and the young alike and has mentored her team partners, Michael and Rhonda in serving others in the local community! TAJA’s visits (she never thinks of it as therapy “work”) now focuses on regular trips to our local nursing facility.

TAJA’s favorite activity is visiting with several distinguished ladies. She sits patiently alongside her mother, SNICKERS and quietly listens to Michael reading poems and stories chosen or requested by the ladies. You see, two of the residents were once school teachers and reading even just the very first few lines written by renowned poets or authors invokes their sharp minds, engaging them in sharing their childhood memories and youth. Many hours have been spent together over tea and biscuits reading Eliot, Cummings, Longfellow, and Kipling, to name a few.

TAJA and SNICKERS (DC Whippletrees Gold Nugget, FCh, CGC, CD, NA, CAVX) always start their visits by greeting the residents as they walk slowly up and down the halls. They simply stop and savor every stroke, gentle touch, or kind words they receive while surely recognizing the smiles and joy they are bringing to the elderly. They always ask to visit the lounge area where several family members spend time with their loved ones. But TAJA and SNICKERS are soon ready to head towards their favorite room, first to receive gentle strokes to the head, face, and neck from Mrs. M and Mrs. H and then to settle quietly onto the resident’s bed.

Michael reads from George Eliot, “You love the roses - so do I. I wish the sky would rain down roses, as they rain from off the shaken bush. Why will it not? Then all the valley would be pink and white and soft to tread on. They would fall as light as feathers, smelling sweet; and it would be like sleeping and like waking, all at once!” The room is silent and still with the exception of Michael’s soft spoken voice as he reads the words that warm and reunite Mrs. M. and the others with their past and their youth. Mrs. M. recollects her gardening experiences and spending time together with her mother planting roses as a child.

At the conclusion of the reading, the teams head along the hall greeting other residents and stop to see Mr. T. SNICKERS helps Mr. T. tone his muscles and work his arms by encouraging him to stroke and brush her. Mr. T. talks about his animals, spring planting season, and recalls his early years working hard to tend his farm and fields, all the while stroking SNICKERS. She lies on his bed next to his wheelchair offering him the opportunity to find pleasure in the tactile stimulation that stroking her soft coat provides, as well as to gain additional strength from the upper extremity range of motion activities.

We feel blessed to have the opportunity to know these special people and to be able to touch their lives. Our therapy dogs provide the special bond and connection we feel with these individuals. We cherish our relationships with these incredible residents who have opened their hearts to us. We know the animal-human bond is very real and we appreciate the impact our visits have on their lives, as well as on our own.

TAJA, Snickers, and our greyhound Fergie’s therapy work is inspired by the work of Willow and her partner, Linda. By example, they have encouraged and supported us every step of the way.

Photo Credit: Rhonda M. Gold

Photographs appearing in the Nomination are included with permission granted to the photographer but may not be reused by others without the prior written consent of the photographer.

From Holly Parker, Willow Award Judge

2006 Willow Award

I have had the honor for the past three years to serve as the judge for the Willow Award. I have worked as the animal-assisted therapy coordinator at the National Institutes of Health since we founded the program in 1989. I was able to witness firsthand the magic that Linda Solano and Willow shared with many patients in our hospital. It is wonderful to know that the magic continues throughout our country in the work of so many wonderful whippets and their humans.

In the past the award has gone to just one team. However, this year it seems impossible to separate Snickers and her daughter Taja, owned by Rhonda Gold and Michael Small, respectively. Over the past five years they have visited with pediatric and adult patients and residents and are now focusing on a local nursing home. Although Snickers and Taja visit with many of the residents in the nursing home, they are always anxious for the time they spend with two special ladies. As the dogs snuggle on the beds, Michael reads poetry. The magic once again occurs as these ladies enjoy reminiscing about their days a teachers and their love of poets, animals, and gardening.

Congratulations to Snickers and Rhonda and Taja and Michael on being the 2006 Willow Award winners. You are carrying on Willow’s spirit in the wonderful work that you are doing each week.

2006 Willow Award Honorable Mentions

 

Winnie and her partner, Jenny Haverland in Tallahassee, Florida for her visits with the terminally ill in hospice for the past 6 years.

Capercaille (Surrey Hill Petaluma) and her partner, Lisa DiBattista for their visits in Springfield, Massachusetts.

 

All winners’ stories show the strength and heart of this wonderful breed and demonstrate whippets’ ability to serve humans who need them most. If you are doing any form of therapy with your whippet please send your story and a picture if available to share your experiences and inspire other teams to participate in this wonderful effort.....pass it on. You do not need to have formal therapy titles or affiliations to submit an entry. The entries are read, enjoyed, and judged each year by Holly Parker, recreational therapist and animal assisted therapy coordinator who started the therapy program at National Institutes of Health in Washington D.C. and who personally witnessed firsthand Willow’s magical work. 

 

The exciting news this year is that Sara Renzulli, an accomplished artist who knew Willow, is working on a bronze of Willow to serve as the permanent Willow Award Trophy. All recipients will be featured on the base of the trophy. The award recipients also receive a silver charm for their dog's collar. If there is an honorable mention in a year they receive a therapy lead. For more information, e-mail me at veryurbanwhippets@yahoo.com

 

Linda, Jessie, and Graffiti (The City Girls)