A Rock Star Hit!

Eisntein is a 5 1/2 year old Cavalier King Charles

Donna Beirne is a dedicated volunteer and dog lover. She and her Cavalier King Charles, Audrey,  are regulars at the Jewish Home for the Aging / Grancell Village. And recently, Donna took over as Leader for this site. As if this is not enough, Donna also fosters dogs from the Cavalier Rescue USA. 

One of her foster, Eisntein, a 5 1/2 year old purebred Blenheim color, is a loving dog, full of energy who wants to make friends and explore wherever he goes. He quickly won Donna's heart and her husband became quickly attached. So they decided to adopt him.

Donna states: "I thought he would be great on therapy visits with all that energy and love to give.  I worked on his basic obedience commands and saw he would be a natural for therapy outings.   I finally brought him to the Lend A Paw Certification at the end of April 2012." And of course, Einstein, aka, "Ein" passed with flying colors!

Ein gave kisses to everyone!

Ein’s first visit was to New Horizons, a school and workplace for the developmentally challenged adults. The folks at New Horizons have a lot of energy and love the Lend A Paw teams, especially the new ones! So, naturally, Ein was a Rock Star hit! Donna says: " Ein was having fun greeting so many new friends,  granting requests to have his photo taken with all and gave kisses to everyone who came by for some puppy love. Everyone wanted to get his or her picture taken with Ein and we tried to accommodate everybody."

When asked about her other therapy dog, Audrey, and whether she will continue to take her for visits, Donna tells me that: "She will continue her therapy dog visits too.  Audrey has a bit of a lower energy level and tires more easily than Ein and is definitely more selective on handing out doggie kisses.  She still loves going to her regular twice-monthly visits at Jewish Home for the Aging at Grancell Village and is always excited to see her red vest come out.  I would love to see both of them go out on a visit together sometime.  Maybe after Ein gets more visits under his vest, he can go out with another LAP handler and I can take Audrey on the same visit. "

Everyone wanted their picture taken with Ein!

That sounds like a great plan! Thank you Donna for your wonderful work!

Story by Nathalie Seguin, photos courtesy of Donna Beirne.