Thank you for the really kind words Kim. I've attached a few of our favorite photos and feel free to use anything from our website or I can send you other pics as well.

 

I just wanted to tell you how much you have to be proud of as we ran into another of your Border Collies a few months ago that had a very important job.

 

Cowboy is a talented performer. He is a typical Border Collie who really doesn't want to stay in one place any longer than he has to. Cowboy will work all day long, but you only get one lick per day and that is the extent of the affection. Bandit, our Golden Retriever is exactly the opposite, he would prefer to lounge around and would gladly fetch a dead duck out of the water if we told him to but he believes his main job in life is to be a love machine. As such, he is a trained and registered therapy dog that visits the Alzheimer's unit of a local sr. citizens center, the Memorial Hermann Children's Hospital, and perhaps one of our most favorite places to visit at the local Ronald McDonald House. Ronald McDonald House is kind of special here in Houston as it is in the middle of the medical center which has some of the most sought after treatment facilities in the world for cancer and other treatments. Bandit and I have met so many folks with absolutely heart wrenching stories. Bandit has a special talent to make the day of both the kids and their accompanying parents and relatives who are often facing dire circumstances. He knows how to just look at them with his big brown eyes and remind them of their dogs who are often thousands of miles away in other states and often even in other countries. Cowboy has this same ability, but he's just blessed in a different way.

 

It was at the Ronald McDonald House that we met Andrea Friedel and Ace the Border Collie. We started talking about our dogs and I told Andrea how handsome Ace was and that we had a Black and White Border Collie just like Ace for many years before he passed away and we adopted another handsome BC who this time was a gold one--just like the same color of our therapy Golden Retriever Bandit. As we continued our conversation Andrea asked me where our gold Border Collie came from and I told her he was from Bridgeport and from a great breeder named Kim Hastings. She told me that was where she got Ace from. What a small world. Ace is a therapy Border Collie and Andrea does an awesome job with him and the kids. She told me she was working on a therapy dog visit to the disabled veterans down the street at Fisher House in the Veterans Affairs Center. Those would be veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan who are undergoing rehabilitation due to missing limbs and other medical emergencies.

 

Cowboy has participated in the Rodeo in the Park series here for two years in a row (remember he just turned 2) by putting on a demonstration of his frisbee dog skills for the kids undergoing treatment in the medical center who can't attend the regular rodeo. With our disc dog club we put on a special show for the kids who are being treated and their families and it is always a hit this year included. Most of the folks who attend can't attend the regular rodeo because they are being treated. I know the kids love watching Cowboy and the other dogs and it raises their spirits in a special way. Cowboy doesn't need to lick them, look at them, or even be petted by them. The kids love to watch him flip, jump and do his disc dog tricks and that makes them happy just like Bandit does albeit in a little different fashion.

I just want to let you know how the dogs you have shared with us have impacted so many lives in a very special way and how so very much you have to be proud of. I believe God works through you to bring joy and happiness to this world in very special ways and dogs like Cowboy and Ace are proof of this. Thank you so much for what you do and I just want you to know that your work is extra special in ways you may not always know of. You should know that you have an awesome ability to pass on blessings in a meaningful manner even if you might not have set out to do so through your dogs. Now that is something to be proud of!!! I thought it was just Cowboy, but when I met Ace I came to realize that wasn't the case. I can only imagine how many other BC's from Visions are out there that are doing such great things!! Truly His work is being done through you.

 

regards,

marc