Making Room for Bentley

Editor's Note: Denise Gaskell is the founder and co-administrator of the DMRF’s Cervical Dystonia Support Forum and a longtime DMRF member, supporter and legislative advocate.

I belong to a group called One Golden Retriever is Not Enough. This is where my our story begins. My husband and I had two goldens Bailey & Tucker.  They were amazing in their own special ways. We loved them dearly, then the days came when they crossed the Rainbow Bridge.  How devastating that was.  I thought that was the last of my days owning a dog.  Time passed and my husband Greg decided he certainly wanted another golden.  I didn't think I could ever welcome another pup into my heart.  Learning that this was so important to Greg, he told me how for each and every day that we had Bailey and Tucker, all the joy they provided us, that exceeded the pain of having to let go.  I agreed. So our journey began.

We visited the shelters, called breeders and visited their litters and time passed.  Me still knowing this was going to be "Greg's dog".  It was "his need" he wanted a buddy.  Going through a network of breeders I came upon a local lady who was going to have her first litter.  We went to visit her and the Momma.  While getting to know each other she told us that all three of her children had special needs and that two of them had Service dogs. Service dog?  HHMmm...

Falling into a friendship with her we decided this was who we wanted to go with and put down a deposit.  She notified us when these precious little pups were born.  We wanted a girl.  Thinking in the past just how smart Bailey was and how independent Tucker was, though both quite loyal.    The day we visited was just so sweet.  These little fluff balls playing in silly curiosity.  Except for the girl, she was off alone and snapped when the others tried to nudge her.  This behavior concerned us.  We weren't completely opposed to a boy, as this was "our litter!"  Watching them, learning more about their shades of coloring we decided on a sweet boy full of fluff who we named Bentley.

As the weeks passed excitement set in and our daughter even came home from Chicago to carry the little guy into our home.  Oh pure joy & energy!  Greg went to work during the day, while dystonia kept me home.  I tried to keep up with Bentley's energy!  In a short time I realized that he was quickly picking up on my my difficult dystonia moments.  He would sit by or on me licking in true contentment.  We were bonding.  Immediately we started puppy classes and Greg was to be the handler so that they could bond better.  They did wonderful and Bentley was the star of each class as we progressed through each stage.  I also took leadership at home as we worked on homework.  He grew, and we all grew.  Our love and joy grew.

Also, Bentley grew to stay by my side constantly, which gave me so much courage, confidence and stability.  Teaching him more skills, he tested and became my Service dog!  He and Greg look forward to playtime daily.  They do have their special bond and occasionally you'll hear Greg whisper in Bentley's ear "Mommy stole you from me, you were supposed to be my dog!"