Newberry
Missed By: The Coronado Family
A Generous Donation Was Made By
Drs. Julie Forbes and Allison Massenzio and the staff of the Brea Veterinary Hospital
Newberry!
We rescued Newberry on November 20, 2009 in Newberry Springs, California where he had been abandoned several days prior in front of the Bagdad Cafe. He was estimated to be 6 months old. The serendipitous journey to his rescue was remarkable. It was truly meant to be.
Newberry never just walked from point A to point B, he always hustled there at the minimum in a trot. ÃÃâ,ÃÅ"Bop, bop, bop, bopÃÃâ,ÃÃ you would hear on our wooden floors. If he was really excited, like when he knew it was car ride time or a walk, it was a flat out gallop to the door. His trots were hilarious. He had his backside about an inch to the right of his frontside, looking like how a car with a bent frame would go down the road. Newberry had a source of energy that never seemed to run out prompting our neighbor to ask ÃÃâ,ÃÅ"How often do you have to recharge him?ÃÃâ,ÃÃ
NewberryÃÃâ,Ãâ"Ãs happiness and enthusiasm for life were boundless and his soul penetrating skills were right out of a mind readers textbook. We find it very difficult to find words to describe the depth of his soul and his ability to assess the person he was interacting with and adjust accordingly. His eyes could pleasantly penetrate your soul and form a relationship in seconds, as if he knew and understood what you were thinking and troubled by.
Were you a little troubled he might just lean on you; really troubled he would put his full force on you, lick your face, look in your eyes, and if he thought you needed more, lick more and harder. Once again he would stop and look deeply into your eyes, like an artist might stand back to evaluate their work, to assess if the desired outcome had been achieved. If so, he would hang out with you savoring the job being done. If not, more attention would be showered on you. Call this intuition, or empathy, call it a dog smelling something and reacting. All we can say is that this skill was second nature for Newberry. And, it was all done with a zest for life that most humans would only hope to achieve. Life was an all you can eat buffet for him and he had a never ending hunger for it.
With these natural talents Newberry and Nancy went on to be members of Bright & Beautiful Therapy Dogs, Pet Partners Therapy Dogs, and reached the pinnacle of therapy work by being accepted into the Seal Team of therapy dogs, HOPE Animal Assisted Crisis Response. Nancy and Newberry were a pet therapy volunteer team at Kaiser Permanente in Anaheim for nine consecutive years. At Kaiser, Newberry specialized in pediatric oncology, and was instrumental in persuading reluctant children to walk after surgery.
Newberry had cards to hand out to for everyone he met doing therapy work. We estimated he went through 4,000 cards. The number is double that If you include his non therapy meet and greets where he did not hand out a card.
Besides being a natural therapy dog, Newberry was a master in the art of the walk and the car ride. He would barge out the door for either like it was his first time. The ÃÃâ,ÃÅ"LetÃÃâ,Ãâ"Ãs goÃÃâ,ÃÃ was his motto.
We were blessed to have been with, and to be able to share, Newberry.
Steve & Nancy