MIA’S STORY

By Chris Bridge

As I sit here writing Mia’s story, she is lying right at my feet, actually lying on my feet.  I have a 90 pound foot warmer!  She is never far from my side.

Mia was born April 15th, 2004 and came into my husband and my lives on June 10th, 11 months after we had lost our 15 year old Dalmatian to kidney failure.  This little black ball of fuzz came from a litter of 9 puppies and was cute beyond words.  We named her “Mia”, short for “Mon Ami”, which means “My Friend” in French.  I had forgotten what a challenge training a puppy was, BUT it all came back quickly.  I had a puppy that was growing by leaps and bounds, what a bundle of Energy and Joy she was, “Day and Night”.  Our darling girl, at 6 months old, was diagnosed with a heart murmur.  A quick trip to VRCC and a cardiologist for an Echocardiogram indicated a moderate Sub aortic Stenosis.  Her cardiologist at VRCC put her on heart medication and told us that there was hope in her condition, we had caught it early enough, that with treatment, she may have a chance of growing out of the severity of her condition, but she would always have her heart problem.  She sent us home and advised us to try and keep her as calm as possible for the next 6 months and we could only hope for improvements.  She would see us in 6 months for another Echocardiogram.  Now all of us know how hard it is to keep a 6 month old puppy calm….next to impossible, but we gave it our best effort.

I knew in my heart that Mia, our special needs child, had been given to me for a reason, so off to obedience classes we went.  We live in Fairplay, 2 hours from Denver, but every Saturday morning we piled into the car and made the trip downhill to Denver for the classes.  Mia loved the socialization with the other dogs and took to obedience quickly.  At 10 months old, she graduated “Canine Good Citizen.”  The trainer that worked with us encouraged us to research becoming a Therapy Dog Team, as he and his Newfoundland were.  Mia’s had a tremendous ability to delight and sooth whomever she was around, which needed to be shared with as many people as possible. 

At 1 year of age, we went back to VRCC to visit her cardiologist, and had another Echocardiogram.  After the test, Mia’s cardiologist told us she was seeing an improvement from her least exam.  Because of her improvement and the medication, there was a good possibility of her heart condition NOT to progress in severity, but a recheck in 1 year was necessary to make sure. 

My research in wanting to become a Pet Therapy Team led me to Delta Society, which then led me to Denver Pet Partners, which is now American Humane Association.  In October, 2005, I went to the TEAM Training class.  After completion of the class, I knew Mia and I were going in the right direction.  I knew that I had the dedication and commitment, and Mia had the good temperament, skills and true love for people that was needed to make us a GREAT Team.  We truly trusted each other. 

Evaluation day came and I was scared to death, Mia was as calm as she could be, being only 18 months old and having what I call “only child syndrome” when it comes to being around other dogs, she does tend to get JUST a bit excited.  By the grace of God we passed and received our certification on October 29, 2005.  We were now a Registered Therapy Dog Team.  On our way back home to Fairplay that day, I had a 2 hour drive to reflect back on why Mia truly had come into my life, and was recovering from a heart condition that could have taken her from us at a very early age.  I believe that there was a purpose in our lives, and now I truly understand what it meant for Mia and I to be partners.  This was going to be the best life choice that I had ever made.  I couldn’t wait to get started, but Mia and I hadn’t decided whether our work would be in the hospitals and nursing homes or with children.  I knew that Mia would tell me in her own way. 

PLEASE return to read my blog next week for “The Rest of the Story”, Mia had the MOST AMAZING way of letting me know where we needed to volunteer.  It was and still is the most wonderful experience of our volunteer life together. 

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Chris Bridge and Mia are a Registered Therapy Dog Team with the American Humane Association.   Mia is a 5 year old Bernese Mountain Dog. They volunteer weekly in the Denver area. Chris writes a weekly article for our blog at Denver Dog Works. Chris can be reached through our website at http://www.denverdogworks.com