Mufasa & Keisha

Mufasa and Keisha arrived in our house late in June, 2003 as 'long-term foster dogs' for two years while their owners were out of the country. There were some initial territorial disputes between Samara, who thought she was now top dog, and Mufasa with his male ego, but these were resolved after about a week. Mufasa displayed a naturally easy-going personality, so training for a Therapy Dog commenced as soon as he was obviously comfortable with us and his new surroundings. He passed his trials in early November, 2003 and immediately started visiting the local Abbeyfield House; He and Samara led the St.John's Ambulance Therapy Dog contingent in the Santa Claus Parade that same month. "Moof" was off to a flying start and accumulated 9.5 hours of community service in his first month on the job; he wracked up 91visits before we returned him to his own family. Mufasa qualified for his scarf at six years old - who says you can't teach an old dog new tricks!

Keisha turned out to be friendly and gentle but she yapped for attention and was too overly friendly with other dogs to make it as a Therapy Dog - she never learned restraint and a degree of polite indifference to other canines. Nevertheless, she was a great family pet. Since she was nine years old when she left for her own family, we really don't expect her to change her nature!