Lacie's Legacy

Intro written by Hannah Adams

One of my very first life experiences that inspired me to select the career path of working with dogs, was when I was around 3 years old. My Aunt was in Hospice, due to Breast Cancer. While I (thankfully) don’t remember much from her time there, I do remember the facility Therapy Dog, a Golden Retriever named Sally. Each day, Sally would make her rounds throughout the facility, taking time to comfort both patients as well as family members and staff. We were there quite often, so I got to really see her “work”. I noticed that, on the day that a patient was going to be “moving on”, she would lay outside of their room for the day vs making her usual rounds. The day that my aunt passed away, I remember entering the facility with my family and seeing Sally laying outside of my aunt’s room. I knew right there and then that that was the day we would be saying goodbye to my aunt. Sure enough, my aunt passed away later that day. After Sally had taken the time to comfort all of us, she resumed her daily rounds. This has stuck with me for 27 years now, and probably always will. Because of Sally and my aunt, I started training dogs for Therapy Dog certification, to help bring joy and comfort to many more people.

The second life experience that inspired me to select this career path was when I was about 9 years old. I had been begging my parents for a dog of my own since my half-sister had moved out with hers. It was always “for your birthday” or “for Christmas”, both of which would come, and still no dog. That winter, someone abandoned a dog in our small town. From what we were told, they threw her out the window of their vehicle and left her for dead. Town people, police officers, the dog warden, etc. all tried to catch this dog for eight weeks, and nobody was successful. One day after school, in February, we had just gotten home (my mom was a teacher at the Elementary School I went to). When we pulled into our driveway, I saw the stray dog playing with our neighbors Border Collie (who would later become the father of one of my future dogs). Something told me that THAT was THE dog. I said to my mom “If I go down there, and catch that dog, can I keep it?” I remember my mom laughing and saying “You mean the one that NOBODY can catch? Sure, go ahead.” I ran inside our house, grabbed a leash and collar that I had for one of my toy dogs, and proceeded to walk down to my neighbor’s house. I called over their dog, Rocky, who I spent a lot of time with regularly, as I was friends with the neighbor’s daughters, and they were like a second family to me. Rocky came over excitedly, and the next thing I knew, the stray dog was IN my lap. I froze at first, not knowing what to do next. I noticed that the way the sun hit her black coat, it had a shimmer to it that reminded me of lace. “Lacie”, I said. The stray dog turned and stared at me, and for a moment we both just connected. Next thing I knew, I was slipping the leash and collar onto her, and leading her up to my house. I knocked on the door to my house, and my mom came to answer it. She was very confused at first when she saw me standing there. “I got her.” I said, “I got the dog...” My mom looked from me to the dog, and back to me. After a pause, she said, “well, I guess we have a dog now.”

Lacie was very sweet, but the signs of past abuse were clearly visible. I could see why she did not let anyone handle her initially. Any sudden movements, and she was cowering in fear or trying to bolt. Every step forward, I felt as though we were taking ten steps back. However, I never gave up hope. Every day, I worked with her. Slowly, moving at her pace, I began to see changes. She started to enjoy going for walks. Car rides weren’t as terrifying as she originally thought. People started to become interesting, and almost enjoyable for her to interact with. That summer, we entered a local Pet Show/Pet Talent Show. Lacie won Best Behaved, as well as Most Talented. Everyone was amazed that the social, friendly, trick-loving dog on the end of my leash was once so afraid of human interaction that she nearly starved herself to death on the run.

My involvement in Dog Training, as well as my work with rescue and shelter dogs, stems heavily from all that I learned from Lacie. While I taught her a lot, I feel as though I learned the most from her. “Lacie’s Legacy” lives on in the work that I do with dogs, especially the abandoned, scared, forgotten ones. She came into my life when I needed a friend (as my best friend had just moved away, and I was not the most outgoing when it came to making new friends), and she changed my life in more ways than I could have ever imagined.

What interests me the most about working with dogs, is honestly how much we can learn from them. While I love training and taking care of them as my actual career, I also love learning from them. They have such a short lifespan in comparison to people, and they truly LIVE their lives. They do not worry about the future, or stress about the past. They are never “mind FULL” in the moment, but rather “mindful”. They are quick to forgive, nonjudgemental, and just overall better “humans” than I’d say 99% of humans are themselves. I have had a lot of bad things happen throughout my lifetime, and a dog has always been there to help me climb back out of the dark. Though they can be “challenging” at times (can’t we all), I truly cannot imagine my life without them.

"Lacie's Legacy" is our (Down Home Dog Resort) chance to give back to dogs, for all that they have done (and continue to do) for us. Our Foster Program helps take dogs in need of a place to reset, rehabilitate, recover or recharge, and gives them a second (or third, or fourth, or fifth) chance at life. Foster dogs within our program get to enjoy socialization and playtime with our dogs (if this is something they enjoy) via our Playcare Pals program. They also learn about life, proper manners and obedience via our Board & Train program. This is one of our FAVORITE parts of what we do. Getting to see these dogs go to their new, forever homes, means as much to us as it does to them.