Page 156 - Showsight March 2013

to his bed and he reached up to pet her
when tears began running down his face
and he said, “You are the most beauti-
ful girl I have ever seen.” His whole out-
look was improved by this little dog and
he could not wait for Sundays when “his
Daphne” was coming to see him.
English Cockers visit hospitals, nurs-
ing homes, and especially love to visit
children’s hospitals. Beverly Craft, who
visits Hospitals and Nursing Homes with
her ECS, MeMe and Rita along with their
“honorary ECS” Peach, is also a Tester/
Observer for her local Therapy Dogs Inc.
Beverly says that along with bringing joy
to the residents Therapy work is truly
rewarding for the dogs and owners and she
highly encourages owners to give it a try.
ECSCA past Junior member Zena
Brenner has been doing Therapy work with
her ECS Cruz since she was a High School
student. They especially loved visiting the
students in the local school districts Spe-
cial Education classes. Zena is a perfect
example of how getting kids involved in
dogs through Junior Showmanship can
lead to great things in life as Zena has been
awarded multiple scholarships and is now
on her way to Graduate School in Austra-
lia. We are all very proud of her success
and continuing service to her community.
English Cocker Spaniels also make
outstanding Reading Assistance Dogs.
When a child is having problems with
reading, and is reluctant to read out loud,
the kind face and loving look of an Eng-
lish Cocker helps the child read to the dog
with no trace of judgment. This often gives
the child the confidence to eventually read
out loud to their teacher and class. Robin
and Juno are two very special Reading
Assistance Dogs who have been featured in
their local newspapers for their service to
the local students. The kids at Juno’s school
have even dedicated books to the library in
Juno’s name and Juno’s owner brings spe-
cial bookmarks and stickers with her photo
on them which the kids love to receive.
There are also quite a few English
Cockers who work with psychologists and
therapists. Tucker, Myrtle, Annie and Sid
all live with therapists and not only go
to work with their humans but also have
patients of their own. It turns out that
English Cockers are very good at keep-
ing secrets, and sharing something deeply
painful with a canine therapist is the first
step in the patient being able to share their
pain with their human therapist.
English Cockers also have an affinity
for working with children on the Autism
Spectrum. Several ECS are constant com-
panions and best friends to these children
and their canine companions are invalu-
able to their communication with the
world and in learning how to relate to
another being.
To sum it all up, English Cocker Span-
iels are truly captivating creatures and those
of us that have the great pleasure of sharing
our lives with them are among the luckiest
people on earth.
Daphne’s niece, Natalie, continues a family tradition.
MeMe the ECS and her friend Peach
entertaining a friend.
156 • ShowSight Magazine, March 2013