Posts

Peaceful Places

Image
HI, Kevin here,  I have been at Dutch Creek for 3 weeks now and I am already feeling like I belong here.  All of those worries about what people might think are gone. I was welcomed by students, staff and parents on my second day.   At one point I was a little nervous when lots, and lots and LOTS of small humans came up to say Hi to me all at the same time.  I wanted all of the pets, but WHEW, that was a lot of hands all at once.  I guess you could say I was overwhelmed.  I know that is a word I have heard before.  It means I was not quite sure how to react in a specific situation, especially one that is new to me...  You might call that a serendipitous moment (serendipitous means "a fortunate mistake").  What I mean by that is, feeling overwhelmed gave me the opportunity to learn about this really cool thing they have at Dutch Creek, it's called a Peace Place ☮ .  It is a place where any human (or therapy dog) can go to take a few minu...
4 comments
Read more

Top Dog Ten

Image
You might be wondering what a therapy dog does? The short answer is, I comfort and welcome people, honestly, they make me pretty happy too! I think I definitely have the best job in the world! But, if you want to get a better picture... keep reading, I'm down with telling you about my super cool new career at Dutch Creek! Lets start at the beginning! My first day started when Mom beeped us into two sets of really big doors and WOW, there were so many little humans with masks and backpacks. I am generally a pretty mellow guy, but my tail was wagging so fast I almost knocked myself over. The day was a bit of a fantastic blur. I wondered if everyone felt like this on their first day at Dutch Creek? People were so kind and friendly!  I decided to take special note of every detail and capture as many memories as I could before the moments were lost. It was hard work, but I made a top ten play by play of my very first day as a REAL LIFE THERAPY DOG: Comforted a new friend who was havi...
2 comments
Read more

New Beginnings

Image
First, let me introduce myself. I am Kevin Harkness. Third son of Kristen and Jeremy Harkness and faithful canine companion to my human brothers Jake and Garrett. I was adopted by my human family when I was pretty young. The first little bit of my life I lived in New Mexico on a Native American Reservation. I loved being able to run freely on the tribal land, and had many people to meet and love. While this life was all I knew, the time came when I was ready to find a home and family all my own. Moving to Littleton, Colorado was a really big change at the time - It is silly to think of now, but I had never been in a car, house, or anywhere but outside. Change can be scary but I followed my heart and have never looked back. I almost forgot to tell you something really important, in fact it is the reason I started this whole blogging thing! I worked really, really hard with my handler (I call her mom) to become a therapy dog. A therapy dog is a dog that is trained to provide affection, c...
8 comments
Read more