Angel on a Leash. David Frei
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Chapter 8 In the Moment
Chapter 11 Elizabeth Taylor and Me
Chapter 12 My Character-Rich World
Chapter 14 My Angels Have Four Legs
Chapter 15 The Angel by My Side
Chapter 16 Yorkie Doodle Dandy
Foreword
by John O’Hurley
Dogs bring out the good in good people. No one told me that. It’s just an observation that I’ve made after wandering deeper into the canine world and witnessing the extraordinary impact that dogs have on the world around them. I have written before that I am a better person with a dog in my lap, and I believe that more today than when I first put that thought to paper.
But I probably would have missed that thought as well as the deeper meaning of how dogs enrich our lives had I not answered a phone call nearly ten years ago. The call was from one of the executives at NBC Sports who began the conversation with the words, “Woof, woof.” He went on to explain that they were taking a chance and developing a dog show to air on Thanksgiving Day called the National Dog Show presented by Purina. He asked if I would host the show along with a gentleman he described as “the most knowledgeable mind in the world of dogs.” That tag still applies to David Frei. I said yes to the offer to host and began a tremendous and enduring friendship with David and his wife Cheri. That friendship introduced me and my wife Lisa not only to a deeper understanding of the commitment and responsibility of dog ownership but also to a deeper and more spiritual purpose for dogs as companions in medical and emotional therapy.
Through his Angel On A Leash organization, I have seen firsthand the good that therapy dogs do—in the cancer wards and in pediatrics. A dog’s simple presence brings an irreplaceable moment of stillness and levity to the ill and the elderly. I have watched the hollow look of a sick child turn to a twinkle and smile when a therapy dog leaps on the child’s bed.
When a dog wags his tail, it is connected to his heart. When David tells these stories of the dogs he has known and the good that they’ve done, they are connected to his.
I leave you in good hands.
Acknowledgments
This story isn’t about me. It’s about all of these great dogs and people who do good things for others every single day. They are the dogs and people of my world, and they have made this book come to life. I have so many of them to thank.
First, my wonderful wife, Cherilyn, on this road with me, the person who has taught me so much about life and about myself and my dogs and the great things that they can do and that we can do together.
My dogs, Teigh and Belle—God rest their orange-and-white souls—and Angel and Grace, who are carrying on for them.
The breeders who brought these four-legged angels into my life: Jeane White, Patty Kanan, Cindy Huggins, Linda McCartney-Roy, and Kristyn McCartney; the veterinarians who have cared for them: Dr. Jean Dodds, Dr. Meghan Myott, Dr. Jamie Warren, Dr. Nicole Buote, Dr. Janet Kovak, Dr. Cara Horowitz, and a bunch of others at the Animal Medical Center; and the people who help us care for them daily (dog walkers and dog sitters): Emily Key, Althea Alvarez, Maria Angeles, Doug Tighe, and my in-laws, Emily and Lyle Smith.
Christi Dudzik, my mentor in therapy dog work, my vice chairman of the Angel On A Leash board, and, more importantly, my friend; and my special friends Wayne Ferguson, Larry Leib, Tom Lasley, Ranny Green, and Chris Terrell, always there for me.
Those very special Westminster Best in Show dogs, Uno, James, and Rufus, and their owners, Caroline Dowell, Terry Patton, and Tom and Barbara Bishop; also, Ceil Ruggles, Scott Sommer, Eddie Dziuk, Dan Huebner, and Aaron Wilkerson.
My leaders and colleagues at the Westminster Kennel Club: Peter Van Brunt, Tom Bradley, Chet Collier, Florence Foti, Kelly Rounds, Billy Mott, Linda Duane, and Sharon Fremer.
All of the Angel On A Leash people: Greer Griffith, Christine DeAcetis, Nancy George-Michalson, Mary Ehrhart, Stephanie LaFarge, Chuck Bessant, Richard Dienst, Barbara Babikian, Caroline Loevner, Gay Cropper, and all of the teams that visit in our facilities; and great Angel supporters Karen LeFrak, Susan Stone, Ann Howie, Val Diker, Ruth Pereira, Joe Yanek, Ron Trotta and Elly McGuire, Kristina Newman, Eric Gural, Debra Vey Voda-Hamilton, Michele Siegel, Dr. Race Foster and Dr. Marty Smith, Gordon Magee, Mary Bloom, Toni Millar, Maggie Butterfield, Catherine DiPasquale, Peggy Schunk, Bill Sullivan, Jim Murray, Wendy Gallart, Frank Kelley, Jane Hedal-Siegel, Aimee Bench, Jeannie Schultz, Melissa Menta, Rana Komar, Steve Dale, and Bernard Clair.
Everyone at NBC Universal who is involved with the production of the Westminster and National Dog Shows: Jon Miller, Kevin Monaghan, Gordon Beck, Steve Griffith, Joe Garagiola, Mary Carillo, John O’Hurley; and Candy Caciolo and Ann Viklund of Purina.
Monsignor Thomas Modugno of St. Monica’s and Father Ray Nobiletti and Linda Woo of Transfiguration Church and School.
My Angel By My Side family: Mike and Nancy Lingenfelter, Dakota, and Ogilvie.
Delta Society, past and present: Mal Schwartz, Dr. Gregg Takashima and the board, Dr. Bill McCulloch, Maureen MacNamara, Lynnette Eastlake, Linda Hines, Jon Eastlake, Sophie Engelhard Craighead, Megan Wolfe, Carol Cullum, and all of the very special Pet Partner teams.
My friends Ben Walker, Gary and Larry Sever, Bob Clampett, Jeff High, Jeff Wohler, and Bob Main; and my sisters and brother Nancy McCormick, Susan Earley, Judy Kaplan, and Terry Frei.
Andrew DePrisco, Allan Reznik, and Amy Deputato at I-5, and my agent, Steve Sadicario: thanks to all of you for believing in me and what I do and for making this book possible.
And last, but hardly least, the bravest kids in the world: Andrea, Anthony, Jessie, Laura, Dylan, Eden, George, Devin, Millie, Mitch, Uri, Raisa, Alyssa, Deyja, Fitzgerald, and more; their parents and families; Karen, Belinda, and Maria; and the nurses and staff everywhere we visit.
And of course, the Good Lord, for blessing me with all of these wonderful people and dogs in my life. Thank you.
Introduction:
You Have Me
In 2007, the great dog photographer Mary Bloom took a shot of Teigh and me at an outdoor dog show. It was a hot day, and he was sitting on my lap. I didn’t see the photo until it ran in Dog Fancy magazine a couple of months later. It’s a great shot—I love it—and I have named it the “you-really-do-start-to-look-like-your-dog-as-you-get-older” picture.
But the real impact of the picture is that we are both smiling. Yes, my dog is smiling.
My dogs do something to make me smile every day, and I try to reciprocate. Judging from this picture of the two of us, maybe I’m succeeding. People always say that they want to come back in