AUTHOR CHARMAINE J. GORDON INTRODUCES US TO JESSIE THE THERAPY DOG

Jessie the Therapy Dog

Charmaine Gordon spread her wings at age fifty-four to drive alone to New York City and find a career as an actor. She worked on One Life to Live for eleven years, All My Children for two, and Another World. She also has roles in many movies, including Working Girl and When Harry Met Sally. She had fun with Harrison Ford, lunched with Anthony Hopkins, and sang with Carrie Fisher. Then one day while performing on stage, she noticed her voice felt odd. The next day, a voice specialist confirmed she had spasmodic dysphonia, which put an end to her acting career. That’s when Charmaine started writing. Today she stops to talk about a special someone in her life. Learn more about her and her books at her website/blog. 

Of course our Jessie had to have a weird background. She spent the first two years of her life in the Seeing Eye Dog Program. Why you may ask? Jessie was supposed to be a guide dog for a blind person. However, Jessie gets excited and sometimes barks a bit when she sees other dogs. Let’s say over-excited. She went into the program, stayed for two years and was released. Fired, let go. Poor Jessie couldn’t hold a job. She was a failure at her first effort.

A convent of nuns ran a soup kitchen in Newark and needed a strong dog to keep bad guys away. The high crime area required a German Shepherd, one who barked. Our Jessie licked hands through the fence instead of barking. So Jessie failed yet again at her second job.

Now here comes the good news. There has to be good news, right? A friend of mine who volunteers at the soup kitchen searched for a home for the big dog. Talk about eating out of your hand, Jessie ran right over to me and placed her beautiful head in my hand. Suddenly she was mine. Lucky us. Now she is a therapy dog with an important job visiting nursing homes, special needs kids in school, distressed cadets at West Point, and wounded warrior with PTSD. I placed a colorful collar around her neck so irresistible I’d like one myself.

Our Jessie succeeded big time after many attempts.

My closest friend is Judy Audevard, head of Hudson Valley Paws for a Cause. She's received many awards for her work, organizing programs where therapy dogs attend West Point to aid returning veterans, the READ programs to assist children in reading, and many more programs for people in need. I've written stories about therapy dogs many times. They warm your heart. When I spent seven weeks recovering from a traumatic fall, Judy spread the word, and everyday therapy dogs came to my room to give love and comfort.

Since Larry Died

Those Left Behind series, Book 1

Joan finds herself alone after the death of her husband of 37 years. Determined that she will not become a recluse confined to her home, she forces herself to take part in life as a single woman. The work she does helping others with her therapy dogs becomes part of the strength that propels her to move forward in life and quit blaming her husband for dying.

Newly widowed, Joan refused to let life pass her by. Angered by the sudden death of her spouse, she’s determined to carry on and starts by taking their motorcycle for a spin. His friends are surprised to see her riding, but happy that she is living life by her rules. All of them are hoping to win her over, but will they pass the test?

Her daughter also needs her help as she struggles with her own issues. Joan knows her inner strength will help her daughter better know how to deal with life as each of them move on since Larry died.

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COOKING WITH CLORIS--GUEST AUTHOR DORI HILLESTAD BUTLER

Dori Hillestad Butler is an Edgar-award winning author of mysteries for children. Her Buddy Files series introduces Buddy, a crime solving therapy dog. She’s also been hard at work on a new series called Haunted Library which launches in 2014 and features a ghost boy named Kaz and a “solid” girl named Claire who work together to solve ghostly mysteries. Learn more about Dori and her books at her website. – AP  

Never has my personal life and my work life come together so seamlessly than while I was writing the Buddy Files books. I’d always wanted my own series. And I was lucky—a publisher I’d been working with for quite a few years had invited me to submit a series proposal. But I was having a hard time coming up with anything. That was about the time my dad’s health took a turn for the worst, and I had just learned that my oldest son would be moving from Iowa City, IA to Seattle, WA the following summer. I always knew my kids would grow up and move out one day, but I thought they’d move across town, not across the country! That was an adjustment. For me.

I knew I should be celebrating my son’s entry into adulthood, not mourning it. I realized I needed a new project to throw myself into. Not a writing project. Something else. I’d been hearing a lot about therapy dogs. I knew there was a therapy dog group in my community, and I was especially interested in the program where kids read to therapy dogs. A dog is a non-judgmental listener. He doesn’t care whether a child is reading at grade level or not. He’ll never laugh at a child who stumbles over a word. He just lies there and enjoys the story. And the child learns to associate reading with something positive.

What I missed most about my kids being little was reading to them. So I decided this was the perfect new project to throw myself into. I loved dogs; I loved kids; I loved books. I had a dog already, but I knew my dog wouldn’t make a very good therapy dog. So I went to the P-O-U-N-D (by the way, you should never say that word out loud in front of a dog) and adopted this guy:

Mouse

And I started training him to be a therapy dog. It was while I was training him that I got the idea to write the Buddy Files. A therapy dog comes into contact with a lot of different people…and all those people could have problems, or maybe mysteries, to solve.  I loved writing from a dog’s point of view.

Buddy

Like my real-life dog Mouse, my fictional character Buddy is a good and loyal dog. He loves everyone and everything.

But he tends to get a little distracted…especially when there’s food around.

“Pizza? I LOVE pizza. It’s my favorite food!”

“French fries? I LOVE French fries. They’re my favorite food!”

“Hamburgers? I LOVE hamburgers. They’re my favorite food!”

I get a lot of letters and e-mails from kids who want to know what is Buddy’s real favorite food. So here’s a recipe for Buddy’s FAVORITE dog treats:

Buddy’s FAVORITE Dog Treats

1 cup uncooked oatmeal
1 T. chicken bouillon granules

1 T. honey
1/3 cup soft butter
1 1/2 cup hot water

1 egg, beaten
3/4 cup powdered milk
3/4 cup yellow cornmeal
1/3 cup nutritional yeast flakes (found in health food section)

3 cups flour

1. Preheat oven to 325°F and grease baking sheets.

2. In a large bowl, stir together oatmeal, bouillon, honey, and butter. Pour hot water over mixture, then allow to stand for about five minutes.

3. Add beaten egg, powdered milk and cornmeal. Stir well.

4. Add yeast and flour, a little at a time while mixing. Continue to stir thoroughly. Add more flour if necessary to make the dough very stiff.

5. Divide dough into three balls. Roll each ball out to a ¼ inch thickness. Cut dough into small squares (or use a dog bone cookie cutter) and place on baking sheet.

6. Bake at 325°F. If your dog likes softer treats, take them out of the oven after about 20 minutes and let them cool on wire racks or paper towels. If your dog likes crunchy treats, bake them for 30 minutes, then turn off oven and crack oven door, but leave biscuits in to cool and dry out.

Oh! And my real-life dog Mouse LOVES Buddy’s Favorite Dog Treats, too!

The Buddy Files

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