Introduction

Welcome to my blog. I'm Magnolia Wigglesworth and this blog is where I chronicle my adventures as a therapy dog-in-training and beyond. I hope this ends up a great place: one which makes people smile, teaches about what therapy dogs can do, and maybe inspires a few people to partner up with their pups and improve the lives of others through animal-assisted therapy.

I was born on June 16, 2009 somewhere in Kentucky. I was one of nine pups in my litter. I'm sure we were a handful! Sadly, when we were one day old my mother's owner decided he didn't want any of us. The nine of us, alone with our mother Sweet n' Low, were dropped off at a shelter. My mom was diagnosed with heart worm and the vet said her back teeth were ground down, indicated she was probably left tied outside for long stretches of time alone.

Since my mom was sick we were all likely going to be put down at the shelter. Never fear--help was on the way. Rescue Rider Transport and Peace and Paws changed our lives forever. Both are non-profit organizations in New Hampshire. They rescue homeless and abandoned animals such as  myself. My whole family was brought to New Hampshire for foster care.

It was a great change of scenery. I got out of the truck and ended up in this great big house in Bedford New Hampshire. There was lots of outdoor space for my siblings and I to play. Even better, the family had children who adored us. I had time to grown strong, was well cared for, and my mom even got nursed back to health!

Here I am at six weeks old. This is when I first met the people who were going to take me to my new home. With a face like this, how couldn't it be love at first sight? Little did I know that I also had the temperament that my people were looking for. I was quiet, but not the least bit shy. I was curious about the world around me and wanted to explore. While I was a little hesitant about new situations, if given a moment or two to sniff, I moved forward to new things and explored them with gusto.  I had the makings for a good therapy dog-in-training.

So my new people visited me a few times over the next couple of weeks. With little legs like these, you could imagine how cute I was stumbling around. I loved attention. Whenever I noticed people looking at me I would lick my lips, look up at the people, and start wagging my tail as hard as I could. Since I was so tiny my whole body would wiggle. In fact, I wiggled so much I would usually fall down in a big cute wiggling mess. That's how I got my full name Mrs. Magnolia Wigglesworth.

I like to go by Maggie. It's more personal, you know.

The day I turned eight weeks old I was big enough to go to my new home. Little did I know I was already going to work! I had a busy schedule of socialization. I'll write more about that later.