Sam

I am a wife to Dave and mother to 2 sons (23 & 20 years), 2 daughters (16 & 10 years) and 2 puppy dogs, Minnie and Pretzel.

I grew up moving regularly and spent some of my childhood living overseas. For as long as I can remember I have been drawn to working with children and have loved animals. I had cats and horses as a child and always wanted a dog.

My working career has included, Primary teacher, Early childhood educator, Administration/Payroll officer, Bookkeeper and Music teacher.  We also bred dogs for a short time.  I love spending time in my veggie patch and now have an aquaponics set up to grow veggies and fish. I also have chooks in my backyard and dream of living self-sufficiently on a large rural property one day.

I highly valued the opportunity to be a stay at home mum. As my children grew older I enjoyed the opportunity to volunteer at school, sports clubs and church on a regular basis. When I found out about the work of Canine Comprehension I jumped at the chance of bringing 2 of my loves together, teaching and my puppy dogs.

Minnie

Minnie is a 5 year old black Cava-Tzu ( Cavalier King Charles Spaniel cross Shih-Tzu) . She came to live with our family of 6 as an eight week old puppy (in 2016).  Our youngest daughter suffered from high anxiety and begged us for a dog. Adopting Minnie was a wonderful decision! 

Minnie has a caring nature and tries to mother everyone - Even her toys! She loves to sit next to us rather than on a lap and adores pats.  She enjoys doing little tricks such as beg, roll over, speak, Hi 5, and she has the cutest lopsided, teeth showing smile when she wants something from you.  (like treats or a pat). 

She finds obstacle courses a fun challenge especially running through tunnels and jumping though low hoops.  She is friendly, patient, loves people and has a desire to please. Three years ago she had a litter of 5 puppies and her daughter Pretzel still lives with us.  Minnie has the waggiest tail every time her work harness comes out. She loves to hang out with her new friends.

Pretzel

Pretzel is a 3 year old Black and Tan Toy Cava- Tzoodle  (Toy cavoodle cross Shih-Tzu). She was born into our household as one of Minnie’s puppies. Weighing only 4kgs means she is a perma-puppy and she stole our hearts.

She's very energetic, zooming around in circles trying to coax Minnie to play is a favourite game but she is also a lap dog always ready for cuddles on your lap and many pats. She loves doing little tricks such as beg, speak, Hi i 5 and will stand on her hind legs for ages just because she can and does cute little stretches (she looks like she’s dancing).

She will take up a challenge of an obstacle course but can’t jump very high. This year she had a litter of three tiny toy cavoodle cross puppies and one of them Mango visits our house regularly. Pretzel can be a little anxious when left home alone so is looking forward to her new job as a therapy dog coming to work with us.