Therapy with Honey the Dog: Palestine woman uses Australian Sherpard to help others

PALESTINE, Sep 29, 2008 (Palestine Herald-Press - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- WMT | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating -- For the first time in 21 years when school started, Tammy Campos didn't have a young child at home as she sent her youngest off to kindergarten.

With five children ranging in age from 5 to 21, this was something new to Campos who suddenly was put into a world where she had free time on her hands during the day.

Hoping to fill the void and having a passion for animals, Campos got an 8-week-old Australian Shepherd named Honey, one of her favorite dog breeds.

"She's 6-months-old now and knows 36 tricks," Campos said while playing Honey's favorite game -- frisbee in her front yard. "When I got her in May I started training her right away. That's when I realized how smart she was."

Just a puppy, Campos was amazed when she got Honey to pick up the newspaper from the lawn and bring it to her (though with her small size at the time, she did drop it a few times).

"The next day I told her to go get the paper and she brought it to me," Campos said. "Eventually I told her to take it to Daddy (Tammy's husband), and then I weaned her to the point where I tell her to go get the newspaper and she will bring it into the house without me even having to go outside."

Now Honey's tricks range from: barking on command, figure 8, climb, take a nap, saying prayers, weave (between legs) and other common dog commands such as heel, sit and shake (hand). And she's learning more every week.

"Once I realized how smart she was, I thought that with her personality she would make a good therapy dog," Campos said

She then began researching what it takes to get Honey certified.

"Years ago when I was hospitalized with a 3-month-old daughter at home at the time, and in excruciating pain with pancreatitis, the highlight of my hospital stay was when they brought in the therapy dogs," Campos said. "The moment that happy tail started wagging, it just took everything away."

The memory gave Campos the idea of bringing Honey to area nursing homes/assisted living facilities to visit the residents. At 9-weeks-old (at the time, the size of a Pomeranian), Honey visited her first nursing home -- greeting the residents and showing them a few tricks.

"The Sacred Heart Catholic Church Choir members have allowed me to join their regular visits to nursing homes occasionally as a way to introduce Honey to the facilities and the people," Campos said. "The Sacred Heart Choir are the amazing faithful servants who make it their regular schedule to provide the music ministry to the elderly. They are amazing ladies! All I have done is fit it into my schedule off and on over time."

Having Honey visit the residents has been an uplifting experience, Campos said.

"I love the elderly and feel we all have so much to learn from them if we just take the time to do so and take notice to the details of their ways," Campos said. "They love to tell me stories about their dogs and their experiences with dogs."

With three of her five children attending Neches ISD, Campos talked to the school about the possibility of using Honey as a "reading buddy," something she had read about where a pet therapy dog is used to get children to improve their reading. Instead of reading out loud to peers, they read to the dog -- one-on-one.

"Reading to a dog, the child is more relaxed, reading more comfortably and reading out loud improves reading comprehension. It is enjoyable and interesting for the students thereby increasing their desire to read which in turn improves their skills because they read more often," Campos said.

When she's not scheduled to visit a nursing home, Campos and Honey can now be found during random visits in the Neches School Library with Honey helping individual children read.

"I remember when I was young, I would sweat bullets and cry when I knew that I had to read out loud because I wasn't the greatest reader," Campos said. "The kids love her. They read their books to her and it takes away the stress of reading in front of other peers. At the end, I show the child a few of Honey's tricks."

For Campos, Honey couldn't have came in her life at a better time.

"She's a lot of fun -- she takes my mind off other things," Campos said. "She's therapy for me. She brings me happiness and gives other people happiness."

Campos and her husband of 22 years, Frank, a CPA, are the parents of: Julian, 21, a 2005 graduate of Palestine High School; Wesley, 18, a 2008 PHS graduate; Maria, 15, a sophomore at Neches High School; Chrissy, 10, and Frankie, 5, both students at Neches Elementary School.

Honey isn't the only dog in the household. A pet lover, Campos also has the following dogs: Bones, a German Shepherd mix; Jake, an older Australian Shepherd; Sugar, a Pomeranian; and her father's mixed breed dog Bear.

"I love animals and my daughter Chrissy has inherited that from me," Campos said.

Another passion of Campos is her love of photography.

"I've always loved taking pictures. I was the one you'd see waiting on bags of pictures at the Wal-Mart counter back when I just had a regular 35 mm camera," Campos said. "Now with digital photography, it's great. You can take as many pictures as you want and retake them if needed."

Together, the family has been members of Sacred Heart Catholic Church for 16 years, another joy in Campos' life.

"It's our church family. I'm in awe when I walk through the door. When you participate in Mass, you feel like the Holy Spirit is all around you," Campos said. "I can do anything through God and he has pulled me out of so much many times before. I have so many things to be thankful for."

Campos and her husband were high school sweethearts in Killeen and moved to Austin so that Frank could attend The University of Texas at Austin. They moved to Palestine when Frank was offered a job in 1989.

To see more of the Palestine Herald-Press, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.palestineherald.com/. Copyright (c) 2008, Palestine Herald-Press, Texas Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.

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