Tail-wagging gift proves therapeutic

Gifts are a popular subject right now so let's talk about one Tracy Hightower received.

The gift was walking and wagging, not wrapped. The gift just appeared from up the road as she went to visit her parents' house the day after her birthday in October 2006.

But she is so proud of this gift that she shares it.

She shares the gift with those in an assisted living center, as a reading education assistant at one school and as a boost of encouragement and laughter for children facing various challenges.

Many would say this is an unlikely gift. But to Hightower, this gift is one of the best she's ever received.

The gift is Phoebe, a pit bull terrier she guesses is about 3 years old. What she isn't left guessing about is whether Phoebe has been a success as a therapy dog.

Let me give you a little background.

John Clanton, a staff photographer here at The Oklahoman, met Hightower one day while working on an assignment that included Volunteers for Animal Welfare as a source. She mentioned how she was going to train Phoebe as a therapy dog and he began taping segments of them during training at Full Circle Obedience and during visits as a therapy dog. Pit bulls have made the news often

What interested me is why Hightower considers Phoebe "a gift that was meant to be” and why she desired to share that gift.

"The payback for me is that I love it and I feel good about what we're doing and my dogs enjoy it,” she said of the therapy.

Before meeting Phoebe

Notice she said dogs. When asked how she got interested in the therapy, Hightower told me about Piper, a brindle boxer-possibly-whippet mix.

"I wanted to be more involved with my dogs, do agility or do something fun, obedience contests or something like that,” she said. "Then I heard some people talk about therapy at Full Circle and I just thought, well, that's a great idea because it's something that I can do with my dog that benefits someone else.”

That's why she became involved in Volunteers for Animal Welfare about five years ago and then joined the board about three years ago. She began volunteering when the group was at the Oklahoma City animal shelter.

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