Thursday mornings are a special time for my two year-old lab Sadie. Without fail, a caring and compassionate woman named Rita arrives at our doorsteps with her team from Vocational Visions to walk our dog. When I first heard of the program called "The Leash Lovers," I immediately signed up as our dog can never have enough walks and the $5 per 30 minute dog walking service was perfect for our limited budget. What I was not prepared for was how it would benefit me and Sadie on entirely different levels. I love Sadie, but she was adopted just over a year ago and despite hours of dog training and our best efforts, she is not the most obedient dog on the planet. I crossed my fingers when Rita and the team of developmentally disabled adults took their first walk with a tentative Sadie around our neighborhood. To my surprise, Rita came back 30 minutes later and said she did great (she even gets a treat at the end of the walk for being good). Now after almost two months of weekly walks, Sadie looks forward to Thursday mornings and has become sensitive to her leash loving team and even waits for each member to catch up if they lag behind. The experience has truly been a positive one on so many levels. It gives Vocational Visions participants a job, exercise and sense of purpose. They walk several dogs each week, so they learn to connect with different animals as well as their team leader and the dog owners. Personally, I couldn't be happier with the arrangement and the experience of seeing the Leash Lovers each week also brings me great joy. If you live in Mission Viejo and are interested in the Leash Lovers, call Vocational Visions at (949) 837-7280 and ask for Nika Shoemaker.
