On Thursday, February 16, 2006, my husband Sam was approached by a co-worker named Wayne who asked if Sam knew of anyone who wanted a two-month old bullmastiff puppy because his neighbor had two who were littermates and were starving. Wayne said he had informed the neighbor he definitely would be taking them both to the pound that afternoon if proper homes were not found. Since I had expressed interest in a bullmastiff several years before, Sam called me at work and asked me what I thought. Sam was more than brave that day because I had been adamantly pontificating for months how we were never (and I emphasize NEVER) going to get another dog because of the muddy floors and the expense. Two were enough! I must have momentarily lost consciousness because without even thinking I said, "Sure! Why not?"
I will never forget seeing Boomer for the first time. He was happily wagging his tail standing by the back gate next to Sam. As I saw him through the slats in the gate, my first thoughts were, "Oh, he's so thin and certainly doesn't look like a Bullmastiff, but that's okay." I thought it was obvious that he was a mixed breed, maybe mastiff and what? Pit? Lab? Great Dane? I didn't think any more about it. Sam and I were too busy enjoying Boomer, watching in amazement how quickly he grew and how easily he acclimated to our family, complete with two other dogs and six cats. From the moment Boomer arrived, it was obvious he had a special connection with Sam.
If 16 February 2006, was an auspicious day for us, December 23, 2006, proved to be equally as imporant. I was scheduled to pick up Sam at DFW Airport from a flight that was arriving from Grand Rapids, Michigan, where Sam had been on business for three or four days. As we were talking on the phone prior to the departure of the flight, I was more than surprised when Sam suggested I bring Boomer with me to the airport. Such an uncharacteristic request from Sam! I was nonplussed, but I didn't think any more about it.
Upon arriving at the airport, I quickly hugged Sam and then watched as Boomer jumped out of the van, madly wagging his tail when Sam knelt down to to pet him. Calling the reunion to an immediate halt, I quickly announced, "We're all going to R&R. The flight will be here in 30 minutes." R&R is my own terminology for when our Troops arrive at DFW Airport for 15 days of much-deserved R&R (rest and recuperation) and are given a hero's welcome by citizens from all walks of life from the DFW Metroplex. The actual program is called "Welcome Home a Hero" and I am more than honored to be able to say I have been a part of this incredible program since 10 July 2005. To say I was pleased that Sam so readily agreed to go with me is an understatement since up until that point I had been involved in the program totally by myself.
Both Sam and Boomer proved to be naturals that day at R&R. Sam interacted with the service members with ease and Boomer was greeted with a combination of curiousity and joy. I remember looking on, my heart fiilled with so much pride and happiness, as Sam said "Welcome home! We appreciate you!" while Boomer calmly gave out lots of fives and "kisses." From that day forward, Sam and Boomer have attended R&R with me, work schedules permitting.
Without a doubt, the most-asked question about Boomer is, "What kind of dog is he?" Initially, we said he was a mixed breed of some sort, probably mastiff and the rest is anybody's guess. That answer would always prompt the service members to discuss just what mix Boomer might be.
A few months after Sam and Boomer began to attend R&R, a DFW Airport police officer met Boomer for the first time and during the course of the conversation with Sam, made the statement that there aren't many Filas in the United States. Sam immediately asked, "What?" The officer then went on to explain that Boomer was a Fila Brasileiro, the national dog of Brazil.
As you might expect, as soon as we returned home from R&R that day, Sam googled Fila and sure enough, there was Boomer! The Fila is a 400-year-old breed developed in Brazil to guard plantations. A mix of English mastiff, bloodhound, a type of extinct cattle dog and bulldog, the Fila can protect like a mastiff and bay like a bloodhound. Boomer is small for the breed because the standard weight range is anywhere from 100 to 170 pounds for a male. Boomer weighs in around 130 pounds. In addition, Boomer's ears are a bit short; his curly tail is a breed fault, as is his temperament. The desired Fila is overly protective to a fault and anti-social. In the U.K., Filas have the same viscious and ugly reputation as pit bulls do here in the United States and are outlawed. The fact that Boomer didn't meet breed standards was irrelevant. We love him and have always been thankful he is so calm and has such an even sweet temperament.
But Boomer's story doesn't end here because there were more lives Sam and Boomer were supposed to touch. One day in May 2006 I was given a business card by one of the airport's Ambassadors (an airport volunteer) whose Westie was a therapy dog with Heart of Texas Therapy Dogs. I handed the card to Sam when I arrived home, emphatically telling him how he and Boomer could make such a positive impact by being a certified therapy team because they would be allowed in such places as nursing homes, schools and hospitals, wherever they were needed.
Sam made no comment, no response whatsoever. I let the subject drop and promptly lost track of the card, but I never lost track of my desire for Sam and Boomer to become certified. What started out as a desire morphed into one of my biggest dreams. The months swiftly flew by as 2006 turned into 2007. As we continued to go to R&R, 2007 slipped into 2008.
One summer afternoon in 2008, I was cleaning off the coffee table thinking it looked more like a nuclear waste dump than a coffee table, when I picked up a business card to throw it in a pile of papers slated to go to the thrash. An instant before I threw the card in the pile, I just happened to see what was printed on the card. I stopped in amazement looking at the card and wondering not only where it had been for two years, but how it found it's way to the coffee table. It was the business card the Ambassador had given me May 2006. As I handed Sam the card the second time, I knew in my heart without a doubt Sam and Boomer would become certified.
Sam spent considerable time researching the various therapy groups via the internet checking out the requirements and rules before deciding to test with Heart of Texas Therapy dogs. He also spent a lot of time working with Boomer preparing for the certification process. By late October Sam and Boomer were ready to take their final test. Sam asked me to accompany them the day of the test, but I chose to visit my parents in East Texas instead because I was so nervous and did not want my nervousness to adversely impact Sam and Boomer. When Sam called me with the news they had passed the test and were now a certified therapy team, my family looked on in amazement as I stood in the middle of the kitchen and cried. It was one of the happiest days of my life!
On 20 November 2008, Boomer's official certification papers arrived in the mail, complete with handbook and badges for both Sam and Boomer. I was bursting with pride and happiness as I accompanied Sam and Boomer to their first "official engagement" as a certified therapy team, attending a Christmas party on 4 December for a battered women's shelter. As I watched Sam and Boomer visit with the kids, I thought about our journey and knew that we had come a long way, but I also knew our journey in some ways was just beginning.
