Angel on a Leash (26 page)

It was time.

We asked one of our veterinarians to come to our apartment one evening in January to help us give Teigh some permanent peace. We wanted him to go at home, surrounded by people who had been with him and had helped him through his life.

We had convinced ourselves, but really Teigh also had to convince us that this was the right thing. The peaceful but pleading look in his eyes did it. We had dealt with all of the counsel from friends and family, and it was now on us. Teigh had had a great life and had done great things for so many people—most of all, for us. We owed him so much; we owed him his dignity, freedom from pain, and a peaceful passing.

On Saturday, January 9, 2010, we sent this message to our friends and family:

 

May 4, 1996–January 9, 2010

Teigh passed at home tonight, peacefully and with dignity. May he rest in peace, whatever peace he can find now that he is reunited with his sister, Belle.

He leaves a wonderful legacy. As a star therapy dog, he made a difference in the lives of the thousands of people he visited over the years at:

 

•   Bailey-Boushay AIDS Hospice (Seattle)

•   Providence Medical Center (Seattle)

•   Mt. Sinai Hospital (New York)

•   NewYork-Presbyterian—Cornell (New York)

•   Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital (New York)

•   Terence Cardinal Cooke Health Care Center (New York)

•   Ronald McDonald House (New York City)

•   Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (New York City)

•   …and others

 

He received lots of awards and recognition. He helped open doors for therapy dogs in many places. He was the first dog allowed in the Bone Marrow Transplant unit at New York Hospital; the first dog to visit at the Ronald McDonald House in New York City, helping to create a thriving therapy dog program there; the first therapy dog allowed to visit in-room at Mt. Sinai; and he was part of a historic pilot program that brought the first dogs ever allowed at Sloan-Kettering.

He made people smile—a simple thing, really, but something that had a huge impact when it happened with kids with cancer, paraplegics in wheelchairs or beds, women fighting devastating but hopeful battles with cancer, or homeless people sleeping on cardboard on the streets of New York.

He did lots of media appearances to support his work for Angel On A Leash and Delta Society, including the
Today Show, Good Morning America, Martha Stewart,
and others. His best media performance was probably rolling over on the mall for the
Today Show
to introduce a weather report.

And most of all, of course, he was a wonderful friend and member of the family. Rest in peace, T-Boy; we love you and we'll be with you and Belle again someday.

David and Cheri

We were devastated by the loss of Belle and Teigh—we still are, and we think about them every day. But when we do, we smile.

Teigh and Belle changed my life. And they touched a lot of other people, too.

“ This was another of those times where nothing needed to be said; I could just let Angel carry the moment….Everyone was crying and I was fighting back tears myself. ‘Godspeed, sweetie. God loves you, and so does Angel.' ”
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My Angels Have Four Legs

I
n 2007, Cheri and I decided that we were going to add a Cavalier to our Brittany household. This was not because of Elizabeth Taylor, but because Teigh and Belle were slowing down and couldn't visit as much as they had been. We didn't think we could handle a third active Brittany in our one-bedroom, high-rise apartment (note:
active
is the word you use when it is your dog;
hyper
is the word to describe another person's dog acting the same way as your
active
dog).

For several years, I had been serving as the emcee/ auctioneer at the American Cavalier King Charles Spaniel Club (ACKCSC)'s fund-raising auction, held at its national specialty show. The auction raises money for the club's charitable trust, which provides financial and other support for charitable, educational, and health research efforts for Cavaliers. There are a number of breed parent clubs that have foundations for health studies, which try to find causes and treatments for health issues that might exist in their respective breeds. It's research
for
the dogs, not
on
the dogs, and the parent clubs have made progress of which they should be proud. The ACKCSC is among those clubs that are doing it right, and I was glad to be able to help them raise a lot of money each year.

Over the years, we had made a lot of Cavalier friends. We had come to love the breed and had done our homework, just as I always preach to everyone on my television shows, and now we were finally ready to get one of these cute little dogs for ourselves.

One evening, we had both Teigh and Belle with us at Ronald McDonald House, and we mentioned that we were going to add another dog to our family, a smaller one so that everyone could hold her on their laps.

“What is her name?” one of the kids asked.

“We don't know yet; we haven't decided.”

“How about Sophia?” came the first suggestion, opening the floodgates.

“Angel!”

“Truffle!”

“Fleur!”

“Bon Bon!”

“Those are all good suggestions,” Cheri told them. “Why don't we have a contest?” And so we did. Cheri put a ballot box in the playroom with a photo of the yet unnamed Cavalier puppy on it. With an international population at the House, we got a lot of fun entries, but in the end, “Angel” was the winner.

Angel joined the family later that year, coming as a gift from our dear friend Patty Kanan, a great Cavalier breeder from California. Angel was five months old, and her registered name became Torlundy Courtlore Angel Eyes. Patty kept the theme going by naming the male in the litter Torlundy Courtlore Johnny Angel.

Angel was a Blenheim, the same orange-and-white color pattern as the Brittanys, giving them together the appearance of family. We got the occasional “Is that their puppy?” inquiry from people on the streets as we walked all three of them.

Angel fit right in with the family. She was a feisty little princess, probably equal parts feisty and princess. She didn't need to be too feisty because Teigh and Belle welcomed her readily (well, Belle would look at her sideways once in a while). Angel loved everyone she met. We got her into therapy dog class right away even though she couldn't be registered until she was a year old. She flew right through the class at the ASPCA, and Michele Siegel, the instructor, loved her (OK, I admit it, she was probably the teacher's pet). Angel passed everything and became a registered therapy dog as soon as she turned one. She was a big hit wherever she went and a great part of the family.

I love Angel dearly. She's the first little dog I've ever had, and it's been fun. It's nice to have a dog who fits into a shoulder bag and can get on a subway or bus or into a cab with no questions. The shoulder bag brings a lot of photo opportunities, too: Angel peeking out of the top, sleeping in the bag with the front panel open, and more. I also am able to bring her along, unannounced, in her bag, to a number of other places (wink, wink).

Bringing it back to
Sex and the City,
we visit Sloan-Kettering's tenth floor—the women's health unit—every Monday night, carrying on for Teigh and Belle. There, our audience is female and nearly the same demographic as the audience for the TV show. We get a number of patients who remember the specific episode of the show. “Is that Elizabeth Taylor?” Sometimes they start to figure it out on their own: “Hey, you were in that show, too, weren't you?”

Angel's first stop on her Monday night visits is always at the nurses' station, where she might show the nurses a few tricks and get them smiling and laughing, which is a nice break for them from a tough job. A few of the nurses up there refer to her as “Elizabeth Taylor,” too.

Angel will happily launch into her trick routine for the nurses. “What's your best trick?” I'll ask, and boom, she rolls over. It's not just a lazy rollover, it's at full speed, as she knows that a treat awaits her. She will often do this without any prompting because she senses that when the crowd gathers, it's for her performance. She even did it in the show ring once. Angel was in the lineup of open bitches, looking up at Cheri, who made a move as if she had some kind of treat in her hand. Boom! Rollover. People at ringside laughed, so she did it again.

Back to Sloan-Kettering. “What else can you do?” She jumps in the air and does a twisting flip. That is the most athletic move in her routine, and she does that without much prompting, either. When she stops and sits, I'll hold out my hand and say, “Give me five!” and she puts her paw into my hand. Worth a few treats.

It's certainly entertaining, and I even let her special buddy, Kathy, one of the nurses, put her through the routine. My only reluctance is that I don't want to get Angel too excited right before she goes in to visit a patient. I don't want her to be looking to me for treats all the time, so I rarely use them in the room with a patient. When we're done with the nurses, I take a few seconds to show Angel that I don't have any more treats and let her know that now it's time to get to work.

One afternoon, we were part of a photo shoot on the tenth floor for the therapy dog calendar that the hospital publishes each year. Angel came out in a scrub suit, and business came to a halt. She had on a hat, mask, and gown, and she and her French Bulldog buddy, Cooper, drew a three-deep crowd of spectators—medical people, patients, and visitors—as she and the Frenchie posed for their calendar pictures.

Angel is quite photogenic and also has been on a few television shows and news stories. She was featured with me in a February 2011
New York Magazine
piece, and we found out just how many of our friends read the magazine because we got a lot of notes and emails commenting on the adorable picture of Angel in my arms.