Therapy Dogs

Cat L’Heureux lives in Nelsonville, Ohio with her three Irish wolfhounds, Walter, Dani and Tom. L’Heureux's oldest Irish wolfhound, Walter – who is three years old – is a fully trained therapy dog and works with The Connection to help kids learn how to read. L’Heureux participates in programs with Walter in libraries across southeastern Ohio and works in schools to make children more comfortable with reading in front of large groups. L’Heureux trains her dogs in Russian so they will only respond to her as their trainer. Her two puppies, Dani and Tom, are 11 months old and are almost as big as Walter; they will most likely grow to be larger than him. Irish wolfhounds grow an inch a day after they are born. L’Heureux likes to take her dogs to the family farm where they get to run around in the fields and play with her mother’s Irish wolfhound, Claire. She says, “it’s good to get them out there and wear them out; it’s a lot easier when they come home tired.”