Dottie's Holiday Puppies are now Seven
Weeks Old and going for their first of many
outings, page 1.
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The pup's first big socialization trip is an
hour-and-a-half's drive south of Alika Cotons at an
Alzheimer's Assisted Care Living home in Wilkes-Barre,
Pennsylvania. There, my mother, Roberta Russell receives the
very best of care and struggles as her memories fade from
view like footprints in the melting snow.
Cotons are, in our view, the ideal therapy dog. They
empathize with humans to an almost unbelievable degree. In
turn, few people can resist a smile when they meet a Coton.
At the Alzheimer's home, the pups met a caring staff and
residents whose hearts were instantly lifted. The aging
patients' memories of past tenderness, joy and love were,
for some moments, brought to the surface of lives otherwise
in decline. It is a rewarding experience for puppies and
people.
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RIGHT: Roberta E. Russell,
whose husband, J. Lewis Russell, founded Oakshade
Kennel, the first breeding program of Cotons de
Tulear outside of Madagascar is now a resident of
the Keystone Gardens. Roberta, 86 years old, has
been loved by Cotons since 1974.
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