Therapy dog’s loss felt as 'part of our family'

Beverly Kisner wiped the fresh grass clippings from the stone marker on Brook's grave to reveal the picture of the greyhound that she used on business cards advertising its services as a therapy dog. Next to the photo are the words "My precious girl, you were a blessing from God to me and as a therapy dog to the many other lives you touched with your gentleness and love."
The small grave is tucked away in the quiet northwest corner of Davenport's Oakdale Cemetery. The plot is part of Petland, which contains separate burial grounds for dogs and cats as if they would chase each other for eternity if placed too closely together.
The dirt is still fresh from when the 15-year-old dog was buried late last month. Kisner has already been to the grave several times to visit her companion, which got her out walking every day and brought smiles to countless nursing home residents who could not have dogs of their own any longer.
"I tell her I miss her and I'll see her one day up in heaven," Kisner said with tears in her eyes. "I think if there's going to be wolves and sheep and all that, there's going to be dogs."
Kisner, a religious woman who points out that greyhounds are the only dog mentioned by breed in the King James version of the Bible, said that while she has owned many dogs in her life, Brook was the first dog she prayed about when deciding whether to adopt from Quad-Cities Greyhound Adoption in 1998. At the time, Brook was 4 years old and Kisner didn't think a big dog would fit in her cozy two-bedroom home. But she had never seen a greyhound before and curiosity got the best of her, so Kisner went to a meet-and-greet event. When she arrived, there were a handful of people and about 10 dogs.
"The dogs were calmer and quieter than the people were," she recalled. "You don't usually get that many dogs together without having some kind of commotion."
Kisner remembers petting Brook and then moving on to check out the other dogs and talk with someone from the rescue organization.
"I remember standing there and all of a sudden I felt this up by my leg and I looked over and it was Brook," Kisner said. "It just clicked."
Greyhounds are known for being gentle giants, and Kisner's son will attest to that. When Brook stayed with him while his mother spent seven weeks in the hospital a few years ago, the dog needed less space than his beagle.
Brook's therapy dog certificate came in handy during that lengthy stay because it allowed the dog to visit Kisner in the hospital several times per week.
"It was uplifting," said Kisner, who remembers Brook's tail spinning in circles like a helicopter blade instead of wagging back and forth when she visited. "Which is not something greyhounds normally do. They're not big tail-waggers."
Brook received her therapy dog certification within six months of being adopted and visited Quad-City area nursing homes and hospitals several times a month. The dog would walk from person to person, calmly laying her head in their lap to be petted.
"They would all say, 'Thank you for bringing her, please bring her back,' " Kisner said. "And then she'd just walk right straight by somebody, just skip them all together, and I'd say, 'You don't care for animals do you?' And they'd say, 'No.' "
At the age of 15, with sore hips, it had been a while since Brook had made her weekly therapy rounds. But Kisner still walked her and Junior - a Chihuahua she took in when its owner had to move into a nursing home - around the neighborhood two to three times a day. The first day she walked Junior alone was the equivalent of posting a death notice in the neighborhood.
"Neighbors are coming out the door saying, 'Oh, no,' " Kisner said. "The minute they saw I was walking without Brook, they knew."
One neighbor has asked for a picture of Brook, and Kisner has received several sympathy cards, including one from her family physician. One reads: "Sorry to hear about your dog. They are part of our family. Bet she was awesome because she had a real good name." The card is signed "Brooke."
"She just had that effect on people," Kisner said, "All my dogs were very good dogs. They were all special. But this one just stood out, not only with me, but with everyone who met her."
Posted in Leisure on Tuesday, July 21, 2009 2:00 am Updated: 11:00 am. Tags: Beverly Kisner, Oakdale Cemetery Petland,Brook The Greyhound, Quad-cities Greyhound Adoption

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