Call for Nominations for the Willow Award: Attention Therapy Whippets!

It's time to nominate a therapy whippet for the Willow Award. 

Our breed is full of quiet heroes whose stories deserve to be told and heard. 

We all know whippets who brighten lives immeasurably; not for ribbons or points, not for fame or glory, not even for win photos. This is the chance to shine a little spotlight on these dogs. 

Every nominee is a winner, and every nominee will receive a rosette in this year's American Whippet Club's National Specialty colors. The nominees' stories are exhibited throughout the week in the ballroom at the National. Throughout the week, people read the stories and quietly reflect. (I always place a box of tissues nearby.) 

People think, "My whippet would be great at that," and more miracles happen. 

If you own, or bred, or simply know of a whippet who is doing therapy work, please share their story in 1000 words or less. You may include up to 3 photographs, respecting privacy laws of course, in or out of the therapy setting. Holly Parker, Director of Animal Assisted Therapy at the NIH, will choose the recipient of the Willow Award, and their story will be featured in the Whippet Newsletter and the Whippet News Annual. 

2013 Willow Award recipient Jazz making miracles with owner Christine Heath

Please submit your nomination (remember: 1000 words or less, and up to three high res photos) to pcrenzulli@gmail.com. Entries close midnight on March 31st, because I HAVE to order the rosettes!

Willow and a friend.

A note about Willow:

Linda Solano's very first whippet, a little white bitch with a blue brindle mask and ears, is the only whippet in history to earn a prestigious AKC Award of Canine Excellence - the ACE Award now presented at Eukanuba - for her extraordinary therapy work. Willow's life was too short, yet in her time on our earth she touched the lives of so many people in need, the way only a whippet could. To honor Willow's contributions we ask you to tell the story of the whippet you know who is making people feel a little better, who is bringing about those quiet miracles, who is making people smile.

We ask you to

 Pass It On!